What is Your Company Climate?

This article is part one of a three part series discussing Workplace Inclusivity.

We have thermometers to measure temperature, barometers to measure barometric pressure, and hygrometers to measure the humidity in a room. Yet, what exists to help us measure the climate, pressure, and general air in an office? I don’t mean literally — I’m referring to the immeasurable body posture change when someone of a different race or religion walks into the break room, or the re-calibration of conversation when someone whose gender identity differs from the group. What’s the climate in your space? Here are three suggestions can move your company towards a more inclusive climate.

Ask questions!!

This may seem obvious, because we ask each other questions every day, but do the questions we ask drive us to gain a deeper understanding of who makes up our team? The worst thing you can do is make assumptions about a person based on what you see or believe. Discovering where people are from, what their interests are, and how they feel about the current state of affairs in their work environment can add valuable insight. If your office environment does not lend to personal chatter, you can even conduct an anonymous survey for starters.

As your team becomes more comfortable sharing you can move toward more intentional interactions and engagement. Learning more about your team will lead to greater understanding and a more productive environment. Culture Amp is a tool recently shared by one of our Diversity and Inclusion Committee members. Culture Amp makes it easy to collect, understand and act on employee feedback.

Take action

Once you have an understanding of the culture in your company, do something to improve it — but don’t do it alone! You’ve taken all this time to think about your culture and to get a baseline by including others. Bring them along. Success happens only when companies cultivate buy-in and welcome input from the people who are directly impacted. Creating an inclusive workplace cannot be the mission or work of a sole person.

Creating an inclusive work space takes creativity. Perhaps your survey results show that you have a high number of Hispanic or Latino men and part of their heritage is watching football (soccer) championship matches. Instead of losing productivity for a day while everyone calls in sick to watch the finals, have a watch party at the office! Ideas like this are created by understanding who is on your team and learning through trusted conversations what values and traditions are important.

Assess and pivot

Creating an inclusive work space is a an ongoing opportunity. Not everything will work. Allow yourself to take an inventory of the activities you’ve implemented engage the entire organization in a more meaningful way. Don’t get discouraged when something doesn’t work. Perhaps the gender sensitivity workshop didn’t have the effect you were hoping for, and incidents keep coming up amongst employees. While it can be disheartening, it’s appropriate to take time to consider how you might deliver the message in a more effective way? Perhaps your team thrives more in one-on-one or small group conversations (rather than a seminar)? When you’re at a loss or out of ideas, consider bringing in someone from the outside to advise, mentor or support your efforts.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, if you want to foster a culture of inclusion and understanding, you have to model this behavior. Be open to listening to your employees, colleagues, and customers. Create a culture where tough conversations are championed and then take action on the what you’ve learned.

Edited by Jessica Koscher

Photo: Background vector created by macrovector — www.freepik.com