How to create a safe space in the workplace

5 July 2024

Can your employees express their true selves at work?

It’s time to seriously put some thought into it. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are no longer optional for businesses. In fact, a recent study showed that 80% of employees wanted to work (and continue to work) for companies that valued DEI.

Having a diverse and inclusive community also translated well for businesses that started walking the talk. And the numbers don’t lie. Corporations who identified themselves as more diverse were found to have a high likelihood of outperforming their competitors by 35%. The same was said for capturing new markets (70%) and higher revenue (19%).

It's not just the profits and the opportunities that opened new doors for DEI-centric companies. Studies have found that organizations with strong DEI initiatives have increased employees’ job satisfaction and engagement levels. Moreover, it fostered feelings of belongingness.

How then, can you uphold your workplace as a safe space for all employees to thrive?

Review your company policies and procedures

Are they still at par with global diversity, equity, and inclusion standards? It might be time to strengthen your organization’s commitment in written form, and update your hiring process, work-life policies, and codes of conduct.

Establish and support employee resource groups

Employee resource groups (ERGs) are voluntary, employee-led, and supported by the organization. ERGs provide an avenue for like-minded members to share common interests, issues, and resolutions/strategies to address concerns on a company-wide level. Think of it as a grown-up school club that fosters a sense of community.

Normalize the use of pronouns

According to a study by McKinsey, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 25% more likely to be profitable. That being said, it’s time to cultivate an inclusive language culture, like the usage of pronouns or how people prefer to identify themselves and affirm their identity (i.e. he/him, she/her, they/them).

Rethink your office’s accessibility and accommodations

Did you know that globally, there is a staggering disability employment gap at 80%? Moreover, not all disabilities are visible to the naked eye. Many of our colleagues may be facing challenges we’re not even aware of (i.e. mental health disorders).

It’s important to proactively design spaces and set-ups where everyone can succeed, like flexible hours, ergonomic workstations, enabling captions for video meetings, and Braille labels in key office locations, among others.

Encourage intergenerational collaboration

The older generation of Baby Boomers can come up with fresh ideas as much as Gen Z-ers. Likewise, millennials can drop some nuggets of work wisdom as much as the more experienced Gen X. It’s time for us to suspend biases, learn more about each other whatever the age, and adopt a posture of humility.

READ MORE: Get some tips on effectively engaging your multi-generational employees here.

Amplify your diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives

At Pluxee, we believe that work is not just a place to be but a place to belong. As a smart leader in employee experience, we have a holistic set of rewards solutions that can cater to your diverse workforce.

With over 12,000 partner merchants in different categories like retail, food and restaurants, travel and leisure, and many more, we are committed to making Pluxee more of what matters to your teams. Let’s create positive impact together.