The role of diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Here, Dee France, Member & Student Support and Well-being Lead at Chartered Accountants Ireland, explores what diversity and inclusion means in the workplace, the important role it plays for employee well-being, and why employers should foster a culture of belonging and inclusion.

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) has become a driving force in the changing organisational landscape. Companies and business leaders are placing greater emphasis on their approach to D&I and are embracing policies and strategies to create a more diverse, fairer, and resilient workforce. 

Employee well-being and D&I are closely connected. In fact, employee well-being awareness can be seen as an intrinsic element of a company’s effective D&I strategies and policies. 

An essential and significant feature of good overall well-being is our feeling of purpose and belonging. Programmes and initiatives that promote inclusion, diversity, and belonging can support and cultivate positive employee well-being. In its entirety, D&I in the workplace can have an impact on our overall happiness at work. 

Emotional tax

Employees from diverse backgrounds who experience a non-inclusive workforce can face an additional burden of an ‘emotional tax’ – the experience of being treated differently from peers due to race/ethnicity or gender, triggering adverse effects on health and feelings of isolation and making it difficult to thrive at work.

This emotional tax can have an extremely negative impact on employees’ mental health and wellbeing. Feeling undervalued, overlooked, or excluded due to your identity can heighten a person’s vigilance to protect themselves from acts of bias or prejudice.

Thrive, Chartered Accountants Ireland’s dedicated well-being hub, continues to receive regular calls from our members and students who seek support from the damaging impact a non-inclusive workplace can have on their wellbeing.  

Managing diversity and inclusion 

Implementing effective and successful D&I strategies and policies can take time, but a coherent and structured approach to these ensure that work practices and values support an inclusive culture that embraces different people, views, and perspectives. Producing a D&I policy allows a company to go above and beyond legal obligations and set a standard of expectation for the organisation and for its employees. 
There are several ways companies can begin to incorporate inclusivity into the workplace. 

Leadership and employee training 

Providing training for leadership, management and employees increases awareness, aids the understanding and engagement in the company’s values and policies, helps embed these initiatives into the culture of the workplace, and allows for the development of empathy for others. 

Employee network groups 

Building an employee network group is an effective way to allow people to connect with others from different groups, and raise a sense of belonging, affinity, and kinship. 

For example, the Institute has several different committee groups such as Balance, our LGBTQ+ committee, Student Committee, and D&I committee. 

Open communication and feedback 

Developing open and clear communication channels that are easily accessible to employees breeds better dialogue. It ensures employees and managers alike feel safe in airing grievances, giving feedback, and the feeling of being heard and valued. 
Employee surveys on D&I initiatives allow companies to take onboard employees’ experiences and action feedback. It permits companies to assess if policies and strategies are working and evaluate and benchmark their efforts from year-to-year. 

The Thrive Wellbeing Hub provides counselling, wellness coaching, practical advice and more to all members of the Institute.

You can contact the Thrive wellbeing team by visiting our website, via email at: thrive@charteredaccountants.ie, or by phone: +(353) 86 0243294.