Council Post: How To Shape A Business Culture For All

Clare Moore is the Head of Franchising at Tide Cleaners.

In this day and age, I probably don’t need to state why it’s a good idea to have a business culture that makes room for everybody. It should be common sense that if you are looking for a customer base that is diverse and inclusive, your business needs to be diverse and inclusive in thinking and in practice. 

In order to be diverse in thinking, it’s critical to have people on your team who have a diverse set of backgrounds, cultures, races, gender and ethnicities — and the list goes on. So, if you’re trying to forge a company that has a business culture that is welcoming to everybody, I have a few ideas:

Aim for inclusivity and diversity.

If your business actively recruits with diversity in mind, that is definitely a step in the right direction. But there’s a difference between having a diverse staff and an inclusive one. Your business needs to be both. Just because you have people with varied backgrounds working for your company, that won’t automatically translate to a culture where everyone feels welcome.

We talk a lot about being one team in the business world, but if people don’t feel like they are truly part of the team, working as one team is a challenge. Your C-suite and management should lead by example; priorities start from the top and trickle down. If diversity and inclusivity aren’t priorities for your leadership, then it will be infinitely more difficult for these to be priorities for your people.

Ideally, your business will spend some time defining what a welcoming company culture should look like. Of course, if you’re really serious about inclusivity, you should also consider declaring it as one of your core values and have it mentioned in your employee handbook or mission statement, and you could consider creating groups to support diversity and inclusion within your organization.

Create a continuous feedback culture.

One of the best ways to make sure your company has a business culture that’s inviting and open to everybody is if everybody is treated like a stakeholder. That means making sure everybody’s heard and their opinions are treated with respect.

This isn’t about being polite or pretending to be respectful. Good ideas can come from anywhere, and the smart business owners are the ones who recognize that. Having a continuous feedback culture can be tricky, but it’s crucial to building a positive environment for your people.

When people feel that they can’t speak up or their opinions and experiences aren’t respected and appreciated, they become unhappy, less productive and ultimately move on. Not being inclusive doesn’t just hurt the employee; it can damage the entire company.

Reward and respect everybody.

Keep in mind that making sure everybody feels included isn’t only about who people are but also what they do in your business.

It’s common to reward the star players in a company with bonuses, and it’s understandable why companies do that. If your business’s lifeblood is sales, you want to reward the salespeople in your company. If you have a medical practice, the doctors and nurses are treating the patients, and it’s easy to see them as your VIPs. The quarterback on a football team is revered for good reason.

But, think about how earlier this year, when many of us were going into lockdown and the pandemic had just started, we all started taking stock of how essential grocery store employees are, not to mention delivery drivers and custodial staff. It was a nice moment where virtually every job was seen as essential.

I think it’s become clearer than ever in 2020 that with every business, everybody has an important role to play. Yes, your salespeople, the doctors, the nurses, the quarterbacks — they’re vital to your business as revenue drivers. They deserve recognition. But if you really want an inclusive culture, you need to recognize — and reward — everybody’s talents.

When you create a truly inclusive company where everybody feels valued, that sense of value is experienced by your customers and employees. As a result, I believe everyone will be clamoring to do business with you.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?