Diversity and inclusion play one of the most important parts in building effective and people-first company culture. But how to find a company where you will be able to be yourself?
The policy of the country in which we live does not always suit us. In each country, the policy of protection, or anti-discrimination, with regard to minorities works differently. However, large corporations and companies promoting sustainable growth projects, Better Business Act or diversity and inclusion have decided to take a position on this issue. Aiming to stand up in defense of the aggrieved, ecology, charity campaigns or the fight for women’s rights, they engage in political campaigns. It is an extremely win-win arrangement. Companies build their identities, personalities, brands, and reputations as a “company of rebels”, “business of freedom” or “business devoted to women’s rights”, recruiting new employees, and developing their internal systems, while contributing socially and introducing changes on a global scale.
Personal core values and company core values, is it possible to put them together?
Despite the progress of the world and the advancement of technology, people still struggle with fundamental problems such as intolerance and prejudice. Discrimination of this kind is deeply ingrained in people because of fear of different and the unknown. This fear is therefore of primary origin. However, we live in the 21st century, where you no longer need to be afraid of what is foreign to us but want to learn something about it. Many people still suffer from prejudices based on ethnicity, religion, culture, sexual orientation or identity, appearance, gender, age, disability, personality, etc. Unfortunately, the list is very long, because there is no shortage of reasons to hate it.
The trend of diversity and inclusion aims to prevent and protect the rights of people affected by hatred in any form. This is done by companies that want to change the world through a lack of prejudice, education, and information. They give jobs, opportunities, promotions, and opportunities to people who, for various reasons, are pushed to the sidetrack. It is not only a marketing and business phenomenon but above all a social and political one. Directors and founders of large global corporations combine financial benefit with influence on human perception of reality. Internet hatred and hatred experienced in life, despite the fact that it is a topic well known from autopsies, history, media, or other sources, is still a battlefield. Nobody wants to be treated worse. When we face injustice we blame our torturers, so why do we do the same to other people? What makes us want to hate, and what is colorful, different, creative and interesting is still a “threat”?
How do the core company values affect our work? Should be the core value a must-have in searching for a job?
Each of us is different. Each of us is a minority in at least one of the fields. So let’s put some effort, let’s make a difference. Let’s feel good with ourselves and the people around us, just as different as we are. Company values can stand for our rights.
In June 2020, the Internet boiled down to the amount of hate that fell on companies that supported Pride Month. We can find many examples of companies that care more. This kind of “big heart” company exists! These include Levi’s, Coca-Cola / Sprite, Google, Viacom / MTV, Empik, Apple, Netflix, Zalando, Subaru, Spotify, Tinder, Twitter, YouTube, Disney, Dr. Martens, MasterCard, Android, Nike, Converse, RedBull, Tom & Jerry’s, Visa. Company values play a crucial role in their functioning.
It is an event dedicated to LGBT + communities celebrating their pride and freedom this month. Internet forums, as every year, were teeming with hatred, covering remarks, curses and anger on an incomprehensible basis. However, this did not discourage the companies from joining the action. It is only a one-month campaign in which companies have a chance to express their position and support communities suffering from discrimination.
However, diversity and inclusion activities are much more than these types of actions. It is conducting a long-term policy and a core value, fighting discrimination based on the company’s rules, inserting liberal, libertarian and full of mutual respect values into the patterns and policy of the company’s operation from the inside.
Actively disengaged employees don’t have to be a real problem anymore
The HR leaders are responsible for the company’s culture from the inner layer. The real value of collective energy is strongly visible in the interview process. A new joiner can immediately feel safe in a new workplace, the family spirit means fostering innovation and fostering teamwork and in long-term success. Employee satisfaction is a key to achieve common company values where employees strongly agree in company goals and the right values. The global pandemic changed a way of functioning the whole entrepreneurial spirit internally and externally. The mission statement gives every team member to embrace their own personal accountability by continuous learning. An organization’s values plus the possibility to leverage collective genius is evidence that corporate values and the company’s mission statement are true and vivid.
How to save the corporation from lost productivity then?
Company values represented by the organizational culture we work for can open and honest relationships in teams. It is an example of how corporate culture influences productivity. Sharing the same values building trust and the company’s identity we create a sustainable business, positive work culture means a positive team. It will also affect future hires and the way that job seekers will feel about the social value of the company.
The entire workforce is made of many different people with different beliefs, own decisions, work life balance and pursue growth. Engaged employees are the strongest proof of well-defined business goals of the entire organization, where the communications strategies also create a customer commitment.
The idea of the project diversity and inclusion is not only activities for the benefit of people with a non-heteronormative sexual orientation or gender identity, but also the fight on many other levels for equal rights and fair treatment of all people, however, discriminated against.
These are companies that know that diversity is wealth. In this case, both in a metaphorical and financial sense. Diversity and inclusion is a necessity in the functioning of a prospering company. In every corporation, each person has a role and acts on a specific level. In order to understand the client’s needs, hired people must be as diverse as possible if they are to reach the largest possible audience. Everyone brings some value, idea, will, and experience. So, how much richer in their services can corporations understand so many different needs of different people, thanks to a diverse workforce in terms of ethnicity, race, culture, disability or gender.
