9 Recommendations for Building Inclusive Workplaces 

Our workplaces serve as microcosms that reflect the diversity and challenges of the wider society. Within these spaces, we have the transformative power to educate, foster understanding, challenge prejudice, and champion inclusion.  

Key recommendations to integrate anti racism into your strategies include: 

Implement Clear Policies:  

Develop and enforce clear anti-discrimination, bullying and harassment policies that explicitly address racism. Provide training with clear examples of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour. Ensure employees are aware of these policies and the consequences of violating them. 

Educate and Raise Awareness:  

Deliver workshops to educate employees about racism and discrimination. Provide examples of how these can appear in the workplace – both visibly and less visibly. Incorporate input and ideas from individuals representing diverse backgrounds to ensure any training content is representative. Consult external experts who can provide specialised perspectives shaped by their life experiences and expertise. 

Communication:  

It is vital to communicate a firm stance of zero tolerance towards racism and discrimination, ensuring that employees, stakeholders, partners, and clients/customers are well-informed about your organisation's position.  

Support for Impacted Employees: 

Acknowledge the wider context of what colleagues could be experiencing at this moment in time. Hold safe spaces such as walk-in support sessions where colleagues are able to share their experiences and/or provide colleagues with support. 

Promote Allyship and Leadership Role-Modelling:  

Encourage employees to be active allies to their colleagues from minority communities – specifically with active role-modelling of allyship and inclusive behaviour from leaders at the top. Allies can challenge stereotypes and inappropriate behaviours, provide support, and contribute to a more inclusive workplace.  

Evaluate Workplace Data and Policies: 

Regularly assess HR policies, such as your recruitment or promotion policies and practices, to ensure they are free from bias and discrimination. Collate and analyse demographic data at each stage of your organisation’s employee life cycle to assess if there are gaps to advancement for colleagues from an ethnic minority background. 

Deliver Inclusion Programmes:  

Deliver inclusion programmes to leaders, managers, and employees, to set the expectations from your organisation on respect, anti-racism, inclusion and dignity at work at all levels.  

Support Employee Resource Groups: 

Support employee resource groups (ERGs) or affinity groups based on religion, race, ethnicity, or culture. These can create safe spaces for employees to share their experiences, to learn and to improve existing practices. 

Continuous Improvement: 

Consistently evaluate the impact of your DE&I initiatives using surveys and employee focus groups. It's crucial to have culturally agile leaders who can leverage feedback for optimal outcomes. Culturally agile leaders understand nuances and cultural differences, fostering adaptability and inclusivity. Stay open to necessary changes and improvements guided by received feedback.  

In addition to these recommendations, don't forget to reach out to employees to ask how they are feeling and what additional support they may need. Provide your colleagues with a safe space to share their concerns.