It is one thing to say your company values diversity. It is another to make sure your diverse employees are valued important parts of your team. Fortunately, leaders can use emotional intelligence to foster acceptance of diversity at work, and respond to conflict that may be caused by cultural insensitivity or employee biases.
Embracing Diversity Can Bring Conflict to the Workplace
Many employers and business owners, large and small, are making diversity part of their company values. Building a diverse workforce is enormously valuable to the company – which will benefit from the varied perspectives and new ideas of employees that don’t fit the stereotypical mold – and to your local community.
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However, leaders should also be prepared for changes in the company workforce to bring conflict among existing employees, and even hostility toward new hires. The reasons for this can range from simple resistance to change to deeply held biases and assumptions about minorities. It is important for leaders to be prepared to listen and respond to employee complaints, so that you can better foster acceptance and build a diverse and welcoming working environment.
Using Emotional Intelligence to Foster Acceptance of Diversity at Work
Emotional Intelligence (EI) can help leaders navigate the sometimes-delicate balance of resolving conflict between coworkers of different races, cultures, religions, or other demographics. As a reminder, emotional intelligence is a set of skills that help individuals navigate personal emotional regulation, communication, and interpersonal relations. Many of the five aspects of EI can be useful tools in ensuring diverse employees are heard, respected, and accepted in the workplace. Those aspects are:
- Motivation
- Self-Regulation
- Self-Awareness
- Empathy
- Social Awareness
EI Strategies That Foster Diversity Among Team Members
Diversity Acceptance Starts Within
As with many EI strategies, if your companies are trying to use emotional intelligence to improve diversity acceptance, you should start by inviting your leaders to look at themselves first. Self-awareness is essential to identifying your own biases and assumptions about minority workers, people with disabilities, or even older employees. Once you have found your blind spots, you can work to challenge those assumptions. Increasing your own cultural competency can help you better understand your workers’ points of view and break down the biases you may have consciously or unconsciously held in the past.
Empathy and Active Listening Let Diverse Employees Feel Heard
Empathy is the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes and understand where they are coming from. Increasing cultural competency can help with this. But the best way to avoid implicit biases and stereotypes is simply to ask questions and actively listen to your employees’ responses. Invite all your employees – new and old alike – to come to you and your fellow leaders with questions or concerns about accepting diversity and then actively listen to your concerns. By demonstrating genuine interest in their problems – and asking clarifying questions when necessary – you can get to the root of any issues and move toward resolution and acceptance.
Open Communication is Key to Creating an Accepting Environment
An essential part of making diversity a core value of your company is openly communicating that vision with your employees. Things like the company anti-harassment policies and reporting procedures should be clearly and repeatedly communicated to your workers. This should happen as part of their onboarding and be reinforced with trainings and reminders later on.
However, communication must go both ways. You also need to create a safe space where your employees feel safe to share their thoughts and experiences without fear of judgment or retaliation. You can do this through positive reinforcement when a worker raises a concern in a helpful way. In addition, you can thank your employees for offering constructive criticism, and when they provide a new perspective on things your company may have taken for granted. At the same time, you must be prepared to shut down any bigotry or culturally inappropriate conduct when you see it, to ensure you foster an accepting environment.
Building a culturally inclusive and diverse environment takes conscious effort by business owners and leaders alike. But by using the tools of emotional intelligence, you can foster acceptance of diversity among your workers and make your minority employees feel safe, heard, and welcome.
David Stanislaw is a leadership and executive coach with over 30 years’ experience helping managers and business owners develop their emotional intelligence. Contact us to meet with David and start building your emotional intelligence today.
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