Supporting and strengthening D&I initiatives: What is the way forward?

One of the major priorities for any organisation to function smoothly and to build a comfortable, secure, healthy workplace is to address policies catering to diversity and inclusion. And while many leaders have paid heed to that, what is also important is the proper implementation of these policies. The values of D&I may be universal, but each country has its own distinctively diverse workforce and will have a different set of issues that will be of prime concern. The Australian HR Institute (AHRI) which held its annual conference on diversity and inclusion in May this year came up with three priority areas: refugee treatment, psychological safety and addressing sexual harassment. To these, we add another which is the treatment of minority and indigenous communities. It is also important that we recognise how D&I initiatives need to be intersectional in nature. Each of the four priority concerns crisscross domains, there is no clear segregation between them and a holistic D&I policy will be the best way forward. 

To cite evidence of this, the inaugural Women of Colour in the Australian Workforce survey revealed that more than half of workers who are women of colour have been discriminated against, in spite of almost the same amount (59 per cent) reporting that their workplace has a D&I policy in place. What we can find is that even though sexism is a universal problem across workspaces, women of colour tend to be more vulnerable in Australia. 

Keeping these things in mind, there are four important goals that any company in Australia needs to account for. 

Psychological safety in setting the foundation:

According to Amy Edmonson, the term psychological safety denotes an environment where one is free to speak up without fear of embarrassment or retribution. The creation of such a space at the level of a workplace has three dimensions to it: employee profile which is inclusive of employee’s tasks and professional relationships with leaders and co-workers; employee wellbeing and employee identity. Clarity about the employee profile will not only help in addressing potential conflicts and improve workplace relationships but will also encourage employee autonomy and control. The second will look into their physical and emotional well-being, and the third will help address potential overt or covert acts of racism that may be carried out in an organisation.

Addressing the cultural load:

So many times, the pressure of designing and carrying out D&I initiatives are handed over to the employees belonging to minority communities without any recognition given to them. This is what we call an invisible additional cultural load which is often borne by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at work.  According to a report from Diversity Council Australia (DCA) and the Jumbunna Institute of Indigenous Education and Research, this seems to be a common experience among indigenous employees and causes undue stress to them. What then becomes essential is the need for cultural safety which accommodates diversity and difference in practice through outsourcing the cultural load to organisations catering to minority communities for instance. Other important measures would include building Resilience Action Plans, re-evaluating indigenous employment policies and creating mentorship programs for indigenous employees. 

Recognising and accommodating refugees:

Psychological safety and cultural safety are needs that are essential for the workforce who identify as refugees too. HR has immense potential for hiring talent from the pool of skilled refugees and assimilating them into the world of employment. This is a D&I initiative which is highly cognizant of the need for inclusivity and opens doors to meet the challenges of employment for a section of the population who can get left out of the picture. It is even more important in the case of Australia where the entrepreneurship of refugees is higher than the average level, so is their contribution to the nation’s GDP.

Rectifying the gaps in sexual harassment policies:

While creating a gender inclusive workplace is the ideal way to prevent of incidents of sexual harassment, it is equally important to recognise the increased vulnerability of women from minority communities and the mechanisms to be kept in place in addressing these incidents. An interesting point to note is how such acts can be carried out in a hybrid, virtual workspace as well. Speaking out is a practice that sounds simple and easier on paper which is why the Respect@Work: Sexual harassment National Inquiry Report (2020) published by Australian Human Rights Commission recommended that workplaces adopt a victim-centered approach that places emphasis on offering support to workers in addressing their emotional and financial wellbeing, removing barriers to reporting, offering avenues beyond a formal investigation, building access to advocacy services and also providing training in trauma and victim-centric approaches for HR, executives and line managers. 

Acknowledging the gaps that are unique to the situation in Australia is one of the first steps to creating and implementing effective D&I policies. A holistic policy approach that understands how these four broad measures interact with one another and help in creating overall improved outcomes for the well-being of the diverse set of employees can be a step in the right direction.