The last 50 years of business have brought in many changes to the workplace. There has been procedural changes and technological changes, but the biggest change to the workplace has been the societal changes brought about by inclusiveness.
Historically, the business climate has been very much a cloistered world that was primarily a world filled with young white men. Women and minorities weren’t allowed in and while this may have been the way of the world in the 1800s, clearly changes had to be made. In the 1960s, this disparity was finally addressed with three important laws that President Kennedy and President Johnson passed that enacted laws to protect discrimination against women, minorities, and the elderly.
This brought about the much-needed changes that needed to be addressed and businesses were growing in diversity and inclusiveness. This brought OCB (Organizational Citizenship Behavior) up as well as there now was a trend of less stress at the workplace. These changes were not just for the benefit of bringing society together and different ethnicities together, these changes were also for the benefit of the business.
According to the famous Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, all people have certain wants and needs at a foundational level. When a business embraces diversity and inclusivity of all, employees feel wanted and it invariably affects their work positively and that positivity spreads to others in the workplace, it’s infectious. There are ways that businesses can promote and help usher in diversity and inclusivity in the workplace.
Diversity Management and Diversity Training are just a couple of ways that businesses can achieve this aim. With these ethical changes being made at the top, your business can not only get into the 21st century in terms of how to treat employees, but they can help the bottom line as well.
