The Importance of Inclusion
Now more than ever, employers must arm their workforce with the knowledge and language to support a diverse environment. Employers, as the controllers of employee's livelihoods and ability to access essential services, have a legal obligation to ensure that their employees are protected from discrimination.
Employers can, and more importantly, should take steps to support inclusivity in many different ways. Some steps that Nonprofit Solutions has taken to create a more inclusive environment include adding Juneteenth to a list of paid holidays and expanding our bereavement leave policy to include the death of close friends and family to support LGBTQ employees, who we recognize often must choose their own families. Employers should work with their workforce and HR experts to determine the best inclusivity plan for their specific organization.
“Importantly, in every case, an inclusivity plan must include a diversity and inclusion training for all employees and/or volunteers.”
Importantly, in every case, an inclusivity plan must include a diversity and inclusion training for all employees and/or volunteers. Employers have an obligation to arm their employees with the historical knowledge and language to dismantle oppressive biases and support their minority coworkers. In order to do this, employers must be willing to discuss difficult topics, such as white supremacy and other systems of power that we know have a very real impact on black and brown people. Employers must be willing to teach their employees concrete skills, such as asking a woman "what did you just say" and allowing her to finish her point when she is interrupted in a board room. Employers must be willing to lead by example and face their own biases, all while continuing to demand that the culture change from the top-down, should it need to.
Nonprofit Solutions is here to help you have those difficult conversations. We offer one-on-one diversity and inclusion mentoring for supervisors, plus trainings on diversity and inclusion for supervisors and staff. Further, we are available to conduct third party discrimination investigations should you receive a complaint.
