How to Be A Welcoming Workplace Through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusivity
Just because you offer snacks and beer, and say you are a welcoming culture doesn’t mean you are actually welcoming.
Discussions about being welcoming don’t usually coincide with conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion, but I argue it’s hard to ignore DEI if your goal is to actually be welcoming.
Consider these three scenarios:
A woman walks into an office for an interview. The Costco delivery just arrived. There are pretzels, chips, carrots, cereal, wine and beer. Amazing. Now I don’t have to pack snacks and it looks like they definitely have fun, she thinks to herself. She stands around questioning where to go for a few moments when a man welcomes her. They walk through a door leading to the open floor where a sea of men sit and stand around various desks, couches, conference rooms, and a pingpong table. She doesn’t see a single woman. The single stall restroom door hangs open just a few feet away. “Welcome!,” the man says, “we’re so happy you’re here. Can I get you anything to make you more comfortable?”
A woman walks into an office for an interview. The Costco delivery just arrived. There are pretzels, chips, carrots, cereal, wine and beer. Amazing. Now I don’t have to pack snacks and it looks like they definitely have fun, she thinks to herself. The office manager, a man, welcomes her in and lets her know the hiring manager will be with her soon. The hiring manager walks in, a woman, and welcomes her through a door to the open floor where a sea of mostly men and a few women stand around desks, couches, conference rooms, and a pingpong table. Two restrooms with gender identifiers are across the room.“Welcome!,” the hiring manager says, “we’re so happy you’re here. Can I get you anything to make you more comfortable? We have just about any drink or snack you can think of and the restrooms are across the way.”
A woman walks into an office for an interview. The Costco delivery just arrived. There are pretzels, chips, carrots, cereal, wine and beer. Amazing. Now I don’t have to pack snacks and it looks like they definitely have fun, she thinks to herself. The office manager, a man, welcomes her in and lets her know the hiring manager will be with her soon. She sits down in the waiting room and notices a gender-neutral restroom and a mother’s room. A woman walks out of the mother’s room. No pump, or bags of milk in sight. (Because there is a safe place she can store her pump in the mother’s rooms as well as a fridge stocked with water and snacks, and her own shelf where she can store her breast milk and pump parts until she leaves.) The hiring manager walks in, a woman, and welcomes her through a door to the open floor where a sea of people stand around desks, couches, conference rooms, and a ping pong table. The group is so diverse she doesn’t notice gender. Restrooms (gender identifying and gender-neutral) are across the room. “Welcome!,” the hiring manager says, “we’re so happy you’re here. You’re our first candidate through XYZ recruiting. I’m really excited to start working with them to get more moms around here. I have two kids—6 and 8. Can I get you anything to make you more comfortable? We have just about any drink or snack you can think of and the restrooms are across the way.”
The initial setup of each scenario is similar. An office, snacks, drinks, a bathroom, and a warm welcome. Let’s assume each office manager and hiring manager are genuinely trying to be welcoming to the candidate, but it’s because of other factors the woman is more likely to feel welcome in scenario two and even more so in scenario three. Let’s dig into why.
In scenario one even though the man says he’s happy the candidate is there and is hospitable, the lack of diversity in the office and the bathroom situation could be extremely off putting and unwelcoming. The woman is likely to assume the company does not care to spend the time, effort and resources to make the workspace feel inclusive to others or welcoming to anyone who doesn't fit their current employee population. The candidate is likely to reject a potential offer as are every woman who interviews after her, making it nearly impossible for this company to diversify their employee population.
Scenario two is better. Like in scenario 1, they are trying to build a positive employee culture by offering snacks, drinks and a ping pong table (read: we’re such a fun office!), and have created a more inclusive workplace by providing gender identifying bathrooms and hiring (and retaining) a more diverse employee population. However, once again it’s unlikely this company is going to be successful in hiring anyone who doesn’t fit in their current employee population. Without a gender neutral bathroom, many LGBTQ+ folks won’t feel comfortable in the space. And if a pumping mom doesn’t see any other moms around (maybe there isn’t a single picture of kids on the desks) or a space other than the bathroom to pump, she likely isn’t going to feel like she fits in.
It’s clear scenario 3 is most ideal for championing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace from the restroom options, pumping room (and a mom actually using it!), and the hiring manager who willingly shares that she is a mother, it’s clear what this company’s culture represents.
Switch out man for women and woman for man or any other minority identifier (like disabled or BiPOC) to make this situation more applicable to your company. It might help you to see your organization from a different viewpoint, which is always helpful when considering DEI initiatives.
Some companies may say they aren’t big enough or have enough resources to offer the inclusive amenities like those in scenario 3, but the investment is small compared to the reward. Which company do you think is growing and thriving the most, and most likely to have long-term success? The company from scenario 1, 2, or 3?
Yup, it’s clearly the company from scenario 3. Time to invest in making your workplace more diverse, inclusive, and equitable.
