How to Build a Healthy and Inclusive Workplace

Gender inequality and harassment have been issues in the workplace for decades. Although many gender-related workplace problems seem to be getting addressed recently, many challenges and issues remain. Just to mention two of them,  one in three female employees is sexually harassed, while the wage gap between men and women remains immense.

Change comes from the top down. Your leadership team should closely monitor its strategy for continuous employee performance management to ensure that each team member is performing at the  best of his or her ability in a safe, respectful environment.

There’s No “I” in Team

Each business consists of multiple unique individuals, all with their own strengths and weaknesses. But everyone has one thing in common, which is that they’re human. It’s no secret that no one is perfect. Good leadership recognize that employees need to be more than simply cogs in a machine and eliminate any characteristics of a toxic workplace.

Getting rid of negative behaviors may disrupt long-standing business practices and seem like it won’t impact your bottom line. Mention that to Uber, however, which recently lost almost 20 billion dollars after months of bad press caused the company’s shares to fall drastically. Here are some ways to adapt your company’s thinking and address your workers’ needs for fairness and inclusion.

Build Trust

Implementing a culture of transparency and trust is a good place to start. Leaders should nurture an open and safe environment by recognizing hard work, granting autonomy, encouraging the spread of information, and showing vulnerability where appropriate.

When people are thrust into high-stress environments, toxicity can easily result. When feelings are taken into account, negativity, gossip, and physical harassment are far less likely to occur.

Open Communication

When employees feel that they can trust their leaders, they will feel safe to speak up about unprofessional behavior. Providing opportunities for staff members to come forward about harassment allows management to take proper actions against offenders.

Remaining attentive to cultural cues and initiating conversation with employees helps eliminate improper behavior and attitudes.

Lead By Example

It’s not uncommon for higher-ups to feel as though they have a certain level of protection, regardless of how bad their behavior is. In fact, 50% of employees reported having left a job because of a bad manager. Strong leaders recognize that high performance and engagement come from the ground up, and will hold their managers accountable for their actions.

Make Personal Connections

Every single member of your team has his or her own interests, likes, and dislikes outside of the workplace. They don’t simply exist in the office from 9-5, Monday through Friday. While it’s important to remain professional, leaders should make an effort to get to know their employees on a personal level.

Not only will personal interactions generate trust, vulnerability, and openness, but learning more about employees will also allow you to recognize when something is not right. Whether it be a change in the quality of work or an evident  feeling of unhappiness, leaders should be able to provide a degree of support to employees that are not at peak performance.

Learn to Lead

In a strong company, leaders aren’t chosen arbitrarily. They’re picked because they’ve proven that they have unique skill sets and the ability to listen to and interact with others empathetically. Managers should be chosen based on their ability to bring out the best – not the worst – in their team members.

A toxic workplace will have a leadership team in name only; it will be composed of people looking to get ahead on the merits of their staff. This type of environment is a breeding ground for harassment and misbehavior, since there is no system in place to protect employees.

The Workplace of the Future

Modern leaders focus on setting a good example for those around them, providing a safe space to talk about issues, and trying to better understand employees.

All of this is not to say that the workspace should be free of stress and function as a therapy session for employees. It’s actually been shown that setting difficult goals is an essential part of building trust and encouraging communication among coworkers. Of course, managers must be a part of the process, regularly checking in and adjusting goals to make sure everyone is staying on track.

The best leaders will provide employees with a safe environment that stimulates open communication, growth, and high levels of productivity and engagement.