An Inclusive Federal Workplace - Policy-Driven or Team Effort?
An inclusive workplace should support and welcome people with all kinds of differences. America is a land of diverse people. This is why inclusion must be a crucial element of every walk of life – whether it is an inclusive society, workplace diversity, or inclusion in the public sector.
An inclusive workforce is important for a person’s dignity and security. It welcomes people with all kinds of differences and makes the employees feel comfortable with their jobs. Inclusive workplaces also accept that different people have different ways of processing information. They might also interact with others in a different manner and achieve their goals through their individual trends.
The White House issues an executive order on including equity, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion in the federal workplace. Hence the federal government must have a workforce that represents the diversity of the American people.
Most of us are already familiar with the concept of an inclusive workplace. But there is still a lot to learn about its value and importance.
What Does an Inclusive Workplace Depend on?
Inclusion in the workplace depends on the day-to-day interactions between different team members of a workplace. For example, the managers, employees, leaders, peers, and other teams. In short, an inclusive workplace culture solely relies on two things – supportive policies from leaders and the organic growth of an inclusive culture within the federal teams.
What Are Inclusive Workplace Policies?
Inclusive workplace policies are designed to encourage and guide the behavior of employees and management according to your business’s performance objectives.
A company needs an inclusive workplace policy due to the many benefits that it offers, such as improved engagement of employees, better corporate image, and increased presence in the market. A federal workplace’s culture is defined by its workplace policies. And the policies are rooted in meeting the needs of all employees of an organization.
The supportive policies’ effectiveness depends on the outcomes. When an organization implements supportive policies as per plan, it can ensure inclusion in the work environment where no employee is marginalized, excluded, or treated unfairly. Inclusive workplace policies also ensure that all employees have access to equal responsibilities, resources, opportunities, and other employment benefits.
So what are the main components of an inclusive workplace policy? Inclusive workplace policies include setting out the goals of an organization in the following manner;
- Making efforts to guarantee the dignity, confidentiality, integration, and independence of all employees, thus providing them equal opportunities and responsibilities.
- Communicating effectively with employees having disabilities and ensuring that you take their disabilities into account.
- Ensuring that all employees have access to assistive devices.
- Making sure that employees with disabilities, their support people, and their service animals feel welcome and supported in the workplace.
- Organizations should make accommodations for all employees as per their individual needs.
- Furthermore, accessibility to training staff should also be provided.
- Organizations should create a foolproof system to receive data from employees and respond to feedback appropriately.
The management practices must ensure that these inclusive workplace policies are implemented effectively.
Growth of an Inclusive Culture Within the Federal Teams
A workplace can only thrive when people of all ages, backgrounds, and genders are allowed to participate collectively in running an organization. Federal teams must ensure that the ideas of every person are heard, and their contributions are valued.
Employees who are included in decision-making and other critical aspects of the business offer a more engaged and productive behavior. Diversity and inclusion in a workplace should be deeply rooted in its policies and values. It begins with providing equal employment opportunities to all employees, retaining people having a diversity of thought and different backgrounds and skills, and building an inclusive culture that dismantles all barriers to participation.
Federal government and agencies should identify the elements of workforce inclusion, which can cultivate the environment of every organization. Here is how federal teams can naturally grow an inclusive culture within their workplace.
Treat Everyone With Fairness And Respect
Federal teams must provide equity and respect to every employee – key elements of a workplace that can ensure success and productivity among employees. Fairness and respect are the basis of an inclusive workplace. These basic rules demand that employees must be allowed to participate in the workplace without any discrimination, favoritism, or constraints.
Make Every Employee Feel Welcomed
When employees feel a sense of belonging in their workplace, they start contributing more time and energy toward the organization’s goals. Employees must be appreciated for the contributions and authentic qualities they bring to the workplace. When all employees feel like equal members of a workplace, they will perform their best to ensure the federal team’s success.
Empowerment and Growth for Everyone
The most inclusive workplace is the one that ensures that all employees, their managers, and other communities are identifying and working towards projects together. The organization must provide career and educational opportunities to every individual based on their individual interests and strengths, which benefits and increases their engagement, success rate, and leads to higher productivity.
How to Introduce a Culture of Inclusivity Within the Federal Teams?
There are many proven methods to create inclusive workplaces that empower both employers and employees. They usually follow a similar roadmap that works to maximize the potential of diverse employees. These processes include;
Educating The Leaders
When the leaders of a company are educated about and value the importance of an inclusive culture, they will hold anyone accountable that devalues inclusivity in a workplace. Leaders and coaching should make all employees feel included. Many organizations have successfully incorporated diversity and inclusion in their workplaces by specifically targeting leaders to become self-aware and efficient in carrying out their roles.
Forming an Inclusion Council
A diversity, equity, and inclusion council will serve as an organization advisory board that is composed of individuals who come from different backgrounds. These team members will guide the team and take action on the company’s culture and environmental policies. This council creates an opportunity to include equity in the workplace by leveraging diversity and making sure that every employee has a sense of well-being and belonging, regardless of their background, gender, or other diverse qualities.
Celebrating Diversity
When we live in a culturally rich and diverse workplace, we need to learn how to respect every employee’s background. This is a proactive approach to bring inclusivity to a workplace. Celebrating diversity means that the traditions of every employee are recognized and celebrated in the workplace, and to include groups and spaces that will promote this diversity.
For example, workplaces can value the major faiths of the employees, such as Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, and Judaism. If religious employees need a separate place for prayer and meditation, the workplace should provide that.
Getting Feedback From the Employees
Once you accept an employee into your workplace, you must discuss effective inclusion initiatives. This includes a continuous assessment of the demographics of an organization, coupled with a forward-thinking plan and strategies to embrace and acknowledge diversity in the workplace. Getting feedback from employees is an important step in ensuring that your efforts at workplace inclusion are successful and effective. These include conducting surveys, carrying out town-hall meetings, and holding separate holiday parties for those team members who have non-traditional work hours.
Make the Meetings More Inclusive and Effective
Workplaces should distribute meeting materials in order to help those employees who do not speak English as their primary language. Rotating the meeting times as per the requirements of work-from-home employees working in different time zones is also important. Federal teams must recognize any opportunity for individual diversity and use it to increase inclusion in their workplace.
Measuring the Individual Progress of Employees
It is important that federal teams establish clear communication strategies and measurable goals for all employees. Specific and time-bound goals must be cross-referenced with the survey data gathered from the workplace, which will give federal teams a measure of the inclusivity they have created in the workplace.
Conclusion
As we have discussed, inclusivity in the federal workplace is not just a result of specific policies from the leaders. It also depends on deep-rooted values that all team members practice from the get-go. When employees experience inclusivity in the workplace, they will commit to their work with more passion and dedication than before.
Management Concepts provide focused training solutions to federal teams to make their training and development more strategic. This includes providing numerous solutions to include diversity, equity, and inclusion in your workplace. Contact us now for further assistance.
