Author: Kristina Proffitt

Categories
Employee Experience

9 steps to building a world-class employee volunteering program

Workers are five times more engaged when their employer offers an employee volunteering program. And 88% of consumers prefer brands that are socially and environmentally conscious.

Yet only 60% of companies offer employees paid time off to take part in volunteering programs. 

A further 21% of companies want to implement an employee volunteering program by 2024, but planning to do something, and actually doing it, are very different things. 

Even if all those companies did implement an employee volunteering program, that leaves a gap of almost one fifth.

So, if you’re planning to build a world-class employee volunteering program, what steps should you take?

Pick your purpose

It’s impossible to do everything we want to do or help every cause in the world. Which is why focusing on one or two initiatives will get you the most success.

Consider what ties into your greater business purpose or mission.

For example, if you run an animal-related business, could your employees volunteer at their local shelter? Or could you start an initiative with a chain of shelters to help them, perhaps offering dog-walking services?

If your focus is on sustainability, what volunteering opportunities could you provide your employees which relate to that?

Jot down a bunch of ideas, or better yet, ask your employees for some! This way, they’ll feel invested in the program from the start, which means they’re more likely to participate and help you reach your goals.

Get leadership buy-in

It’s a lot easier to engage employees in something if their managers are on board, too. 

Managers have to be comfortable with their employees taking time from their day jobs to help other people. If they’re not happy about it, employees won’t feel comfortable volunteering.

If managers do want their employees to join in, employees will feel supported doing so and be more likely to volunteer their time.

Partner with relevant organizations

If there’s a particular organization that’s relevant to your cause, why not partner with them? This creates a mutually beneficial relationship, helping you both further your goals.

You could also use this as a PR opportunity for both businesses, increasing your reach into new areas through joint social media content or press releases.

Consider cultural differences

Different cultures have different priorities and pursue them in different ways. So, if you have a global workforce, consider this before starting your employee volunteering program.

You could create different initiatives for each territory you operate in, with each area managed by a different person. That way, they’re aware of the cultural nuances in a way that someone located elsewhere may not be.

You could also collect team members’ opinions before you start an employee volunteering program to find out what matters to them and where they’d like to spend their volunteering time. If it’s a cause that resonates with them, people are far more likely to participate.

Decide on your KPIs

What do you hope to achieve through your employee volunteering program? How will you know if your scheme is successful?

Like any business initiative, you need to have goals or KPIs to help you monitor your program’s performance.

Some things you could track include:

  • How many employees take part
  • How much time they donate
  • How many organizations they serve
  • How much money they raise
  • The total value of volunteering time

You could also track bigger-picture things like:

  • Impact on employer brand
  • Employee retention rates
  • Employee engagement rates
  • Connections with other businesses/organizations/causes
  • Employee morale
  • Employee mental health

Choose a volunteer coordinator

Someone needs to oversee putting all this together, whether that’s in a part-time or full-time role.

If you’re a small organization or starting with a small scheme, having this as an additional part of someone’s job, much like organizing an ERG, may keep them engaged and invested in your business.

It doesn’t have to be someone from HR or marketing. What matters is that they’re invested in the cause and can pass their enthusiasm on to other people. Skills can be taught, enthusiasm can’t.

Collect feedback

It’s important to check in with your people periodically to find out what they do—or don’t—like about your employee volunteering program. 

Things change quickly. What worked a year ago may not work now. You won’t know unless you ask.

Market your efforts

If employees don’t know your scheme exists, nobody will sign up for it!

Some ways you could market your employee volunteering program:

  • Write about it in your employee newsletter
  • Include it in the onboarding sequence
  • Reach out to individuals who’ve been involved in similar initiatives before
  • Share the results of activities on internal and external social media
  • Give it a memorable name
  • Write a press release about its successes—this will build your employer brand for candidates and get employees to see the difference it makes
  • Follow up with employees who show interest in taking part but don’t

Recognize participants

How can you recognize or reward employees who take part? 

Could you offer them a gift card? 

Or post about the difference they’re making on social media? 

It doesn’t have to be anything big, just something to show that you appreciate the difference they’re making to their community.

Conclusion

An effective employee volunteering program shows the world you’re invested in doing good as well as making money. Demonstrating this can improve your employer brand, helping you attract more candidates with similar values.

And offering employees the chance to make a difference through volunteering will help with engagement and retention.

If you’re ready to drive real impact with an employee volunteering program, you need the right tools. Workrowd enables you to organize all your employee volunteering efforts in one place, and makes it easy to track results. Want to learn more? Visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

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Categories
Wellness

9 surprising benefits of employee wellness programs

Most job candidates now look for, and prioritize, companies with employee wellness programs.

As well as helping you attract more—and better quality—candidates, employee wellness programs can improve employee engagement and retention by reducing stress and lowering the risk of burnout.

What are employee wellness programs?

Employee wellness programs are schemes focused on supporting employees’ physical, mental, and emotional health.

They should contain a variety of options to support different needs. This could include:

  • Discounted gym membership or an in-house gym
  • Meditation app subscription
  • Discounted therapy
  • Nutritional education
  • Exercise classes
  • Stop smoking programs

The benefits of effective employee wellness programs

So, what benefits could your business experience as a result of employee wellness programs?

1. Get access to a wider talent pool

87% of employees consider health and wellness offerings when choosing an employer.

Just offering one that aligns with your values, and that reflects what your target personas prioritize, can improve your employer brand. It’s a clear way to show the rest of the world that you value employee wellbeing and what your company culture is like.

2. Reduce absenteeism

Absenteeism occurs when someone takes time away from work for illness or non-illness related reasons, such as transportation or childcare.

If someone comes into the office with a cold, this can increase your absenteeism rate as they pass their germs on to others.

Educating employees on how to avoid spreading those germs to their colleagues (such as sneezing into their elbow, not their hand—or better yet not going into the office when they’re ill) is a simple way to reduce absenteeism. 

Introducing employee wellness programs reduces absenteeism by up to 19%. That’s a lot of working days that could boost your business.

3. Reduce healthcare costs

72% of employers saw a reduction in healthcare costs after implementing employee wellness programs.

And it makes sense—taking a proactive approach to health can reduce how much time, energy, and money we lose to managing existing and future health conditions. It can also help to prevent them from occurring in the first place.

4. Improve employee health habits

The reduction in absenteeism makes sense when you consider the difference preventative healthcare can make.