A healthy diversity of people from different backgrounds and cultures provides us with a balance of voices and a variety of thoughts that provides companies with a comprehensive understanding of customer needs.
Many companies have not yet grown up to appreciate the role of diversity, despite the research and analysis that are unanimous, declaring that it is an extremely profitable solution.
Different people, different environments, different cultures. Doesn’t that sound like a recipe for success in understanding the diverse needs of your customers? A diverse, fair and inclusive work environment is not only the right thing to do, it can also result in new and innovative ideas and a more engaged workforce.
Diversification increases creativity, broadens horizons, teaches tolerance and forces reflection. Besides, each of us has a unique set of qualities and skills, a company composed of people with different strengths will be rich in innovation, modernity, understanding and creative problem-solving, and the business strengthens from the inside. Open companies have a better chance of hiring talent. Without prejudices and being guided by the appearance or stereotypes, we can increase the chance to provide the company with what is really important – employee skills. Sometimes we are even subconsciously guided by the external qualities of the other person. It has been scientifically proven that people with darker eyes are more trustworthy than those with blue, and women with pinned-up hair and an exposed neck are perceived as self-confident.
With this in mind, some companies’ executives came up with a new idea. They conduct a special type of recruitment that excludes the possibility of discrimination, even subconscious, because it eliminates the external appearance factor. The future employee, when applying for the position, does not disclose his appearance, origin or other reasons that could lead to discrimination.
An employee who knows that what counts in the work is their skills and internal qualities, and not their appearance, will be more satisfied with the work, satisfied and happy. This eliminates unnecessary stresses related to origin, faith or sexual orientation. Be what you want, if you are good at what you do, you will get a job. Isn’t that what it should be like everywhere? Working in an environment that promotes diversity and inclusiveness makes employees know their role, responsibilities and makes them enjoy their profession. They thrive in promotion, personal and professional development because they know they don’t have to worry about unfair or biased treatment. Employees come true, managers are proud and satisfied with their work, which motivates them to even greater efforts, and the company grows stronger from the ground up and from within.
Diversity and tolerance have a direct impact on intimacy in the team.
Employees make friendships with each other built on trust and acceptance, which is the most important thing in joint action. Employees know their strengths and weaknesses and cooperate in order to achieve the same goal. When in the team everyone is an expert in a different field, has different experiences and a different cultural background, everyone feels appreciated by being the best in their own sphere. Employees learn from each other by knowing perspectives other than their own. The diverse strengths of age, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and national origin bring different points of view and perspectives to the company. The statistics on the diversification of initiatives confirm their effectiveness. Diversity in the workplace is learning not only on a professional but also social level and makes us emotionally richer people. In the professional sphere, it has the enormous benefits of diversity in the workplace. These include, for example, higher revenues, more innovation, better decision-making, equal access, fair treatment, higher job acceptance rates when submitting bids to qualified candidates and better results than competitors, new products and customer service methods develop the company from the inside. Acceptance of a diversification agenda involves the adoption of policies, initiatives and tools designed to increase the level of diversity among employees. Diverse staff is the first step towards changes for the better on many levels.
The next step in implementing the “diversity and inclusion” policy is to create a company culture and personality where people from all walks of life feel included and feel they are part of a larger whole.
Below is a list of companies that were in the top 20 in the UK in terms of employee diversity.
The following companies pride themselves on understanding, tolerance, commitment to changing the world, and a modern vision in which everyone is equal. Companies fight homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, discrimination against women, the elderly, and those with disabilities, misogyny, racism, xenophobia, etc.
- University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust
- West Midlands Police
- UK Power Networks
- Lancashire Constabulary
- The Calico Group
- West Midlands Fire Service
- Auto Trader UK
- Inspire North
- Bupa
- Mitie
- NielsenIQ
- Cheshire Constabulary
- Touchstone
- St James’s Place Wealth Management
- UK House of Lords
- Northumbria Police
- Moneysupermarket Group
- Capgemini
- Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- West Yorkshire Police
These are jobs that aim to support women in their quest for equality, creating the same positions and opportunities for all, so as to achieve broadly understood equality.
The same applies to the development and training of employees with disabilities. They deserve the same opportunities and career opportunities as fully healthy people. Their uniqueness does not mean that they can afford less work results or commitment. Managers and positions of a representative character are also taken by persons belonging to minorities or groups exposed to discrimination.
Companies are not afraid of modern equality and focus on the internal advantages of employees regardless of their external features. Cultural diversity leads to the development of advertising campaigns and spots, which, by taking into account the needs of different groups, find more recipients, and thus more customers.
No wonder the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust is number one on the list. Their program, assumptions, goals, motivations, good intentions and charity, on all discriminatory levels, is downright shocking. The company’s goals are touching, the community that strives for them and wants to change the world together is not only determined, but united in its otherness.
