How Can Your Business Realize the Advantages of a Diverse Workforce? Try These Resources for Starters

Check Out These Books, Online Guides and Webinars for and from the B Corp Community

While some companies see a strong business case for serving an increasingly diverse population, Certified B Corporations also see the strong human case for employing and involving the people in their communities — locally and globally — as they demonstrate the advantages of a diverse workforce.

That’s shown when B Corps sign on to the Declaration of Interdependence, pledging to broaden their business focus beyond shareholders to include community, environment and workers — effectively codifying that their company will provide more opportunities for more people. Realizing the advantages of a diverse workforce involves a long-term journey on a path that includes lessons and successes, and for many businesses, identifying where to start can be one of the biggest challenges.

To guide and inform your company’s inclusion journey, B The Change compiled this list of resources for and from the B Corp community. Try these suggestions as a starting point — and if you have others to recommend, add them in the comments at the end of the article or share with us through B Corporation’s social media channels.

Realize the Advantages of a Diverse Workforce: Download These Guides from B Lab

• The Basics of Diversity, Inclusion, & Social Justice in the Workplace. A more diverse and inclusive workplace can help your company access and retain top talent, grow into new markets, develop creative and innovative products and services, and create equal opportunities for all of your employees. Download this guide to learn key elements to building a successful workplace diversity and Inclusion program.
• Using Corporate Governance for Accountability and Inclusion. Good corporate governance provides a framework for running a successful business and maintaining the ethical integrity, social and environmental impact, and inclusion of an organization. In this guide you’ll find direction on how and when to create a board of directors that will deliver the best results for your business and its stakeholders.
• Engaging and Retaining a Diverse Workforce. Learn how a foundation of inclusion can help build and maintain an engaged and thriving workforce. This downloadable guide discusses inclusion in the workplace across four dimensions: organizational structures, culture, compensation and benefits packages, and work environment.

Read All About It

Berrett Koehler, a B Corp bookseller, offers numerous titles on inclusive business practices. Here’s a look at a few newer options:

• The B Corp Handbook, Second Edition, by Ryan Honeyman and Tiffany Jana. The updated version of this book on the what, why and how of B Corp Certification includes a strong focus on equity, diversity and inclusion and its foundational importance to the B Corp community, our global society at large, and the inclusive economy we’re empowering.
• How to Be an Inclusive Leader by Jennifer Brown. This diversity and inclusion expert provides a step-by-step guide for the personal and emotional journey needed to create an inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive.
• Erasing Institutional Bias by Tiffany Jana and Ashley Diaz Mejias. Find a wealth of in-depth research on how biases become embedded into workplace cultures plus practical and engaging workplace tools. Jana and Mejias confront topics such as racism, sexism, hiring and advancement bias, and retribution bias, and offer solutions for identifying and controlling them.
• Safe Enough to Soar by Frederick Miller and Judith Katz. Learn the concept of “interaction safety” and how it can help create a work environment of trust, inclusion, and collaboration so team members feel safe enough to speak up and raise tough concerns.

Find More Resources Online

• How do B Corps attract and engage purpose-driven talent? In this webinar, you’ll hear how Hootsuite leveraged its B Corp Certification to attract talented people and unleash its potential — and how B Corp certification could have the same impact for your business. It also includes an introduction to B Work, the world’s leading impact job platform and where B Corps can first meet their future employees.
• RaceAhead e-newsletter. Get a daily look at culture and diversity in corporate America sent to your email inbox from the editors at Fortune magazine. Each daily message includes top headlines gathered from across the country. Fortune also offers a daily e-newsletter, Broadsheet, for and about the world’s women business leaders. Subscribe for either online.