Committed to D&I? Shout it From the Rooftops!
If a potential job candidate, business partner or customer searched your website looking for information on diversity and inclusion, would that information be easy to find? Does it even exist? While many companies put a lot of effort into their diversity and inclusion initiatives, they don’t always do a great job letting the world know about it.
Here we look at some of the benefits of developing a well-crafted diversity and inclusion statement for the organization and how to use that statement strategically.
Take Credit for Your Hard Work!
Diversity and inclusion efforts have begun taking on greater importance and visibility in many organizations and in the broader societal consciousness. Companies recognize that diversity and inclusion benefit their bottom lines, meaning there are very real business justifications to promote diversity and inclusion efforts.
Companies are spending much more money today than in years past on these efforts, but that’s not always apparent to general public. A diversity and inclusion statement is a great way to summarize those efforts and highlight any key successes in related content.
Show Potential Employees Your Commitment
Employees and candidates consistently rank diversity and inclusion as important factors in a workplace. Efforts to boost diversity and inclusion can be a cost-effective means of attracting and retaining employees relative to more traditional perks like salary and bonuses.
Internal Focus
In addition to benefiting the public perception of a company, a strong diversity and inclusion statement can help focus diversity and inclusion efforts. “Like mission and vision statements, a D&I statement provides a guiding principle for your business to aspire to,” writes Riia O’Donnell in an article for Zenefits. “When you define your commitment to diversity and inclusion, it directs the company to achieve. Every decision you make, from the smallest choices to the largest strategic plan, should support your overall mission and your D&I commitment. Without a solid statement of values, it may be challenging to achieve your mission from here.”
Diversity and inclusion still seem like fuzzy concepts to many organizations. Part of the reason for this is that those organizations haven’t clearly defined what those concepts mean to them and what efforts and policies they are implementing to achieve them. A focused, well-thought-out diversity and inclusion statement not only helps companies achieve that focus, but also serves as a tool to tell the outside world about the importance they place on those values.
Don’t just be inclusive—let others know how inclusive you are!
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Are you tired of workplace diversity training that does not link to business? Are you tired of tactics that don’t drive business results? InclusionINC has inclusion training solutions and strategic consulting that link inclusion to employee engagement, productivity, innovation and retention, moving inclusion beyond tactics to a critical business strategy.
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