In his book, “Food for Life,” Professor Tim Spector says that diet could account for around half of common diseases. If everyone ate healthier, it could prevent or delay the disease burden of arthritis, cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and even infertility.

Despite this, the British diet consists of more than 50% processed foods. In the US, processed foods make up 57% of the daily diet.

Unfortunately, most people don’t know what makes something a processed food because we’re not taught it. So unless we actively seek out that information, how will we know how these foods could impact us?

Sharing with employees how to build healthy habits, and the benefits of those healthy habits, can help motivate them to take better care of their short- and long-term health.

Which means you get to experience all the benefits of their healthier lifestyles.

5. Get more engaged employees

Over 80% of employees whose employers are invested in their wellness say they enjoy work.

And, as we all know, when employees are more engaged, the business reaps the rewards.

6. Lower employee stress levels

Prioritizing wellbeing through exercise, meditation, or something else, reduces stress levels. 

And let’s not forget that when we show employees we value their mental health, they’re less likely to work to the point of stress or burnout. And they’re more likely to feel like they can talk to their manager if they’re having trouble.

7. Experience higher employee morale

Morale plays a big part in how effective employees are in their roles, and how they feel in the workplace environment.

If employee morale is high, it has a ripple effect on the rest of the business. It can improve your company culture and your employer brand, even boosting your customer service quality and reviews.

Investing in employee wellness programs, especially during times of transition, can ease the stress caused by significant changes and reassure employees who are struggling.

8. Increase employee productivity

Whether it’s hay fever, a mild cold, or an argument with a friend, there are lots of “minor” things that can impact employee productivity.

In the grand scheme of things, these issues may seem small, but they can feel gargantuan when someone experiences them. And they can have a huge impact on workplace productivity.

When employees are taught how to look after their physical and mental health, they have coping mechanisms in place that they can use when they’re having a rough day. As a result, they’ll feel more able to cope with difficult days and ask for accommodations if they need them.

And employee wellness programs really can make a big difference—84% of employers reported higher performance and productivity from their employees because of them.

9. Experience a six-to-one ROI

When you consider the increased productivity and lower absence rates, it should come as no surprise that the average return on investment (ROI) for employee wellness programs is six to one.

Conclusion

Investing in employee wellness programs can positively impact every area of your business.

In addition to growing your employer brand and company culture, it can also improve absenteeism and employee engagement, resulting in higher productivity and profits.

If you want to maximize the impact of your employee wellness programs, the first step is ensuring everyone knows about them! Providing access to important information, programs, groups, and events all in one place makes it easy for team members to get involved from day one.

Plus, with everything under one roof, you can easily track the impact of your employee wellness programs and compare across your initiatives. Sound interesting? If so, drop us a line at hello@workrowd.com, or visit us online to learn more.

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Categories
Company Culture

7 ways to improve employee communication for a better culture

Communication forms the backbone of pretty much everything we do in life. So it shouldn’t be any wonder that taking steps to improve employee communication can do wonders for your company culture.

The Dunning-Kruger effect occurs when people overestimate their skills or knowledge in a particular area. Frequently, this happens when they don’t have many skills or much knowledge on a subject.

This can also be true for the opposite end of the spectrum, where high performers underestimate their skills (imposter syndrome, anyone?).

Knowing how to communicate the good and the bad—and everything in between—is imperative for a better company culture.

It prevents written or verbal communication being misinterpreted, and ensures every employee knows what’s expected of them. This keeps everyone focused and boosts employee engagement.

So, how can you improve employee communication, and with it, your company culture?

Set an example

Employees follow the examples set by their superiors. If you want to improve employee communication, it starts by looking at how you communicate with employees from the top down.

How do you speak to them? Is it with respect and an open mind?

Do you subconsciously project your bad moods onto those around you?

If you’re not sure, ask your employees—at every level—for their feedback. How do they feel in your presence? When you send them an email? In a meeting?

If you want to get some really honest feedback, you could ask them to submit their comments anonymously. That way, you know you’re getting answers that will really help you improve.

When asking employees for feedback, be sure to act on it, even if you dislike what’s been said. Most business don’t act on feedback they get from their employee surveys, which leads to people feeling like they’re a waste of time.

To create a positive company culture, you have to show that you’re willing to listen to good and bad feedback, then make changes accordingly.

Create guidelines

Clearly explaining how employees should communicate helps everyone understand the best way to talk to their colleagues and grow the company culture.

Your people will be much more able to understand how to communicate if you show them examples in different contexts rather than telling them to do this or that.

The more examples you can show, the more employees will come to understand the types of communication that are the most effective in the workplace.

Remember: it’s a skill

Many people forget (or don’t realize) that communication is a skill. We have to actively work to get better at it.

Sometimes, we can learn bad communication habits from our family, friends, or job.

Every business has different expectations of their employees and how they work together. This results in every business having subtly different communication skills, and employees taking those with them when they leave and go somewhere new.

Teaching employee communication should therefore be treated like any other skill an employee might have to learn. 

Including it in your onboarding is a great way to show how you expect everyone to communicate in your business. It’s also one of the easiest ways to improve employee communication from day one.

Hold workshops

Another way to improve employee communication is by holding workshops. 

If you’re short on time, this could be a lunch and learn, or even a series of lunch and learns with each one focused on a different area, such as:

  • Spoken feedback
  • Written feedback
  • Writing emails
  • Effective meeting conduct
  • Storytelling
  • One-on-ones
  • Body language 

If you’re unsure, you could send an employee survey to get people’s thoughts on what areas of communication they’d most like help with.

Suggest some reading

Recommending a book is a subtle way to show your employees the kind of communication you want to encourage in your business.

When it’s a nonfiction book, it can also reflect your values and give employees key takeaways for the workplace.

An example is “Radical Candor” by Kim Scott. This book talks about how to effectively communicate in an open and honest way without causing offense.

You don’t have to share recommendations via a structured book club. That said, if you do, it’s worth setting up an employee group to connect everyone.

You could offer recommended reads as part of your onboarding process, or share a recommendation during a meeting.

To make these recommendations inclusive, try to only suggest books that are easy to read and have an audiobook available. Extra points if it’s available from libraries (or employees can request it to their library).

Encourage the use of plain English

Many people assume plain English means boring, but it doesn’t. What it actually means is cutting the fluff from your writing. 

Not the personality, but the long sentences; the in-depth descriptions; the sentences without punctuation.

All these things make your writing less accessible and harder for someone to understand. 

