Company Culture
Technologists of Color Month 2019

9 steps to inclusivity in the workplace

Inclusivity does not end with diversity in your recruitments, writes Colette Colclough, VP of HR at Maryland Public Television and founder of the Women’s Leadership Forum.

A team at work. (Photo by Pexels user Christina Morillo, used via a Creative Commons license)
Let’s start with the definition of inclusion: Inclusion is the practice or policy of including people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized.

So, where do we go from there?

It actually starts with YOU as an individual. Consider this: We typically hire people who are mirror images of ourselves, i.e., people we can easily get along with, look a certain way, or may even have the same interests. When we constantly make this judgement or favor a person or without consideration of others in a way that may seems unfair, it is actually a form of unconscious bias.

Don’t worry — you are not alone. Generally, we don’t recognize that we are being (unconsciously) biased until someone points the finger directly at us.

A hiring manager’s goal is to create a great pool of candidates that are talented and bring skills to the job.  Expanding our reach to create that pool requires us to look beyond our inner circles and inner selves. We need to widen our narrow periphery to include the talent who are often overlooked for hire due to our unconscious biases.

Yes, it does take effort. But aren’t you looking for talent?  You could be missing out on legitimate candidates that could bring the knowledge, skills, abilities AND the diversity that you need in your workplace to achieve your business goals. I would call that a worthwhile effort!

Inclusivity does not end with diversity in your recruitments. Inclusion is giving individuals, teams and communities equity, despite whatever biases we may harbor. Also, genuinely connecting with employees by actively listening, empathizing, especially with those who differ from ourselves, is a start.

Here are nine more steps toward inclusivity:

  1. Create a mission of inclusivity in your workplace.
  2. Actively recruit in spaces that include groups who are typically marginalized.
  3. When possible, create a diverse hiring panel to reduce bias.
  4. Join social groups that are diverse.
  5. Provide staff with diversity and inclusion training.
  6. Create listening sessions, followed by a commitment to action.
  7. Purposely invite diverse individuals to meetings, boardrooms, focus groups, etc. that will value their skills, abilities, voice, and contribution. Invite staff to rotate to lead a meeting or presentation.
  8. Create a mentoring and internship programs.
  9. Be vulnerable to your staff with your inclusivity purpose, and goals. You may not have, nor are you expected to have all of the answers.

This guest post is a part of Technical.ly's Technologists of Color Month of our editorial calendar.

This is a guest post by Colette Colclough, VP of human resources at Maryland Public Television and founder of the Women’s Leadership Forum.

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

Skills, not schools: A new path for government tech

Meet Baltimore's winners in the 2024 Technical.ly Awards

Techstars lets early-stage startups show off in Baltimore

Leadership lessons from Baltimore’s Key Bridge collapse, a defining crisis event

Technically Media