Does your organization have a great workplace culture?
If you want to find, hire, and keep the best talent, create a respectful and inclusive workplace culture that makes every person feel respected, safe, and welcomed. This includes people who are different in many ways, including those with different genders, backgrounds, and circumstances. A respectful and inclusive workplace also welcomes diversity in thought, communication, and problem-solving styles. By finding and keeping the best talent from all talent pools, organizations reap great rewards.
Creating a respectful and inclusive culture is not just a “feel good” exercise – there is plenty of research showing that organizations with more diverse workforces perform better financially. For example, a recent study from the global consulting firm McKinsey found that organizations in the top 25% of their industry based on gender or racial and ethnic diversity in their leadership ranks are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians. Although, the correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation – greater gender and ethnic diversity in leadership doesn’t automatically translate into more profit. The correlation does indicate that when companies commit themselves to diversity they are more successful.
Ann Rhoades is an expert on building great organization cultures. She was a founder of JetBlue Airways, and the Chief People Officer of Southwest Airlines, a company well known for its people-friendly culture and consistently strong financial performance.
Rhoads says that her goal was always to have “A People” – those who genuinely live your company values; who go out of their way to be helpful, and who care that things are done right. A respectful and inclusive workplace culture actively finds, hires, and keeps the best talent from all sources of talent. These are the “A People” needed to create competitive advantage and above-average financial performance.
The BuildForce Respectful and Inclusive Workplace Toolkit provides the resources needed to create a great workplace culture. Leaders and managers may find the Respectful Workplace Online Self-Assessment Tool of particular interest. This resource asks management to assess all aspects of its organization and whether it reflects respectful and inclusive values. Without respect and inclusion as a core value, and taking pro-active steps to support that culture, organizations will not have the workplace culture that can find, hire, and keep the “A People” needed for great rewards.
For more info:
- Forbes. Build Your Culture By Design, Not By Accident. September 26, 2018. See
www.forbes.com/sites/rodgerdeanduncan/2018/09/26/build-your-culture-by-design-not-by-accident/#2f62a2833a67 - McKinsey. Why Diversity Matters. January 2015. See www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters
This project has been funded by Status of Women Canada.
Respectful and Inclusive Workplaces