The most popular newspaper in the UK has an average reading age of eight, despite its audience being adults, for a reason. 

If you can make people do less mental work, even if your employees are highly educated, they’re more likely to understand what you say and take action. In turn, this will help them tailor their own writing, so you can improve employee communication on two fronts.

Don’t forget body language

It’s not just our words that speak—our body language does, too. However, we’re not always that good at interpreting it.

When I first started doing poetry readings, my university lecturer said that the audience will look disinterested not because they’re ignoring me, but because they’re concentrating. 

He was right. Eyes were closed; arms were crossed. I felt like I’d lost them. 

But at the end, they all smiled and clapped and complimented me. So they had been listening, even though they hadn’t been sitting on the edges of their uncomfortable plastic seats.

Body language can also be cultural, or even related to someone’s health issues. 

So, consider the bigger picture when judging someone based on theirs, and don’t make assumptions.

And don’t forget that your employees may misread your body language, too. 

For instance, if you sit with your arms crossed, they may see you as defensive or inaccessible. It could be that you’re really just cold though because you sit under the AC!

Conclusion

Effective employee communication is at the heart of every business. The more you seek to improve your communication skills, the more your employees will follow your example and get better at communicating with each other, too.

If you want to improve employee communication in an organic way, giving your team additional space to interact and grow is important. If people only interact with their direct team, they’ll only learn that one communication style. Connecting everyone through an all-in-one hub ensures employees interact with a wider circle of colleagues.

Plus, Workrowd makes it easy for team members to start initiatives that improve employee communication like Toastmasters groups, lightning talks, and more. If this sounds useful for your workplace, visit us online to learn more, or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

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Categories
Employee Engagement

6 ways to use employee feedback to fuel engagement

65% of employees want more feedback at work. When companies invest in employee feedback, they have 14.9% lower turnover rates than organizations that don’t provide it.

That’s not the only benefit, though.

Four out of ten employees who receive little to no feedback are disengaged at work. 

Considering feedback is a way to show we care about someone and their career progress, this statistic doesn’t surprise me. 

Nor does the fact that 69% of employees would work harder if they felt their employer recognized their efforts through feedback.

43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week.

All this shows that providing employee feedback can significantly improve engagement. And of course, we all know that comes along with a slew of additional benefits.

So, here are some tips on how to improve your employee feedback and increase employee engagement as a result:

Share positives and negatives

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when giving employee feedback is focusing too much on the negatives.

This risks hurting the recipient’s confidence when all they receive is negative feedback. Plus, it also risks them fixing things that don’t need it.

Sometimes, it’s only one element of a project that needs amending. But if you don’t tell someone that’s the only thing that needs fixing, they may break other areas in an effort to fix the one that was originally broken.

Not only this, but if employees don’t know what you’re looking for, how are they ever going to achieve it? It’s therefore just as important to highlight the things you like as much as the areas for improvement.

Tailor your feedback to their skill level

The more advanced someone is in a skill/career, the more in-depth feedback they can handle.

If someone is new to something, they’ll find too much in-depth feedback complicated, overwhelming, and potentially off-putting. So, you want to balance the feedback with where their skills lie.

That way, you build their confidence and their skills, allowing them to continue to flourish in their role.

Watch your tone

Some employee feedback, particularly when it’s notes on a digital document, can unintentionally come across as aggressive, negative, or passive-aggressive.

I’ve seen many first-time authors get hurt by the tone a professional editor uses when annotating their novel. They interpret their tone to mean the editor hates them/their book. Ultimately though, that’s just how many people give feedback—even those of us who have professional training. After all, we’re taught how to pick things apart, not how to pay a compliment.

Now, imagine if you were in the workplace and you’d sent something to a colleague for them to review. When they wrote back, their feedback had a passive-aggressive tone. 

You may feel like they hate your work, they dislike you, you’re not good enough, etc. It can really impact your feelings of belonging in the workplace.

At least with a freelance editor, a writer can choose not to work with them again. People can’t do that at work.

So, be mindful of your tone.

Consider how you’d feel if you were on the receiving end of that feedback. Would it make you uncomfortable? Afraid? Angry? Hurt?

Or would you feel supported? Appreciated? Challenged to grow your skills?

Keep it simple

Many businesses—particularly older or larger ones—still like to write in business-speak. They favor long, inaccessible sentences that sound like they came from a politician or a 1960s fantasy novel.

If you want engaged employees who feel like they belong, plain English is your friend. More employees will understand what you’re saying, and therefore will be more likely to act on the feedback you give.

They’ll also feel more valued by you because you made the effort to talk to them in an accessible way. They wouldn’t be so receptive if you excluded people by using unnecessarily verbose language.

Save the sandwiches for your lunchbox

I’m sure you’ve heard of a compliment sandwich. It’s where you compliment something, say something negative about it, then provide another compliment. 

The logic is that the recipient will dwell less on the negative feedback because it was in the middle. 

But it’s become increasingly transparent and can come across as disingenuous. This is especially true if there aren’t two positives for you to remark on, so you’re forced to find them. Just be honest and upfront with employee feedback, and watch your tone instead.

Evaluate mistakes—and look ahead

It’s important to evaluate mistakes from an objective point of view. It isn’t an occasion for employees to beat themselves up. Or, for you to berate them and make them feel worse. But you do want to make sure any mistakes don’t happen again.

Once you’ve looked at what went wrong, look ahead: what can you do to stop this from happening again?

This also puts a positive, productive spin on mistakes and helps to prevent employees from ruminating on them.

Focus on their hard work, not the end result

When you praise someone for their hard work, not the outcome, they’re more likely to work hard and keep growing. It encourages a growth mindset. 

This benefits their personal growth as well as your business growth.

It also encourages employees to experiment, seek to develop their skills, and learn from their mistakes instead of hiding them.

Conclusion 

Employee feedback is an important tool to help employees grow and keep them engaged in the workplace.

For it to work, you need to tailor your feedback to their skill level and share both positives and negatives.

You don’t want to overwhelm someone with how much feedback you provide. At the same time, you want them to feel like you’re paying attention to what they do. You can do this by offering the feedback and also taking the time to listen to them. That could be in person, on a call, or in written form.

Providing employee feedback is clearly really important, but it also needs to be a two-way street. You should be gathering feedback from employees, too. Workrowd automates the process of collecting employees’ thoughts and opinions, especially when it comes to the programs, groups, and events you offer.

Sound useful for your organization? Send us a note at hello@workrowd.com to learn more, or drop by our site to schedule some time to talk.

