Diversity: 4 Steps for Small Businesses to Get It Right

The business case for diversification is strong: improved performance, the ability to attract better quality candidates and an increased potential to act on innovative ideas. So why isn’t everyone actively pursuing a diverse workforce? 

Successfully achieving, maintaining and fostering a diverse workforce requires extra effort; an effort that small businesses and startups may find daunting on tight budgets and fewer resources.

The goal of diversification is to increase the variety of thoughts, perspectives, and experiences within an organization. This results in fewer ‘yes-men’ who eagerly and blindly cheer your decisions as you sail the company straight into a typhoon.  Let’s face it, that environment of perpetual head-nodding is an easy one to navigate.  There is never any resistance to your ideas and everyone is seemingly agreeable.  Who wouldn’t want to work in that organization? Yet, it is right there that innovation, insight, and growth go to die.

In order for diverse ideas to be heard, they must first be voiced. That can come as a shock to the business owner or leader who has never before met resistance.  In fact, it can be misinterpreted as insubordination or even the beginnings of a toxic culture and squashed outright.  Here are four steps the small business owner or founder can take to develop a culture that encourages diversity of thought without breaking the bank.

Invest in Experienced Managers

Your team may currently have inspiring leaders; leaders who have grown with the company and know it inside and out.  Inspirational leadership without management experience will not be enough to navigate your organization through a cultural shift.  Experienced people managers know how to support and develop employees.  They also know how to address issues head-on.  Thinking of your team: can you count on them when things go sideways? Have they successfully managed teams through adversity? Are they experienced in leading difficult conversations? De-escalating conflict? Supporting diversity of thought doesn’t have to be a bumpy road, but the likelihood is greater with a novice people manager at the helm.  Depending on the size of your organization, one well-placed, experienced person can guide, teach and lead your management team’s development.

Encourage Respectful Challengers

How can you encourage people to speak up and question decisions and offer opinions without fear of being fired, facing abusive feedback or being ostracized? This may sound like overthinking; however, everyone’s prior work experiences are different.  People have been fired for far less. There can be fear on the part of the employee and also the managers as they move into this new dynamic. 

Employees may need time to learn tactful approaches when stating challenges.  Shutting down someone with a great, but poorly phrased idea is not the way to go.  Instead, learn to coach them on other ways to make their case without isolating their coworkers or risking losing out on their valuable contributions.

Original article in Business London Magazine, October 2019

Managers can start asking the following questions throughout meetings or at critical decision points: “How can this fail?” “what are we not taking into consideration?” “who isn’t part of this conversation but should be?” These questions welcome employees to share contrasting ideas.

Leadership also needs to learn to navigate the pitfalls of being challenged.  Ego is a huge blind spot for all of us and it can be uncomfortable the first time someone calls us out on an oversight.  Lastly, patience isn’t available in high quantities for some businesses.  Action-oriented founders may struggle to understand that exploring more options will take more time and potentially achieve the same result.  Building these questions into regular processes means that ‘lost’ time will diminish.  The first eye-opening moment will remove any hesitancy experienced in the beginning.

Treat Everyone as a Whole Person

Sound too obvious? Diversity stumbles into tokenism when an employee’s value is reduced to the only factor that makes them different. 

Asking an employee to contribute her ‘female perspective’ on occasional projects or campaigns does just that.  The value that an employee brings to your business is the sum of her entire life experience and deserves to be leveraged at all times.  I am not suggesting that you do not engage in outreach if an employee is well-positioned to do so, however, understand that a) you have to ensure your outreach request is not the only time that employee feels valued and b) just because that person is part of an underserved gender, race or religion, it does not mean they are representative of the whole community.  Either way, your outreach may not give you the results you wanted, so proceed with caution.

Don’t Be a Solo Act

Hiring and training in diversity can be expensive endeavours.  Newer or small-sized companies should take advantage of diversity services available through their business and community associations.  Attend seminars held by local groups with an emphasis on inclusion.  To take advantage of more tailored offerings, pool resources together with other like-minded companies and participate in a joint training session with a qualified diversity and inclusion facilitator. 

Small businesses and founders face enough challenges getting their companies off the ground.  Laying the foundation to scale a successful, diverse culture doesn’t have to be one of them.