Being a good boss isn’t just about understanding what your employees need, or making money in the most sustainable way possible. It’s about providing opportunities, getting involved in your community, and ensuring you’re doing your bit to promote equality across the market.
But when you’re running a small business, it can be hard to uphold this standard thanks to a certain degree of limited time, manpower, and resources. However, did you know it’s still possible to curate an equitable workplace when you’re starting out? Here are a few tips to help.
Examine Your Hiring Process
This is the most accessible way to promote equality as a small business; be the equal opportunity employer your community needs you to be! Because without examination, the hiring process for your company can contain implicit bias.
Say you work in the construction industry; you may unintentionally never even consider a woman for a job due to an unconscious belief that they won’t be as strong as a male candidate.
So take a look at your hiring pool – what do you notice? Do a lot of the candidates look the same, outside of their relevant qualifications? If so, there could be bias present in the way you hire and that needs removing as soon as possible.
Consider Talent From Overseas
Bringing in new hires from other countries is a great way to diversify your workforce in a strong and ‘real’ fashion. People who have lived and worked in other countries will bring so many unique viewpoints to the table, and may have further qualifications that aren’t even available in the UK.
Of course, if you want to hire people from overseas, you’re going to need to send in a sponsor licence application to ensure you’re legally able to hire someone who isn’t a UK citizen. But the process doesn’t have to be complicated, so don’t let it hold you back from finding talent all over the world!
Make it Easy to Be Inclusive
If you make it easy to be inclusive, you offer training on diversity and equality, and promote the attitude you want to see in your employees yourself. You set rules and regulations in the workplace that ensure people are polite and respectful at all times, and you’re a hard line on people overstepping those boundaries.
All in all, you’re someone who wants people to be able to do well, no matter who they are, what they believe, or where they’re from. You want your employees to work as a team together, and you’re always keen to pay them the same amount for the good work they do, and that leads to a very happy office in the long term!
It’s illegal to discriminate against someone due to their age, sex or gender, race, sexual orientation, being pregnant or having children, a potential disability, or their religion. Make sure your workplace promotes the value of seeing into a person’s real potential and doing your best to encourage it out.