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Categories
Employee Retention

A list of incentives for employees that cost little to nothing

Compiling a list of incentives for employees that drives retention but doesn’t break the bank is a serious challenge.

89% of employers assume that their employees leave because they want more money. Yet only 12% of employees earn more money at their new jobs.

This shows a real disconnect between what employees want and what their employers offer.

For instance, a little recognition can go a long way towards improving employee morale. 59% of employees feel under-appreciated at work, but 69% say they’d work harder if they felt more recognized.

You don’t have to spend lots of money to make employees feel appreciated. Your company culture plays a big role.

If you have a culture where employees don’t feel like you value their time or presence, they won’t put as much effort in. And they’ll be less likely to stick around long-term.

But offering a thoughtful list of incentives for employees is a simple way to show you care.

In fact, the right employee incentive program could increase your employee performance by up to 44%.

In an increasingly competitive market, this is a massive difference. Especially when you factor in that companies who offer a list of incentives for employees see a 79% higher success rate when it comes to achieving their goals.

So, why don’t you check out this list of incentives for employees that are low or no-cost? Let’s take a look:

ERGs

Giving employees the opportunity to interact with colleagues who share their identities and experiences helps them make new friends.

Employee resource groups can also reduce loneliness, particularly if your team works remotely.

As a result, these communities can improve mental and physical health and increase employee performance. 

Flexible working hours

There’s no scientific basis for the traditional 9-5. It was introduced by American labor unions in the 1800s. Henry Ford took it mainstream in the 1920s. It’s been the standard working day for millions of people ever since.

But as the world learns new and different ways to do things, one of the simplest ideas on this list of incentives for employees is to empower them to work when they’re most productive.

The standard 9-5 just doesn’t work for some people. That doesn’t mean they’re not good at their jobs. They may even be more productive if they worked fewer hours, meaning you make more money. 

If you want to get the best out of everyone you hire, and retain them long-term, you need employees to work on the schedule that’s best for them.

Productivity breaks

Regular breaks can improve focus and make us more productive. Especially if your team works long hours and/or in a fast-paced environment.

Allowing employees to take breaks when they feel the need shows that you value them. It also shows that you trust them to get the work done, even if they’re not at their desks every single second.

And it shows how important their mental and physical health needs are to you, helping you build a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

Quiet spaces

Open-plan offices aren’t always the easiest places to concentrate in. I find it almost impossible to concentrate in them, particularly if it’s noisy. The more time I spend in them, the less work I can get done. I need somewhere quiet to recharge (and sometimes to work).

Offering a quiet space where office-based workers can go to recharge gives them more headspace to focus on their tasks without the distractions that come from other people.

This applies to the virtual noise that comes from remote working, too. Constant notifications from messaging apps or emails can make it difficult to get things done, especially if you have a busy inbox.

In many cases, these notifications aren’t urgent. Most things can wait until the task at hand is done.

If you’re worried about urgent requests, you can create protocols that regulate them. This could include having different managers disconnect at different times.

Mental health days

We’ve all had days where we’ve woken up and felt unable to take on the world. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s a natural part of life that can be influenced by everything from not sleeping well enough, to personal challenges, to the weather. 

Offering employees the opportunity to take a mental health day shows that you value their mental health and the contributions they make to your business.

If someone had to work on a day when they were struggling, it would impact their productivity. It may also impact their colleagues, bringing overall employee morale down, too.

So why not allow employees time to recharge so that they can come back to work when they’re better able to perform?

Prioritizing their mental health like this will improve employee satisfaction and retention.

Social media shout-outs

When someone gets a shout out in public, it shows them, and the rest of the world, how much you value them.

You could give an employee a shout-out for successfully completing a project, highlight your long-term employees, or celebrate new hires. 

There are lots of ways to reward and recognize employees on social media, and most only take a few minutes to put together.

You’re likely to get more engagement on these types of posts than typical sales posts, too. Sales posts always get less engagement on social media, but when people see that you appreciate the hard work your employees put in, they’ll warm to your business. As a result, you could attract new customers and improve your employer brand.

Conclusion 

Establishing a list of incentives for employees that actually gets results doesn’t have to be super expensive or complicated. Incentives are about showing employees that you’re grateful they chose to work for you. And that they continue to spend their time and energy helping you grow your business. 

And of course, the higher your employee engagement and satisfaction are, the greater the rewards you, and your team members, will experience.

If you want to easily promote your list of incentives for employees, look no further than Workrowd. Our one-stop shop brings all your employee events, programs, groups, and information together in a single, user-friendly hub.

That way, every team member can tap into the best your organization has to offer from day one. Visit us online to learn more, or write us at hello@workrowd.com.

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Categories
Employee Experience

13 flexible work schedule pros and cons to inform your strategy

Flexible work schedules have been a key topic of discussion in recent years. While the idea may seem simple on its face, there’s a lot to consider. So you may be wondering: what are some of the flexible work schedule pros and cons?

While some business owners (and politicians) are still against the concept of flexible or remote working, there’s now plenty of evidence to prove that employees can be just as productive—if not more so—when businesses embrace flexible work schedules.

Not only that, but it comes with increased benefits for employee wellbeing. For 73% of employees, flexible work schedules increase job satisfaction, and 78% feel it makes them more productive. 

Unsurprisingly then, when employees have the opportunity to work flexibly, 87% take it.

Offering flexible working hours is important for talent attraction, too. 77% of job hunters now say it’s a major consideration when they’re looking at potential opportunities. So, if you’re not already offering it, you could be unintentionally shrinking your talent pool.

That being said, and like anything else, there are still flexible work schedule pros and cons. Let’s explore what they are:

Pros

You can create a truly diverse, inclusive workplace

Some people are great at what they do, but just not suited to working 9-5. This could be because of family commitments, health issues, or personal preferences.

Offering flexible work arrangements makes you a more attractive employer to this often-neglected group of candidates.

As a result, your workplace can become more diverse and inclusive for everyone.

Because people feel included, your employee retention and productivity are likely to increase. In turn, this will also boost your bottom line and grow your employer brand.

Employees feel valued

When you cater work hours to employees’ needs, they feel respected and appreciated. It also increases their sense of inclusion and belonging.

As a result, they’re happier and more likely to stay long term. Because of all of this, they’ll be more productive and help create a positive company culture.

Employees (and their families) are happier

A flexible work model allows employees with families to adapt their workweek to fit their family’s needs.

