How can you build a team that values diversity and inclusion?
Diversity and inclusion are not only buzzwords, but essential elements of a successful business development team. A diverse and inclusive team can leverage different perspectives, experiences, and skills to create innovative solutions, build trust with clients, and foster a positive work culture. However, building such a team requires more than just hiring people from different backgrounds. It also requires intentional strategies, ongoing communication, and continuous learning. Here are some tips on how you can build a team that values diversity and inclusion.
Before you start recruiting or training your team, you need to have a clear vision of what diversity and inclusion mean for your business development goals. How do you want your team to reflect your target market, your values, and your competitive edge? What are the benefits and challenges of having a diverse and inclusive team? How will you measure and celebrate your progress? Having a vision will help you align your actions with your purpose, communicate your expectations, and inspire your team.
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The first step is always to have a clearly defined strategy which is cascaded down into team composition in other to fulfil the SMART goals and objectives. In looking at diversity, I usually think beyond race, color and gender. The need to have an all-inclusive team involves having a well balanced team with diversity around cultural background, abilities, neurodiversity, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and work styles. I enjoy celebrating the unique strengths and contributions of each of my team members whilst creating a safe working environment that promotes active listening and feedback. Creation of learning and development opportunities is also key in strengthening diversity with the incorporation of evaluation for improvement.
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Der Aufbau eines Teams, das Vielfalt und Inklusion schätzt, erfordert eine bewusste Anstrengung und einen strategischen Ansatz. Hier sind einige Punkte die Man unternehmen können: 1. Bewusstsein schaffen durch klare definierung der Vorteil von Vielfalt und inklusion 2. Führungspersönlichkeiten einbeziehen 3. Inklusive Kultur fördern 4. Diversity Recruiting 5. Diversity in Entscheidungsprozesse einbinden 6. Mentoring und Coaching 7. Förderung von Offenheit und Kommunikation 8. Flexible Arbeitsbedingungen 9. Evaluierung und Anpassung 10. Vielfalt wird gefeiert
Hiring is a crucial step in building a diverse and inclusive team. You need to look beyond the traditional criteria of education, experience, and skills, and consider the potential and fit of each candidate. Potential means the ability and willingness to learn, adapt, and grow in your business development environment. Fit means the alignment of values, goals, and work styles with your team and your vision. To hire for diversity and potential, you need to diversify your sourcing channels, avoid biases in your screening and interviewing processes, and involve your team in the decision making.
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One cannot assemble a diverse and inclusive team without making the process accessible to everyone! When recruiting key players for your team, you need to tailor your search to reach those individuals. For example, targeting different demographics may mean hosting career fairs in different locations where certain groups have higher representation. *Helpful note* - The hiring manager must abandon as much (if not all) obvious bias when starting the interview process. Any improprieties a company may face when treating a potential candidate different from anyone else is a huge liability for business and deterrent for others with diverse backgrounds from even applying. If preaching about hiring for diversity, action speaks louder than words!
Once you have hired a diverse team, you need to train them for inclusion and collaboration. Inclusion means creating a sense of belonging, respect, and recognition for each team member. Collaboration means fostering a culture of teamwork, communication, and feedback. To train for inclusion and collaboration, you need to provide orientation and onboarding programs, offer learning and development opportunities, facilitate team building activities, and encourage peer mentoring and coaching.
Communication is the key to maintaining a diverse and inclusive team. You need to communicate clearly and frequently with your team, both individually and collectively. You need to share your vision, goals, expectations, and feedback, as well as listen to their ideas, concerns, and suggestions. You need to create a safe and open space for dialogue, debate, and disagreement, as well as recognition, appreciation, and celebration. You need to use inclusive language, avoid jargon and assumptions, and adapt to different communication styles.
Learning is the outcome of having a diverse and inclusive team. You need to learn from the diversity of your team, as well as the innovation that they generate. You need to leverage the different perspectives, experiences, and skills of your team to create new solutions, improve existing processes, and explore new opportunities. You need to embrace the challenges, failures, and conflicts that arise from diversity as learning opportunities, not as threats or obstacles. You need to support your team's learning by providing resources, feedback, and recognition.
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Learning must be constant - otherwise your team is handling diversity wrong. Scenarios will play out where people face conflict (i.e. ideas and perspectives that may bring up uncomfortable truths to others) Recognizing these head on, relying on past and present trainings, and being in an trusted environment will boost team morale while improving business and implement cutting-edge solutions by a unified team.
Leading is the responsibility of building a diverse and inclusive team. You need to lead by example and accountability, not by authority or control. You need to model the behaviors, values, and attitudes that you expect from your team, such as curiosity, empathy, and respect. You need to hold yourself and your team accountable for your actions, decisions, and results, as well as for your diversity and inclusion goals. You need to empower your team to take ownership, initiative, and risks, as well as to support each other, collaborate, and innovate.
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Actions speak louder than words. You can speak for a full day, but no one will listen, whereas a simple action can move mountains. Leading by example is not an option, it’s a must if you want to promote diversity and inclusion. Your actions have to be consistent all the time; otherwise, you will be perceived as acting and merely seeking credit for one incident. It’s not easy and requires lots of effort, but the good news is that your efforts will yield a lot of energy that will transform your culture and, accordingly, boost your business.
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Building a team that values diversity and inclusion begins with leading by example and fostering a culture of accountability. By demonstrating inclusive behaviors and holding oneself and others accountable for creating an inclusive environment, teams can embrace diversity and ensure that every member feels valued and respected.
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