Embracing diversity and inclusivity is critical to the success of any organization. These aspects help to improve communication between team members and ultimately increase productivity. In this regard, it is imperative to create a work environment based on diversity and inclusiveness. Company CEOs play a significant role in ensuring the above elements are implemented in the workplace (Barrett, 2021). As a CEO, there are several strategies that I will apply to create a work environment that is implicit in diversity and inclusivity.
Primarily, I will form an inclusion council, a group of few influential leaders who are one level below a CEO. In any organization, the CEO has the responsibility to carefully select employees who will be members of the inclusion council (Hays-Thomas, 2016). The team will be involved in overseeing the hiring and retaining of employees. Additionally, an inclusion council addresses workers’ engagement issues among marginalized employee groups (Nair & Vohra, 2015). Most groups have regular meetings to review organizational progress and identify challenges that arise in the workplace. It is imperative to make sure that the board is diverse by choosing members who represent different ethnicities and genders. What is more, the members should have varied business functions.
A different strategy for improving inclusiveness will be to celebrate employee differences. One of the most perceptible ways to appreciate workers’ identities and backgrounds is by inviting them to share with other team members (Grissom, 2018). This plan can be done by holding regular parties to celebrate all nationalities represented among employees. Additionally, establishing a more enhanced HR presence for more isolated workers fosters inclusion (O’Donovan, 2018). We will achieve this by creating a special HR office to attend to employees who work in separate locations and often work different hours. Such an office will serve as a place where employees can have private talks with their leaders. In the end, workers will feel recognized and appreciated, irrespective of their backgrounds.
References
Barrett, S. J. (2021). Exploring diversity and inclusion leadership in complex organizations. In R. D. Johnson, Handbook of research on multidisciplinary perspectives on managerial and leadership psychology (pp. 320-353). IGI Global.
Grissom, A. R. (2018). The alert collector: Workplace diversity and inclusion.Reference & User Services Quarterly, 57(4), 243-247. Web.
Hays-Thomas, R. (2016). Managing workplace diversity and inclusion: A psychological perspective. Taylor & Francis.
Nair, N., & Vohra, N. (2015). Diversity and inclusion at the workplace: A review of research and perspectives [PDF document]. Web.
O’Donovan, D. (2018). Diversity and inclusion in the workplace. In C. Machado & J. Davim (Eds.), Organizational behavior and human resource management (pp. 73-108). Springer, Cham.