This extra time with loved ones provides them with a better work/life balance. Which in turn improves their overall wellness and your retention rates.

Employees take fewer sick days

When my chronic pain is bad, I’m sometimes unable to work in the morning because moving is too painful. By the afternoon, I’m well enough to tackle some content writing. 

If I worked 9-5, I wouldn’t be able to pick up work later. I’d be out for the whole day. Flexible work schedules accommodate chronic pain flare-ups and the nuances that come with them.

Mornings are often worse for any illness, whether that’s a cold, allergy, or pain flare up. If an employee can spend the morning resting, they may be able to do some tasks later depending on how they feel.

Flexible work schedules are also beneficial for employees recovering from, or managing, long-term or chronic health conditions. They can ease themselves back in without being tied to one way of working.

As a result, you lose less money and work hours to employees taking time off sick.

Employees work for longer

Flexible work schedule pros and cons can also include aspects of remote work. In situations where employees aren’t losing two hours each day to their daily commutes, they’ll work for longer. As a result, they’ll finish projects faster.

They may also have more energy because they don’t have to get up so early to arrive at the office on time.

Employees can work when they’re most productive

Some people just aren’t morning people, and they shouldn’t be obligated to work 9-5 just because. Likewise, some people are far more productive as the sun rises than when it’s setting.

If you’re not getting the best out of someone, but they’re great at the role, doesn’t it make more sense for them to work the hours when they’re the most productive?

Cons

Flexible working can be difficult to manage

Flexible schedules can be more challenging to manage than when every employee works the same hours.

The right tools can go a long way towards mitigating this impact.

For example, you could send out employee surveys to see how people feel about their ability to collaborate. Or get their suggestions for improving internal communications.

It’s harder for employees to build connections

Different work schedules can mean employees miss out on opportunities to chat in the kitchen or socialize with colleagues after work.

ERGs are a fantastic way for them to still connect, even if they work different hours or they’re not in an office.

You can also create groups for a variety of shared interests, or for different locations. That way, employees can bond with colleagues nearby and maybe even meet up in person.

There’s a lack of structure

A flexible work schedule can mean there’s less structure in employees’ days, and when it comes to how their team operates.

If you don’t come up with workarounds for this, such as having a set time for regular catch-up meetings, it can lead to communication issues and stressed-out employees who don’t feel supported.

One solution for this could be to have core hours. That’s where employees have set hours when they need to be online or in the office. That way there’s always time when they can talk to their colleagues without disturbing them outside of work hours.

Arranging meetings is more challenging

When employees are in the office during different hours, or working in different time zones, getting everyone together for a meeting can be a nightmare. The more people who need to be there, the worse it gets.

However, there are now several programs you can use that do the heavy lifting for you. These apps sync with employees’ calendars, then suggest times when everyone is available to meet up. No more headaches necessary.

Conclusion 

Employees want flexibility, but it’s important to consider all the flexible work schedule pros and cons before designing your approach.

Some people will appreciate the structure of working 9 to 5, and nothing outside of those hours. At the same time, others need more flexibility and will appreciate you accommodating that.

A more flexible work schedule can help you attract more diverse candidates when you hire. So if that’s one of your business goals, creating or updating your flexible working policy is well worth considering.

If you want some help balancing flexible work schedule pros and cons, Workrowd has your back. By keeping your employees connected and in the loop with our all-in-one tool suite, it’s easier to reduce negative impacts, and amplify the benefits.

Check out our user-friendly platform to manage and measure ERGs and interest groups, streamline employee communications, and more. When you’re ready to chat, just visit us online and click the ‘Request a Demo’ button, or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

7 ideas for tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices
10 innovative ways to reduce unconscious bias in the workplace
9 ways to build a more inclusive business in 2024
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Learning & Development

9 ideas for developing leadership skills among non-managers

Effective leadership is about more than just management skills. That’s why it’s important to invest in developing leadership skills across all levels of your workforce.

Leadership is about communication, a positive company culture, and setting an example to the rest of the team. Someone doesn’t have to be a manager to show any of those things.

83% of businesses feel it’s important to develop leaders at every level. But only 5% have implemented any sort of leadership development across all levels.

For every year they delay that leadership development, they lose 7% of their total annual sales.

About half of employees, meanwhile, don’t feel their company’s leadership is of a high quality.

This doesn’t surprise me. I’ve spoken to people before who’ve told me that they wished their manager had had more leadership training. Unfortunately, it was clear that they hadn’t been given much, if any.

This is a widely-shared sentiment; 69% of millennials feel there’s a lack of leadership development in their workplace.

So, how can you go about developing leadership skills among non-managers?

Let them lead an ERG/committee

Leading a group is a relatively low-commitment way for someone to work on their leadership skills.

They get to support people who have similar interests to them without taking on a managerial role and the responsibilities that come with that.

Employee resource groups, in particular, are a great avenue for developing leadership skills. They can even offer access to executives and mentoring opportunities non-managers might not otherwise have.

Rotate meeting leads

Rotating meeting leads is one of the simplest ways to give someone a taste of leadership. 

That way, they get the chance to try techniques they like. Or they can experiment with something new to see what they’re comfortable with and what resonates with attendees.

Alternatively, you could have different people give updates on different areas.

For instance, in marketing, you could have someone give a content update; another on social media; another on PPC, etc. This gives everyone the chance to speak up in every meeting. They get to share their knowledge, answer questions, and improve their communication skills.

It also shows you value everyone’s voice and experience, helping build a positive and supportive company culture, along with developing leadership skills.

Emphasize the importance of communication skills

Communication is a key element to any positive company culture. It starts with how executives communicate. They should set an example with how they talk to not just their equals, but those below them as well.

To show just how important communication skills are within your business, you could hold writing or speaking workshops. In addition, you could create internal content around communication, or write an internal guide on how to give/receive feedback.

In my experience as an author, editor, and marketer, I’ve found a lot of people have no idea how to give or receive feedback.

They focus too much on the negative, write in a tone that unintentionally comes across as harsh or condescending, or don’t know what to comment on. This makes the content writing process a lot more stressful. 

Getting someone external to write communication guides for you shows employees it’s a priority. That way it can become an important part of your company culture.

Create subject matter experts

The longer an employee has worked for your business, the more company knowledge they’ll have. And the more they can share internally and externally.

Not every long-term employee will want to become a manager. They’re still going to want some sort of career growth to work toward, though. This is where subject matter experts come in.

