How Small and Mid-Sized Businesses Can Prioritize DEI Initiatives

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have always been important in the workplace. But that doesn’t mean they’ve always been prioritized. Thankfully, in recent years, more businesses and business leaders are working to establish healthy, inclusive workplace environments. While most people associate major corporations and big businesses with these initiatives, it’s just as essential for small-and-mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) to get on board.

Let’s take a closer look at a few ways you can shift your priorities and stay on pace with large enterprises when it comes to hiring the best candidates from a diverse pool and creating a comfortable, safe place for them to shine.

Use Technology to Your Advantage

Today’s modern workplace offers more opportunities than ever before, thanks to advancements in technology. Remote work has been on the rise for years, but we saw a major push during the COVID-19 pandemic when many people used it out of necessity. Thankfully, it’s a trend that continues to grow as both businesses and employees recognize the benefits. For SMEs, the benefits of hiring remote workers include:

●      Reduced overhead,

●      Boosted retention,

●      Greater productivity, and

●      Better work-life balance for employees (less burnout).

Perhaps most importantly, though, remote-based work offers underrepresented groups the opportunity to network and apply for careers that they wouldn’t have had access to before. Digitalization is an incredible equalizer in that regard, opening up your business to a wider talent pool. No matter where a candidate is in the world, you can focus on their actual qualities rather than the distance. This benefits your business and improves diversity all at once.

Utilizing remote and hybrid models can also boost internal communication within your business. You can’t control other people’s unconscious biases. But, by developing remote teams of diverse individuals and having them communicate regularly and work together on projects, you’ll foster relationships that can break down the walls of bias and change people’s perspectives on different backgrounds and ethnicities.

Demonstrate a Commitment to DEI Initiatives

If you truly want to benefit from DEI initiatives and show that your business is making inclusivity a priority, be ready to back up your claims with action. By showing a strong commitment to those initiatives, you’ll be more likely to attract a diverse audience. That means a larger pool of employees to choose from, and a more interested target audience that’s seeking out diverse companies. According to a 2020 survey by Glassdoor, 76% of job seekers say diversity is an important factor in their decision to go with a specific business. With this much approval, you could be missing out on a significant hiring pool if you don’t actively showcase your commitment.

Therefore, you must prioritize diversity initiatives with the following steps:

●      Showing honesty and transparency

●      Fighting back against unconscious bias

●      Acknowledging different religions and holidays

●      Celebrating differences

●      Creating anti-discrimination policies

Most importantly, make sure you’re consistently asking your current employees what you could be doing differently (or better) to create a diverse and inclusive workplace environment. They’ll likely have more feedback than you think. Getting their perspective will help you realize what needs to be changed internally, not only to retain your existing employees but to attract new ones.



Recognize the Challenges

Even though we’re in the 21st century, we’re not where we need to be when it comes to workplace inclusivity and equality. There are still some challenges that underrepresented groups face on a regular basis. For example, take a look at what most women deal with in the workforce. Without getting into gender pay gap issues, it’s easy to see that women are still underrepresented in leadership positions. Making DEI a priority among leadership should be a top priority in your business so you can work to overcome those challenges from the inside out.

You might also have a harder time than you think attracting diverse job candidates. If you want to build an inclusive and diverse company, it’s essential to be appealing to people from all different backgrounds and ethnicities. But, that’s not always as easy as putting out an average job posting.

You’ll have better recruitment results if you use analytics to reduce bias and match the right people with the right roles. Make sure your HR team – no matter how small it might be – is adequately trained to reduce bias in the workplace.

Most importantly, you can overcome DEI challenges within your business by clearly stating what it means to you. Transparency is crucial for any business that wants to be inclusive and attract a diverse audience of employees and customers. Whether you prepare a specific mission statement or openly talk about prioritizing inclusivity on your website, social media, etc., don’t be afraid to let your audience know exactly what you stand for. You might not be a major corporation, but you can be a powerful voice in your industry – locally and on a larger scale – if you’re willing to lead the way in DEI initiatives and stand by your commitments.