A Software Company’s work culture today consists of gender, attire, ethics, work process infrastructure, and workspaces.. Over the years, workforce diversity has expanded to age, gender, race, nationality, marital status, experience, network, color, income, religion, geographic, professional skills and so on.
Diversity in the workplace is the practice or quality of employing a team from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different sexual orientations, ages, races, nationalities etc. in an organization. The benefits of having a diverse workforce are innumerable. As per a survey by “Give a Grad a Go”, 90% of respondents stated they’d be more inclined to work for a diverse company, and almost 30% of participants felt overlooked for roles due to discrimination.
An inclusive workplace in an organization refers to an environment consisting of elements like care, respect, liberty, belongingness, unity, justice, uniqueness, appreciation, right to speak and so on. In a post-pandemic world, the approach towards an inclusive work environment got modified with the entry of Hybrid Work Culture. Organizations are customizing their inclusive policy, keeping it in sync with the Hybrid Work Culture.
Accenture, Starbucks and Visa are some of the top software companies who have placed Inclusivity at the workplace as their core policy and their diverse workforce stories, market reputation and growth speaks for their policy management. A number of organizations in the market have placed diversity, equity and Inclusiveness (DE&I) as their important policy across the globe.
Why we need a diverse & inclusive environment
An organization’s culture is based on its values, beliefs and practices. An inclusive work environment creates a coaching work culture. It changes the approach of its employees and marketers towards the organization. It acts as a catalyst in the growth of the employees as well as the organization. It draws satisfied, confident, skilled, focused and happy employees who add to the productivity and reputation of the organization.
According to a study by Limeade, if employees are cared for, they are 4 times less likely to suffer from stress and burnout, 7 times more likely to feel included, 2 times more likely to be engaged at work and 10 times more likely to recommend their company as a great place to work.
As stated in the Mckinsey research gender, ethnic, and cultural diversity, particularly within executive teams, continue to be correlated to financial performance across multiple countries worldwide.
Technology and Software Companies report that materially improving the representation of diverse talent within their ranks, as well as effectively utilizing inclusion and diversity as an enabler of business impact, are particularly challenging goals. Despite this, multiple companies worldwide have succeeded in making sizable improvements to inclusion and diversity across their organizations, and they have been reaping tangible benefits for their efforts.
How to create this self-sustaining work culture
Inclusive culture can be created by adopting it into core values, encouraging employees as equal participants, customizing workflow to adhere to social trends and to the values, creating an ambience that is concurrent with Inclusiveness. Keeping regular checks about the practices related to the policy.Leaders need to create a listening culture,to ensure that every voice is heard irrespective of their age, gender, position,color, race, nationality etc. They should work closely with the HR and manage complaints as data, creating dynamic solutions. This practice will create a feeling of belonging and respect among the employees.
(Author: Alisha Fernandes is an inquisitive learner & content writer at TechDoQuest)