Subject matter experts specialize in one area. They become the go-to person for anyone internal or external who wants to know more about that thing. 

They could even help you with your marketing and employer branding strategies. By creating content that shows off your company knowledge, they can grow your brand, and grow their thought leadership. This can be a really organic way of developing leadership skills among non-managers.

Mentoring

Mentoring is a way for employees to support their colleagues alongside their current job. 

They get to develop their communication and feedback skills, encouraging others to develop in areas where they’re already an expert. This grows their confidence alongside that of their mentee(s).

There’s even the option of reverse mentoring, where lower level employees mentor individuals who are higher up in the company.

Create a culture of ownership

Everyone fails. When we take responsibility for that failure, it helps us grow as people and improve our skills for next time.

A psychologically safe workplace, with a no-blame culture, and a culture of ownership, empowers employees not to fear making mistakes.  

It helps everyone feel more secure in their roles. As a result, they’ll be more creative and take more risks. They won’t be worried about going against the grain or risking their jobs.

Support personal growth 

Soft skills are just as important as hard skills when it comes to leadership.

You can support employees in growing their soft skills by analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. Then, offer options to work on new things they’d like to learn, whether that’s a course, workshop, or book.

An attitude of personal growth can be contagious. When someone sees the difference it’s made for their colleague, they’ll want to experience that success, too. This means they’ll look for ways to work on themselves, and will be motivated to pursue developing leadership skills.

Support independent thinking

It’s easy to fall into the trap of groupthink. This can lead to employees feeling too afraid to suggest new ideas. It also may inhibit their creativity because they’re not being encouraged to use it.

When you support employees in independent thinking, it allows for more creative decisions and better problem solving. This is because no one is afraid to challenge ideas or suggest something new.

The more you encourage employees to think differently, the more great ideas they’ll come up with. Of course, the more this could then help grow your business.

Practice delegation 

Delegating responsibilities shows employees that you trust them. This grows their confidence in that area and can allow them the opportunity to stretch their skills.

What tasks could you give to employees to take ownership of?

Could it be putting together marketing reports so that marketing managers have more time to spend supporting their teams? 

Or writing guides for new recruits on how to do something? 

If you have subject matter experts, what could they use their skills for?

Project-based work is a great opportunity for developing leadership skills among non-managers.

Developing leadership skills among non-managers matters

Anyone in your business can be a leader. What matters is how well they communicate and set an example for the rest of your team. 

As you can see above, developing leadership skills across different levels of your workforce doesn’t have to be difficult.

If you want to give non-managers more opportunities for developing leadership skills, Workrowd can help. With easy program management tools for everything from ERGs to managers-in-training programs, you can drive engagement and ROI.

Plus, with real-time analytics, you always know what’s actually driving results for employees. Interested in an easier road to developing leadership skills among non-managers? Visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com to learn how our all-in-one tool suite can supercharge your employee experience.

7 ideas for tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices
10 innovative ways to reduce unconscious bias in the workplace
9 ways to build a more inclusive business in 2024
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Company Culture

6 ways to build psychological safety in the workplace

During the pandemic, only a quarter of employees felt they had psychological safety in the workplace. Burnout, stress, and feelings of loneliness all increased.

When six in ten employees feel psychologically safe, and able to voice their opinions, businesses can experience a 27% reduction in staff turnover and a 12% increase in productivity. 

It also means employees experience 74% less stress, 29% greater life satisfaction, and 76% higher engagement at work.

And psychological safety in the workplace also makes it 67% more likely that workers will apply any newly learned skills to their jobs.

What is psychological safety?

Psychological safety in the workplace looks like people feeling comfortable sharing their ideas and concerns, asking questions, admitting mistakes, and taking risks at work, without fear of negative consequences.

When employees feel able to speak up and make mistakes, they’re happier in their roles and less likely to leave. They’re not spending their working days on edge, waiting for someone to snap at them over a minor error.

How to build a psychologically safe work environment

No-blame culture

A no-blame culture means that if a mistake happens, nobody gets blamed or scapegoated. 

The team analyzes the mistake, takes away any learnings from it, and makes changes going forward.

Employees continue to feel able to share constructive feedback with their colleagues. Their mental health doesn’t take a hit out of fear for their futures, either.

As a result, high-performing teams stay high-performing and the psychological safety in the workplace remains.

The Mercedes F1 team is famous for its no-blame company culture. Watching their seven-year winning streak come to an end over the past couple of years has tested this approach. Plus, their new car design has significantly impacted their performance in the championships.

Despite this, nobody blamed or fired anyone on the team.

Instead, they simply moved people around the company to find roles that better fit them. 

When asked about the team’s no-blame culture, Mercedes Team Principal, Toto Wolff, explained: “The human mind is structured in a way that when something happens, when a problem comes up in the race, or a part fails, human nature will always be ‘it’s your fault,’ because that allows me to release pressure. Understanding that is an important first step that is just the pressure release valve for yourself.”

He continued: “It’s important to recalibrate yourself, recondition yourself, and then say okay, what has actually gone wrong? And only if you’re calm and reflected, but also an emotional leader, will people be able to come out of their hiding spaces and say, ‘I think we should have done that better or this better.’ I think this is a very important ingredient to make the team progress. To uncover every problem that’s come up and not blame the person.” 

Listen to everyone’s opinion—and encourage employees to voice theirs

Not everyone is comfortable voicing their opinions at work. Especially if someone has reprimanded them in the past for doing so, either at their current or a previous job. The only way that will change is if they experience psychological safety in the workplace.

Taking employees’ suggestions, and making a habit of doing so without allowing someone else to take credit for them, will further help employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts.

If they feel like someone else will get the credit, or like people won’t listen to them, they’re less likely to make suggestions and more likely to retreat into themselves.

Support risk taking

Employees need to feel like they can take risks, or suggest taking a risk, without being penalized for it.

Taking an attitude of “no suggestion is a bad suggestion” opens you up to a wider range of ideas. Even just one of them could revolutionize your business.

There’s no such thing as a stupid question

Employees need to feel like they can ask questions without judgement. Otherwise, they’re less likely to seek out help when they need it. 

If they know there’s no bar for what is or isn’t a stupid question, they’re more likely to reach out. They’ll know they can safely ask colleagues or their manager to help them find the answers they need. 

If they get judged, talked about behind their back, or ignored for asking questions, they’ll be stuck for longer, feel worse in their role, and struggle even more when a bigger problem arises.

