11 Ways to Increase Workplace Diversity

Date updated: October 18, 2024 

Workplace diversity is the result of companies making an effort to hire people with different characteristics, such as ethnicity, religion, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientation, and gender. The goal is to create a culture where individual differences are respected, and all employees are treated equitably, receiving the same opportunities for growth and advancement.
 
The benefits of inclusion are well known. These include increased collaboration, higher employee engagement, reduced turnover, improved profits, and stronger brand identity. According to LinkedIn, teams that value inclusivity are more than 35% more productive than those that don’t, and companies that are more diverse earn a 2.5x higher cash flow per employee. 
 
Diversity starts with hiring and retaining diverse talent. Here are 11 ways for organizations to help create a diverse workplace culture.
 
1. Leverage diverse job boards. Post openings on job boards that specialize in diversity. Examples of these include Diversity Working, one of the largest online diversity job boards, Recruit Disability, which helps locate potential employees with disabilities, and HBCU, a network of students and alumni from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 

2. Highlight diversity on the career page on your website. Be sure that your company’s diversity statement and any current initiatives are clear on your career page. and reference these initiatives in every job description you publish. 


 
3. Provide targeted internships and scholarships. Provide high-value internships and scholarships to employees from under-represented groups that will help them advance more quickly in key roles within the organization. 
 
4. Offer diverse mentorships. Mentorship programs help ensure everyone has the opportunity to advance and create closer employee relationships. Establishing an inclusive mentorship program can help foster diversity. 
 
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5. Conduct diversity training. It is beneficial for the executive team and other leaders to undergo diversity training, which can foster greater awareness of one’s blind spots—and help to launch the adoption of meaningful cultural and sensitivity training throughout the organization. 
 
6. Create an inclusion council. Recruit a council of eight to 12 top leaders who are committed to inclusion. They themselves should be as diverse a group as possible. The council should then meet regularly to create strategies for increasing diversity.  
 
7. Reward diverse referrals. Ask employees to refer job candidates they know from under-represented groups in your company and offer rewards or bonuses for recommending diverse candidates who join the company. 
 
8. Celebrate employee differences. Invite employees to share their backgrounds and traditions in the workplace, including religious and cultural practices. For example, since 2015, every September Merck has sponsored its Global Diversity & Inclusion Experience Month, dedicated to fostering diversity and inclusion across all its global locations.


 
9. Unconscious bias training for recruiters. For even the most experienced recruiters, reducing bias is one of the biggest challenges in hiring. Recruiters, hiring managers, and others who participate in the hiring process should be aware of potential kneejerk decisions they may not even realize they’re making when evaluating candidates. Training HR staff to recognize and avoid bias in the recruitment and hiring process may require outside consultants, but it’s an undertaking that’s well worth the effort.

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10. Incorporate diversity into company policies and practices. Develop or amend workplace policies to be more inclusive and diversity-friendly, from hiring practices to performance reviews, promotions, and benefits. Check if your company is an equal opportunity employer and has been approved by the Federal EEOC. 
 
11. Strengthen anti-discriminatory policies. In a 2023 survey conducted by WebMD on the efficacy of DE&I programs across the country, 62% of respondents felt their company had not gone far enough to encourage diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging within their organization. Conduct a thorough review of existing policies and report the results to top leadership and/or the inclusion council.  
 
Moving Forward with Technology
 
Many studies show that the hiring process tends to be biased—typically due to unconscious sexism, racism, and ageism. To eliminate unconscious bias, HR software programs and tools have been developed that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to make better diversity and inclusion hiring decisions. Research is still being conducted to perfect this technology.

Further Reading: Does STEM Diversity Promote Workforce Diversity?
 
But in the meantime, it’s crucial that the human beings in human resources continue to do the good and important work of eliminating bias in their hiring practices—and that those at the top of their companies continue to make DEI&B a vital priority.
 
Mark Crawford is a technology writer based in Corrales, N.M.