Despite legislation and awareness campaigns, discrimination is, unfortunately, quite prevalent in most workplaces. Discrimination at work comes in a variety of ways, and workers from different demographic backgrounds may feel its unfortunate effects.
Discrimination hurts the company’s reputation and employees’ productivity, which is why it is crucial that employers focus on how they can eliminate this vice from their organizations.
Here are three steps employers can take to create a workplace that is devoid of discrimination.
Creating policies on workplace discrimination
The law requires every employer to put in place policies against workplace discrimination. While most organizations rely on EEOC guidelines on workplace discrimination, this can be inadequate. Putting in place company-specific anti-discrimination that includes how employees should report incidents of discrimination as well as investigation procedures can go a long way in keeping the vice out of your workplace.
Facilitating regular training on anti-discrimination policies
New recruits should be trained on discrimination during the orientation period. But it should never stop there. It is important that you conduct regular anti-discrimination seminars so you can enlighten your teams on how they can detect and respond to incidents of discrimination at work. In fact, New York laws require employers to provide mandatory annual training on sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
Promoting professionalism at work
Establishing and maintaining a professional work environment can help create a discrimination-free workplace. In a professional work environment, team members maintain respect, civility, competency and maturity. Lack of professionalism at work, on the other hand, can lead to a culture where there is neither order nor boundaries, creating a fertile ground for all forms of discrimination.
Workplace discrimination robs employees of their morale, peace of mind and the ability to be productive. Taking proactive measures to eliminate discrimination in the organization can help you build a safe, fair and inclusive environment for your employees.