Encourage asking for help

Asking for help is one of the quickest ways to learn and grow. It’s often easier to get advice from someone we work with than to spend time researching something and trying to find the relevant information ourselves.

Not to mention asking for help is a good way for employees to meet team members from other departments. 

I’ve had bosses in the past say to me: “don’t come to meet with problems, come to me with solutions.” While I understand wanting employees to solve their own problems, it can create fear around asking for help. Which is exactly the opposite of building psychological safety in the workplace.

It should be acceptable for an employee to ask for help when they’re feeling stuck. They shouldn’t feel like they have to solve everything on their own. They should feel like their colleagues are there to support them.

Embrace everyone’s skills and talents

Every employee has a unique set of skills and talents that they bring to a role. If they don’t experience psychological safety in the workplace, they’re less likely to lean into those skills and talents. As a result, your business doesn’t get to benefit from them.

Instead, employees may find it harder to generate ideas or even think clearly. The pressure of having to adapt to fit into the workplace, rather than be who they are, will take its toll on their physical and mental health.

Psychological safety matters

Psychological safety in the workplace is a key building block for employee satisfaction and engagement. The safer employees feel in the workplace, the more you’re going to get out of them. Plus, it will be better for their long-term health and wellbeing.

If you want to increase psychological safety in the workplace, it’s important to have the right tools. Giving employees a one-stop shop for connecting with colleagues and finding important information lets them know they’re supported.

Plus, with real-time analytics, you can unlock new insights about how to further increase psychological safety in the workplace. If you’d like to learn more, drop by our site, or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

7 ideas for tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices
10 innovative ways to reduce unconscious bias in the workplace
9 ways to build a more inclusive business in 2024
Categories
Employee Experience

8 workplace flexibility ideas that serve both people and profit

When you mention ‘flexible work’, different workplace flexibility ideas come to mind for different people. One thing is clear, though; no matter how it looks, it’s growing more and more important to today’s talent.

Almost 40% of candidates rank workplace flexibility as one of the top three factors they consider when job hunting.

96% of employees, meanwhile, feel that they need flexibility at work. But only 47% believe they have access to the sort of work flexibility that they need. That’s a massive 49% gap!

This gap is even more pronounced for women—only 34% have the type of flexible working arrangement they want.

Of the employees who did report having some flexibility at work, only 19% said they had access to structured workplace flexibility programs.

If diversity and inclusion can make such a huge difference to a business’s bottom line, how is there such a big gap between the percentage of employees who want to make use of workplace flexibility ideas, and the percentage who actually get to?

Why does workplace flexibility matter?

Implementing workplace flexibility ideas ensures you can attract—and retain—a wider range of employees. Every employee and candidate has a different set of needs. The more you can cater to, the more you’ll benefit from a happier, more diverse, and more productive workforce.

Creating a flexible workplace means embracing changes that make employees’ work schedules work for them.

Over time, these changes compound to improve your employee satisfaction and employer brand. And make you more money.

Offering the option of a flexible work schedule is a low-cost way to add to your compensation package. Plus, it reduces your employee turnover and helps you tap into a wider talent pool.

It also shows employees that you value work/life balance—something that’s grown increasingly important since the pandemic.

And it’s something that can easily be adapted for remote work, hybrid work, or office-based work.

So, let’s take a look at some workplace flexibility ideas that serve both people and profit:

Flexible working hours

The most obvious group of people who can benefit from flexible hours are parents. When they don’t have to be superglued to their desks from 9am every day, they get to drop off, and pick up, their children from school. This saves them money on childcare and gives them more time with their children.

A flexible schedule doesn’t just benefit working parents, though. Some people just don’t fit with the traditional 9-5 model.

Leaning into employees’ natural working patterns helps them excel in their roles. It also embraces neurodiversity and creative thinking, and benefits your business as a result.

Compressed workweek

A recent UK study found that a four-day work week—without pay cut—resulted in no reduction in employee productivity. In fact, in some instances, it made employees more productive.

I’ve spoken to a couple of friends who work full time recently, and they’ve both told me that they feel they could do just as good of a job if they worked one day fewer per week.

Having to work five days means they’re often finding ways to fill the time or pretending to be busy.

This isn’t how a healthy company culture should operate. What should matter is the quality of work someone produces, not how many hours they spend sitting at a desk.

Reduced hours or part-time work

If you’ve got a fantastic employee whose situation has changed—for instance, they’ve just become a parent or been diagnosed with a chronic health condition—rather than lose them, why not reduce their hours instead?

This is a great way to retain their company knowledge. And, as we’ve seen above, it doesn’t always mean a reduction in productivity. Offering some workplace flexibility ideas when an employee is struggling is a great way to show you value them.

Annualized hours

Rather than have someone work a set number of hours per week, annualized hours average out over time.

This flexible work arrangement ensures that tasks get done, but nobody’s sitting at a desk twiddling their thumbs when they’ve completed all their tasks for the day/week.

This improves employee wellbeing and means they have more time to spend during launches or other busy periods without wasting time when things are quieter.

Job sharing

Job sharing is when two or more employees split the equivalent of a full-time role between them.

This flexible working arrangement helps you attract working parents. Or just people who want to work but can’t or don’t want to work full-time.

As a result, you get to benefit from the alternative perspectives that come with increased workplace diversity. In today’s tight hiring market, incorporating some of these workplace flexibility ideas can help you tap into new talent pools.

Flexible paid time off

The average US worker takes just 20.3 days off per year. In the UK, employees get at least 28 days including bank holidays. Any less than this would put most Brits off applying for a role. Extra PTO makes the job more attractive and says a lot about the workplace culture.

Flexible PTO allows employees to take as much vacation time as they like without it impacting their role or the attitudes of their colleagues toward them.

To introduce this, you could set an example by taking time off yourself. This shows employees you really do value breaks from the desk and workplace wellbeing.

Sabbaticals

Sabbaticals are a great way for employees to explore the world, learn about themselves, and recover from mental/physical health issues.

Knowing that there’s a job at the end to return to reduces some of the stress of their time away. This can further help them to relax and recover.

Phased retirement

Going from full-time work to full-time retirement can be a huge shock to someone’s mind and body. If they don’t have hobbies it can lead to boredom, loneliness, and unhealthy habits. 

Phased retirement allows them to adjust to retired life while still connecting with others and getting some mental stimulation.

They could use this time to train someone to replace them, meaning that you don’t miss out on talented employees’ industry or company knowledge—they can pass it on to the next person before they leave.

