Diversity and inclusion (D&I) play a vital role in businesses today as it is the healthy practice of hiring people from different cultures and backgrounds. This enables you to provide a diversity of thought and a balance of voices across the organization.

However, not all businesses have implemented this healthy balance, and this is something that must change. Diversity and inclusion can be an essential component of how you operate and can have a huge impact on your business’s short-term and long-term goals as well as brand awareness in the market.

In this post, you will learn about invaluable lessons that every business can learn from and use diversity and inclusion to your advantage.

8 Lessons from Diversity and Inclusion Speakers

Here are eight invaluable lessons you can learn from diversity and inclusion

1.     Employees Lead the Transformation

Hiring employees from different cultures, backgrounds, and sexual orientations can transform your company into a workplace that supports diversity and inclusion. Moreover, ask your existing employees to raise their hands and volunteer to lead this transformation. This will make this activity easier while giving your workforce confidence.

For example, hiring LGBTQ+ candidates can help you publicly show support from the community. These hired employees can effectively become activists for your brand and communicate your support for LGBTQ+ to the outside world.

2.     You can Always be More Inclusive.

There is always an opportunity for you to be more inclusive. Whether this is your first time trying diversity and inclusion for your business or you have been doing it for years, the next phase for your business is to become more inclusive such as;

• Inviting your vendors to be an inclusive business
• Supporting a non-profit organization
• Initiating a mentorship program
• Measuring the impact of diversity and inclusion policy

3.     Involving Your Target Audience is a Must

If your diversity and inclusion strategy has a certain community or group at the center of it, they have to participate in the process.

Let us suppose you are aiming to include women, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+, and older adults. In that case, you must avoid the classic mistake of forgetting to ask them about their needs, concerns, or pain points. What your target audience cares about and what excites them will help you create a well-thought diversity and inclusion plan.

4.     Discrimination May Still Persist

You can include diversity and inclusion training and discussions during employee onboarding. You can even arrange for an unconscious bias training annually. However, this may not guarantee the complete elimination of discrimination in your company.

What it will guarantee is that if discrimination occurs, people will have the courage to come forward and report it so your company can rectify the discriminatory elements.

5.     Trans Inclusion Needs More Focus

As much as businesses are focusing on including people from various backgrounds and cultures, they are still behind on Trans diversity and inclusion. If you wish to hire Trans into your organization, you will have to ensure an infrastructure that supports this diversity and inclusion activity.

6.     Allies are the Key

Let us suppose that you are a physically fit person leading the diversity and inclusion of people with disability or a straight person leading the D&I of LGBTQ+. In that case, you must ask the people from those communities to participate in your activity.

This helps you create a platform where your employees from those communities will feel heard louder.

7.     Inclusion in Trending

Inclusion can have a positive impact on employees who belong to the communities you are trying to focus on. You must ensure the participating &I employees feel respected, seen, and valued. This helps your employees perform better and build loyalty toward the organization.

8.     Delay Sets You Back by Years

Resisting implementing diversity and inclusion will lead you to stay years behind, and you will have to catch up with the rest of the competition. You will most likely lose the opportunity to hire top talent from diverse groups giving competitors with a D&I policy advantage over you.

Hiring a Keynote Speaker to Support Diversity and Inclusion

If you are a business owner or an events manager looking for an activity to train your employees or bring awareness about your brand practicing diversity and inclusion, Chris Ruden can help. He is a successful keynote speaker and social media influencer helping ace the diversity and inclusion efforts in various industries.