“Ignoring diversity in the workplace opens the door for conflict”

Colleagues with an impairment, another sexual orientation, a different faith, skin colour or gender experience: As in society, diversity in the workplace is increasing. And with that diversity, tensions sometimes rise too. "Doing nothing is not an option," says Jessie Van Audenhaege. You run the risk of major conflicts within your company and you miss out on all the benefits. A good approach starts with listening. To everyone."

“People are social creatures. People who differ from the dominant group – for example, due to cultural background, faith or age – can get the feeling that they don’t belong. And if such people get something extra in order to manage that difference, they can quickly be judged. For example, facilities for colleagues with special needs or extra learning time for older employees.”

“This tension can end up causing conflict between two people. Such conflict can soon become a conflict between two groups, if you do not intervene. Then, small groups emerge which, despite having little contact, develop all kinds of stereotypes about each other. This kind of group conflict is hard to resolve and its consequences are disastrous: people start being absent from work or change job, creating a negative spiral of absenteeism, departures and lacking motivation.”

“With an inclusive policy. In this way you ensure that each employee can feel like part of the team and the company. This kind of policy is built one step at a time. A first important step is to determine a vision. The basis is that everyone is equal. This sounds obvious, but you must make this explicit. There are no set standards for inclusion. Everyone is different and their boundaries are too. The important thing is to respect each other’s boundaries.”

“Then you translate this vision into desired behaviour in the workplace. You do this during awareness sessions, for example, with the managers. During these sessions you discuss your own boundaries and those of other people, for example, with the help of role play. People all believe that they respect their colleagues. But do colleagues have the same opinion?
People often do not realise that they have offended someone, until they are told about it.”

“How close can you come and stand next to someone: one person is comfortable with half a metre, while another prefers a distance of one and a half metres. Or colleagues who speak a different language or dialect together may not fully realise that they are excluding others, until someone makes a remark about it. Trans people can feel uncomfortable in a toilet because there are only men’s and women’s toilets.”

“You must continue evaluating an inclusive policy, for example, during performance reviews. Make sure that you always include a section on inclusion in your discussion: how do you find the ambiance at work, do you feel accepted, do you feel involved? Aspects will always arise that you would otherwise have missed.”

“It is not a good idea to wait with setting up or adapting an inclusive policy until you are required to so by legislation. After all, legislation is usually founded on past experience. Society is generally several steps ahead. For example, if my children talk about the family, they no longer refer to just mum and dad. So it is strange not to do this in the workplace.”
 

“Certainly. The benefits are much greater than the costs. Employees who feel involved, perform better. You create more connection with your clients, who are also diverse. And in a market where labour is scarce you increase your number of potential employees, because your company is open to lots more people.”

“But it’s true: an inclusive policy is not accomplished in one day. It takes much longer and the internal communication to make everyone aware of it is time consuming. Change is always challenging.”

“It does in the end. Listening is the most important thing. To everybody, because values only work when they are supported by everyone. Pinpoint the issues in your company. The risk analysis relating to psychosocial aspects is a great tool for this. Then you can also do something about it. It means you get everyone on board. That is better for both your company and your employees.”

Once, I ended up in a team with only men. They were always joking about women. Until the time a woman joined the team, these were only seen as jokes. But the new female colleague did not appreciate them. That was tricky for a while, but in various group sessions we could make it clear to increasingly more members of the group that these statements were unkind. And once sufficient numbers of the group say that something must stop, people soon follow. That is the power of a group.”