Conclusion 

Workplace flexibility is a cornerstone of a diverse and inclusive workplace. It starts with a flexible mindset that values work/life balance.

It embraces everyone’s working patterns and ways of life, helping them perform at their best. And means you get the most out of every employee.

When the work environment is adapted to suit employees’ needs, instead of them needing to adapt themselves to suit their workplace’s needs, they’re more engaged and more productive. 

Implementing workplace flexibility ideas improves your company culture, employee retention, and job satisfaction. It also makes you a more attractive employer to prospective candidates.

If you’d like to get more rapid feedback on your existing workplace flexibility ideas, or simply ensure employees are aware of everything they can tap into, Workrowd can help.

Our all-in-one platform automates surveys and engagement analytics to give you more insight into what’s making a difference for employees. Plus, by bringing everything employees need under one roof, there’s no question about where to find important info.

Sound useful? It is! Send us a note at hello@workrowd.com to learn more, or drop by our site to schedule a time to chat.

7 ideas for tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices
10 innovative ways to reduce unconscious bias in the workplace
9 ways to build a more inclusive business in 2024
Categories
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging

Inclusive language examples to drive belonging in the workplace

Building a culture of belonging in the workplace is important if you want to attract and retain top talent. The words we use can play a big role in ensuring people feel included. It can sometimes be hard to ‘get it right’, though, especially if you’re not sure what inclusive language examples look like.

In the last few years, there’s been a big push toward using more inclusive language in the workplace. This isn’t an easy change to manage, but it can lead to huge rewards.

For instance, consider that millennials are one of the most racially and ethnically diverse generations in US history. By 2025, members of this group will make up 75% of the global workforce.

And 83% of millennials are actively engaged at work when they feel their employer creates an inclusive culture.

Given the consequences of a disengaged workforce, language usage could be your first step towards creating a more diverse, welcoming, and inclusive business.

Getting employees’ feedback on language usage is a good way to discover what potential words and phrases could be problematic.

Once you’ve done that, here are some tips along with inclusive language examples that will help drive belonging in your workplace:

Communicate in plain language

It doesn’t matter who your target audience is. Plain language, and avoiding jargon or acronyms, will always make what you say and write more inclusive.

It also makes things easier for people to understand. So then they come to you with fewer questions, allowing everyone to spend more time on higher-value tasks.

Using plain language in your marketing could even increase your website conversions because it’s easier for people to grasp.

Use gender-neutral terms

“They” has been around as a gender-neutral term for hundreds of years. Yet it’s one of the inclusive language examples that continues to face resistance.

When you use “he” in cases where you don’t actually know the person’s gender, it can make the reader uncomfortable and put them off your business.

I read a lot of nonfiction, and it pains me every time I see a book use “he” to mean a single person whose gender we don’t know.

Sometimes those books split it between “he” and “she,” or even just use “she,” but what about non-binary folks? What if you don’t get the balance right?

It’s easier, and more inclusive, to use “they.”

Using words like “guys” to mean a group of people is another subtle way to gender the conversation.

It subconsciously implies that the default gender is male, again further isolating your audience. There are lots of different alternatives to this, including “folks,” “gang,” or “people.”

Using gendered terms like “waitress” instead of “server” makes assumptions about someone’s gender, which is isolating and unfair.

Language reflects culture. Changing the words and phrases we use changes cultural perceptions and attitudes.

It starts with people being aware of the connotations of what they say, and consciously changing the words they use. Incorporating some of the inclusive language examples above is a great first step.

Ask people their pronouns

It never hurts to ask someone what their pronouns are.

Sure, we can make assumptions, but that can lead to awkward atmospheres that make people uncomfortable. This is true for both the person who assumed incorrectly, and the person on the receiving end.

In the latter case, they’re going to feel less like they belong and can be themselves in the workplace. This can negatively impact their mental health and make them more likely to leave.

With belonging in the workplace being so important, asking someone their pronouns is a simple way to show people that you do want them to feel like they belong, whether they’re working with you for five minutes or fifty years.

Consider the connotations or origins of a word, phrase, object, or action

There are some words and phrases that were once considered innocuous but are now problematic.

This is partly because the world is more diverse. However, it’s also because more people are aware of the origins of these things and why we should avoid them.

Recently, there was controversy in the UK when a pub had dolls with racial connotations on display. While displaying them isn’t technically illegal, making people uncomfortable through your words or actions in this way is.

Even though the offensive dolls were confiscated, the pub owners continue to defend their actions. They even acquired more dolls to display.

As a consequence, the pub received a lot of negative press. One of the UK’s most respected pub guides even removed them from their listings.

We should always be questioning and challenging previously held attitudes and beliefs. There are always ways to improve processes and make more people feel welcome.

Failing to question these attitudes and beliefs can lead to negative press that can impact your business in the short- and long-term. Incorporating more inclusive language examples is important, but eliminating exclusive words, phrases, and of course actions, is just as essential.

Be mindful of the language around disabilities

Saying that you’re blind because you didn’t see something can be offensive to people who are visually impaired.

There are some people who wouldn’t find this offensive, like my nan, who was visually impaired. When it comes to inclusive language though, it’s much better to err on the side of caution and inclusivity rather than divisiveness and upset.

Likewise, there are some people who dislike the word disability and prefer to use “differently abled.” If you’re unsure which to choose, ask your employees who face long-term health challenges which term they prefer.

Adopting the social disability model can help, too. This states that it isn’t people themselves who are disabled, it’s society that disables them. This puts the onus on society, and businesses, to accommodate those disabilities, rather than forcing those with disabilities to change themselves.

Conclusion 

You don’t have to get all of this right 100% of the time. You just have to be open to feedback and learning, and do your best to utilize these inclusive language examples when the occasion calls for it. 

When you’re open to feedback and learning, you’re more likely to not repeat the same mistakes. You’ll also create the inclusive culture that you want your business to have—and that you and your business can benefit from.

If you’re looking to build a more inclusive organization, Workrowd can help. Our all-in-one tool suite makes it easy for your people to find their people from day one.

Plus, it’s a breeze to share resources like a list of inclusive language examples so that the whole team sees it rather than just getting lost in people’s inboxes. If you want to create a more inclusive culture with less work, visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com. We’d love to connect.

7 ideas for tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices
10 innovative ways to reduce unconscious bias in the workplace
9 ways to build a more inclusive business in 2024