“In the next 25 to 30 years, the US will have no ethnic or racial majority.”
In the coming years, the shift towards a more diverse population will change the dynamics of the workplace. How organizations perceive diversity and address it in the workplace will be integral to their success and development. Those that know how to manage a diverse employee base will be the ones with an advantage. For organizations looking to have more diversity and inclusivity, learning how to manage underrepresented talent in the workplace is important.
Having a diverse team with employees ranging from varying ethnic backgrounds to religious & sexual orientations, multi-lingual status, etc. can be helpful for the development of an organization. If you are working on creating diverse teams, you must learn how to manage talent effectively. I have prepared this comprehensive guide with all the important pointers to help you build the foundation of a successful workplace with underrepresented talent management:
INVOLVE TOP MANAGEMENT
No organization can succeed in its diversity initiatives if the top management, C-suite, and the executives aren’t in on it. The diverse workforce can only succeed if the top management develops a vision and the entire company adopts it. A good management practice involves the senior executives taking the responsibility of formulating policies and rules & regulations that strictly enforce diversity, equity, and inclusion without letting anyone off the hook for participating. If the policies aren’t right, it can’t be eliminated as well. In short, the senior management must show their utmost commitment to ensuring that the diverse talent is not only being hired but retained as well. It is significant that they strategize the bigger picture and commit to its implementation for all employees so no one is the odd one out.
PRIORITIZE COMMUNICATION
Communication is the key to managing underrepresented talent. If there is one thing you should never let go of, it is being open and honest in conversations with your employees. Organizations must ensure that they effectively communicate with their employees. The policies, rules, regulations, safety procedures, etc. are all important but as long as they are not being communicated efficiently and are not being implemented right, nothing would work in the organization’s and its employee’s favor.
All the cultural, language and gender-based barriers should be eliminated keeping in mind the sensitivity of the language, symbols, pictures, and any other thing being shared with the employees. Not just this, but there should be regular check-ins with all of your employees to ask how they are doing, their feedback on the workplace, and their suggestions on how to improve it, etc. The right approach to being honest and genuine with your employees will take your organization places. Hence, effectual communication is akin to successful diversity management.
TREAT THEM RIGHT!
This is a no brainer. It doesn’t matter what your employee’s background is, avoid making assumptions based on stereotypes. Treat them based on their individuality and not on what you think or have heard about their community or background. Judge your employees based on their performance, the value they add to your organizations, the job description to implementation ratio, and their success & failures, etc.
Never attribute the actions of your underrepresented talent to their background. This is the biggest mistake you can commit when it comes to diversity management. You should be open-minded and honest in how you talk, judge, and evaluate them. Anything other than this, and you will fail in retaining your diverse employees.
HOST TOWN HALL MEETINGS
Even after all these efforts, you are putting in, your employees from different backgrounds would want to talk to you and each other. They would want to share their experiences, concerns, suggestions, and feedback. To connect and communicate, it is integral that the top management help in creating resource groups and seek help from them as well. Your underrepresented employees might feel isolated or cornered at times. It doesn’t always have to be intentional, but sometimes minority groups can feel alone. Hence, you must create avenues for them where they can talk to each other, network, and be mentored as well.
SET STANDARDS
As with the policies, you must set standards. The same set of rules should be implemented for employees from all backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, and races. One might think this is universal practice. Unfortunately, it is not. As with a lot of other things, the diverse employees have to face prejudice by following a criterion different than the other employees. Therefore, the management must ensure that there is a standardized criterion for all employees where they are treated the same.
These base standards and objective criteria are what will help you not only hire but retain and better manage your diverse employee base. They will help you inculcate a vast range of talents and perspectives into your organization for a common goal of your company’s success.
Also Check out: 2021 DIVERSE STEM ORGANIZATIONS GUIDE
