Bias, whether conscious or unconscious can negatively impact your business. More specifically, issues such as sexism in the workplace is not only unfair, but can have tangible impacts on employee morale and reduce the performance of your business. In this article, we’ll provide you with 5 tips to help you more effectively promote equality in your work environment.
Investigate
To solve any problem or issue, it is important that you know the facts. See how you conduct your business to see if sources of bias exist. This includes your workplace’s policies, work environment and conditions. A good place to start is to see how you assign promotions. By exploring your criteria and making your criteria transparent, you can remove sources of bias that impact upon your business.
Ask
As the owner or manager, you may not be best placed to explore or understand areas of bias. While asking people directly can get you answers quickly, you should recognise that often people are not comfortable with stating their qualms directly. Particularly if you are their boss! A better way is to have an anonymous way, such as a google form. People will feel less inhibited about offering their true opinion and thoughts if they feel they won’t suffer as a result of them speaking out.
Zero Tolerance
It is vital that your workplace has zero tolerance for sexism and other forms of discrimination within the workplace.Acknowledge it when you see it and encourage your employees to do the same. By letting it be known that it is not acceptable behaviour, you can have a positive and tangible impact upon your employee morale.
Acknowledge
When you do see something that’s not quite right, acknowledge it publicly. By acknowledging this, employees will feel that discrimination in the workplace is being taken seriously. Also, make sure to include what steps you are taking to address it, so your employees know that you are taking concrete action.
Ongoing Action
The most important step is that you take ongoing action on bias and sexism in your workspace. You should consistently review bias in your workplace, as it is vital to ensure you mitigate the impacts of bias within your workspace.
Conclusion
So to help reduce bias in your business, make sure you investigate, ask, have zero-tolerance, acknowledge, and perform ongoing action. If you would like further assistance in workplace policy contact a discrimination lawyer today.
Want more information on having the right workplace policies for your workspace? Contact a LawPath consultant on 1800 529 728 to learn more about customising legal documents and obtaining a fixed-fee quote from Australia’s largest legal marketplace.
