Retaining and Supporting a Diverse Workforce

Hooray! There is finally an intentional and thought-out multicultural workforce. Now what?  

While it may be easy to feel like the heavy lifting is done once a great team is attained, that’s far from the case. Let’s talk about how to maintain and support a multicultural workforce. One key concept to address is identity. It's crucial to think introspectively about held identities like race, gender, or sexual orientation. How do these identities show up in the world? In every space we walk into our identities are at play. Knowing how complex the conversation of identities and the intersectionality of those identities is in our society, we can imagine how this same complexity transfers to the workplace. There are so many different personalities, cultures, and identities in the workplace, and how they interact with one another always looks different. This is why it is crucial to be mindful of positionality in a work environment, or how identities interact with others. This is vital for leaders more than anyone else in the organization because they hold the most power. Think Uncle Ben; “with great power comes great responsibility.”   

Picture this: Your team hires a disabled Person of Color. The first barrier they face is the inaccessibility of the building itself. They're in a wheelchair and need ramps and elevators available. On their first day, they realize the elevator in the building is not working. The second barrier is coming into a workplace that is predominantly white. There’s only one other Person of Color in the office. When they try to speak to their supervisor about the elevator situation, their supervisor laughs it off and says “that’s this old building for you.” Later at lunch, they bring some jollof rice and jerk chicken – their favorite. The whole office fills with whispers of how it “stinks”. They end their workday feeling unheard, uncomfortable, and regretful.   

Now let’s take the same story but switch it up a bit. That same disabled person gets to the office where they’re met with a functioning elevator and they’re able to go straight into the office. That’s when they are greeted with a plethora of different faces. Everyone is friendly and excited for them to be there. Their supervisor comes to say good morning and asks how everything has been getting into the office. They mention how they noticed the elevator had been broken for weeks and called maintenance last week in anticipation of their arrival. Already, this puts that person in a great mood and their motivation takes off. On everyone’s lunch break, the entire office fills with the aromas of different spices and meats. Everyone eats lunch together and says a piece about where their dish comes from. They leave the office that day feeling appreciated, valued, and excited. Having this supportive of a work environment allows the workforce to feel like an asset to the organization. This has ripple effects for productivity, positive work environments, and work-life balance for everyone.  

Prioritize getting to know everyone in the workforce.   

It is the job of leaders to make sure that they can create a space where people feel comfortable and excited to come and work. Taking the time to learn about their team will create a feeling of safety and community. We do this in personal relationships outside of work all the time. Friends, partners, family. How you treat your loved ones might be a good model for how you might want to treat the workforce. This means getting to know their identities. It’s extremely important to research and care for the identities of any person so they feel valued and respected. This also means taking an interest in their life outside of work, like their hobbies, family, and accomplishments. When you create a work environment centered around the human experience, it makes people feel excited to come to work and motivated to do their best.   

Set up community guidelines and expectations.   

Another way you can make those within your workforce feel comfortable coming to work is to ensure they feel comfortable with each other. Setting up community guidelines and expectations for what they want their work environment to look like can go a long way. This creates a sense of community and collaboration rather than certain people, usually leadership, setting the tone for everyone. Who doesn’t love that? This sense of community can also be strengthened by doing more team-building activities. I know that term is not a beloved one in the professional world, but when it’s done correctly, people are excited about it!   

Ensure your team feels heard and supported.   

This sets the team up for success and ensures everyone is on the same page. This will help lay a foundation of trust. With trust comes curiosity and genuine partnership. People value each other as people – not just as coworkers! This means a Friday catered lunch with the team sounds genuinely fun to most people on the team and gives them the space to show up authentically to work.  

Continual support and respect in the workplace can feel exhausting for leaders. Give yourself grace and patience and seek to continually improve your work space. Recognize your effort and know there is no perfect way to go about this. Everyone has room for growth no matter the point they’re at. Congratulations on building the multicultural workforce you’ve been reaching for – remember, though, that this work does not end with hiring. Supporting and maintaining a diverse workforce requires consistent attention and care. Remain authentic and egalitarian in your efforts and you’ll see the fruits of your work. 

Related Content