For example, you can use your internal platform’s features to announce their establishment so employees can join, feature any upcoming events for employees to participate in, or request idea submissions. Is diversity a policy, a program, an intention—or a mixture of all three? Breaking down silos and increasing connections across your company are instrumental in strengthening D&I throughout your organization. Clearly, diversity pays off. For instance, members of EDGE were encouraged to participate in Girls on the Run, an event that allows female mentors to identify a young girl from the Girls on the Run organization to accompany during a 5K marathon. DeVry University is authorized for operation as a postsecondary educational institution by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. That was when I realized my passion for technology and problem solving.”, “We start by evaluating our job postings so they are clear and inclusive, and then we structure what we are looking for and how that is defined. Expanding your recruitment searches to more diverse candidates—including background, ethnicity, age, etc.—widens your talent pool and increases your chances of finding the best hire. Managing diversity in the workplace presents a set of unique challenges for HR professionals. “Diversity significantly improves financial performance on measures such as profitable investments at the individual portfolio-company level and overall fund returns,” Paul Gompers, an economist and professor at Harvard Business School, and writer Silpa Kovvali explained in an article published by Harvard Business Review. Now that you understand 20 ways you can increase diversity within your work environment, it is time to get started. It even affects perceptions of time, which can impact day-to-day scheduling and deadlines. Policies should be put in place to handle misconduct and communicate to employees that this type of behavior will not be tolerated. A McKinsey & Company report echoes similar findings stating that of the companies surveyed, those with more ethnically diverse executive teams are 33 percent more likely to outperform their peers on profitability. For leadership to effectively manage diversity in the workplace, they need to understand their backgrounds and how their behavior and beliefs can affect their decision-making within a diverse environment. How diversity and inclusion help the tech industry as a whole. It also can have an effect on employment retention and satisfaction. When you have a workplace comprised of diverse employees, you are sure to present diverse viewpoints and produce a diverse way of thinking important in generating new ideas and feedback that could benefit the workplace. For example, if an organization would like to hire more women in the engineering department, they could reach out to professional groups that cater to women in engineering and ask to advertise open positions in their newsletter or member communications. Access 4 must-know tips on how to leverage recognition to boost community. Join our team today. Taking these steps shows employees that upper management is taking D&I to heart.