Employee well-being can feel like an elusive concept to many employers trying to crack the code around retention, attrition, performance, and attracting top talent. Now, with an increasing number of studies pointing to inclusivity, belonging, and equity as being top drivers of retention and high performance, organisations are looking for tangible strategies to support their DEI&B initiatives.
As organisations and their employees spend Pride Month thinking about how to create a more supportive and inclusive environment for their fellow colleagues, we're here to outline the top ways employee well-being, diversity, equity, and inclusion are interconnected. We'll then walk you through three concrete strategies to not just signal inclusivity to the public but actually deliver on it to your employees.
DEI&B & Employee well-being: two sides of the same coin.
- Creating an inclusive workplace means building a culture where employees across all identities and abilities feel safe bringing their whole selves to work without negatively impacting their careers. Committing to this isn't just the right thing to do, though—it is proven to decrease attrition and burnout while attracting top talent. According to McKinsey, 54% of employees left their job due to not feeling valued by their organisation, with 51% reporting they lacked a sense of belonging. Additionally, 46% cited the desire to work with people who trust and care for each other. By investing in programs that support connection and a sense of belonging, organisations can set off a domino effect of factors that improve overall employee well-being and contribute to their bottom line.
- Belonging breeds more belonging...and financial success. When employees feel accepted and embraced, regardless of their differences and individuality, they are more likely to be creative, take risks, and innovate together. Inclusive environments report higher employee engagement, innovation, and customer service. More than that, they drive fairness, equity, and transparency with job hiring, promotions, and pay.
- Progressive organisations know that a diverse workforce is proven to result in higher profitability. One of the best ways to attract diverse talent is to provide effective well-being initiatives that consider different identities and abilities. By understanding the different needs of employees, organisations can create well-being initiatives that are tailored to each individual. This can help to ensure that everyone feels supported, valued and connected to their workplace. The end result is a work culture that attracts and retains the best and brightest talent, regardless of identity and ability.
Don't just talk about inclusivity and belonging; deliver it.
Concepts like equity, inclusion and belonging can feel abstract and leave organisation leaders wondering where to start. Here, we've outlined three specific steps you can take to promote a work culture where your employees feel they can show up as their whole selves.
- Incorporate DEI&B into employee learning and development. Creating an inclusive culture means working toward a workplace where everyone feels welcome and respected, regardless of their identity or ability. You can do this by providing training on unconscious bias, bias interrupting, creating ERG committees that represent different intersections of identity, and being more transparent with employees about what you're doing to be more inclusive and diverse. Some quick, tangible ways to deliver a more inclusive work environment include: adding your pronouns next to your Slack/Zoom name, customising team workflows to accommodate employees who are differently abled, and making sure that the people interviewing new candidates represent different abilities and identities.
- Reassess the well-being resources offered to employees to ensure that the content is inclusive of all identities and abilities. That can look like well-being programs curated specifically for LGBTQ+ individuals or colleagues who are hard of hearing or visually impaired. The best way to achieve rolling out an inclusive well-being benefit like this is to find one that creates a personalised journey for each user and customises offerings based on their specific needs. Such programs need to take the whole person into account, offering benefits that target physical, mental, emotional, and – equally important – social well-being.
- Listen and act upon employee feedback. This requires more than just sending out employee surveys; it means sharing the results, whether they're good or bad, sharing your game plan for maintaining or improving DEI&B metrics, and keeping employees informed about the progress you're making. Transparency throughout an organization builds trust and engagement within a workforce while creating an inclusive and honest team culture.
In recognition of Pride Month, organisations can start to shift the way they approach employee well-being to encompass the work they do to build an equitable, diverse, accepting, and inclusive environment. In doing so, they'll not only foster connection and belonging among their teams, they'll create a workplace that employees want to see succeed.
