Operating in today’s dynamic business landscape requires companies to maximize human potential and create a workplace where every employee has the opportunity to succeed. This requires an inclusive culture where every employee feels genuinely valued, respected, and empowered, and where they can thrive in both their work and personal lives.
Here are three ways to build a For AllTM workplace:
1. Transparent Communication and Employee Engagement
Openness and transparent communication are vital for building trust and fostering a positive work culture. Equally important is creating an environment where every employee has the opportunity to give feedback and share their input. For example
- Ensure clear and transparent communication to all employees, especially around rationale for decision making and changes
- Use different approaches and platforms to seek employee feedback and suggestions to ensure that everyone feels heard and valued
At Trust Bank Singapore, the leadership team and people leaders sit together with employees. This encourages open communication and enables leaders to be more accessible as they gain a better understanding of day-to-day experiences and challenges on the ground. Monthly All-Hands Sessions are organized to update everyone on its progress and the journey ahead. During these sessions, business goals are shared transparently, ensuring that all employees understand the role they play in contributing to Trust’s success and mission. A monthly All-Hands Q&A also enables employees to share ideas and feedback anonymously to the LT.
2. Merit-Based Opportunity Structures and Equitable Access to Growth
Ensure that people decisions and practices are based on merit. For example, ensuring that hiring and promotion decisions prioritize skills and potential, and all employees have equal access to career-building resources. These include
- Blind recruitment tools to reduce unconscious bias in hiring
- Development programs that identify and nurture talent at all levels
- Rotational programs/postings that expose employees to different job roles and teams
Micron Technology believes that a For All workplace begins with the hiring process, and it starts by casting a very wide net to find and attract a wide range of candidates. It leverages multiple technology platforms such as Textio (to optimize job posts and candidate outreach materials with inclusive, on-brand language, and strip out any bias when crafting job descriptions) and Eightfold (to mask profiles to hide personal information, including gender and ethnicity to reduce unconscious bias and focus on professional qualifications and skills potential).
3. Inclusive Work Design
Offer a range of policies and programs that can support employee needs and responsibilities across different career and life stages. Design office spaces and facilities that are accessible to benefit everyone, regardless of their abilities. These include:
- Flexible work arrangements including flexi-place/remote/hybrid, flexi-time, part-time work
- Universal design principles in offices and tools for greater accessibility –adjustable workstations, captioned videos/translations for presentation and communications, accessible restrooms and flexible seating areas
Dow Singapore treats the employee experience as a key business priority with a defined strategy and dedicated team that goes beyond employee engagement to examine the end-to-end employee experience. It focuses on addressing workplace stress and promoting well-being for all, as well as delivering improvements to enhance Technology, Tools and Processes (TT&P). Over the last year, it launched a series of initiatives and programs including effective workload management resources, training on psychological safety, TT&P updates such as workstation performance, automated translations, remote work capabilities and more.
A culture of accountability
While it is important to build the infrastructure for an inclusive workplace through policies, programs and initiatives, a culture of accountability must underpin all these efforts for there to be authentic inclusion. These can be embedded into daily operations by cultivating a culture of psychological safety in the workplace, using a variety of approaches and platforms to ensure that they are effective for different groups of employees across the organization, and build capability of leaders at every level to lead and manage their teams in line with the desired culture.
Creating a genuine For All workplace is not just quick fixes and check boxes. It’s about creating an environment where your employees don’t just say “I work here” but “I can be myself around here; I belong here”. It’s a journey that takes time, commitment and consistent effort.
In Singapore, 57% of employees in a typical workplace say they can be themselves at work, compared with 90% at the Best Workplaces in Singapore™.
Want to know what your employees are saying about your workplace? Ask them.
Learn more at https://thailand.greatplacetowork.com.sg/employee-survey/.
