Diversity & Inclusion
Y’all Means All
With diversity leading to increased innovation, faster problem solving, better engagement and market growth, embracing our differences and finding ways to increase and celebrate diversity, equity and inclusion maximizes our opportunities for success as a community.
Best Practices for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Ensure your Board of Directors and leadership team reflect the people you serve.
Create an internal inclusion and diversity council, ally-ship program or Employee Resource Group.
Review hiring practices at all company levels. Think about removing personal identifiable information from submitted applications or increasing visibility of your industry to populations you have not traditionally served.
Invite EmployAbility or Progressive Abilities Support Services to hold a “lunch and learn” with management and staff to learn about how to be more inclusive of those that are neuro-diverse (those with developmental disabilities).
Create an avenue for workers to provide anonymous, ad hoc feedback on matters relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Utilize diverse job boards.
Incorporate unconscious bias training for staff.
Establish mentoring opportunities that allow employees to be mentored by individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds.
Consider hiring individuals with a criminal background.
Provide floating holidays for those that celebrate different events and dates.
Employ clients from organizations that support the neuro-diverse including EmployAbility, Progressive Abilities Support Services and Lowcountry Down Syndrome Society.
Conduct a poverty simulation for staff through StepUp Savannah.
Join diverse Chambers of Commerce.
Support minority-owned businesses.
Tips for Creating a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Culture
Make a statement as an organization of what you stand for, your values, mission, vision and guiding principals.
Communicate your company values to your employees and solicit feedback.
Create a safe space for conversations around Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.
Don’t limit your definition of “diverse.”
Establish HR practices that encourage diversity.
Expand the exposure of your industry to new groups.
Connect with Chambers of Commerce
Diversify your Spending and Support
Visit Savannah’s Shop Black in Savannah
Off The Map Savannah Instagram page
New apps created to help local Black-owned businesses gain exposure
City of Savannah’s DBE list
Greater Savannah Black Chamber of Commerce Directory
Metropolitan Savannah Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Directory
Articles and blogs highlighting Black-owned visits to Savannah:
Benefits to Employer
Companies that exhibit gender and ethnic diversity are, respectively, 15% and 35% more likely to outperform less diverse peers.
Companies with higher diversity in management earned, on average, 38% more revenue than companies with lower diversity. Diversity of gender, country of origin, career path and industry background are highly correlated to innovation.
Organizations in the top 25% when it comes to gender diversity among executive leadership teams are 21% more likely to be profitable and 27% better at creating value.
More diverse companies experience innovation which results in 2.3 times higher cash flow per employee.
By replacing just one man with one woman on the board or in senior management, firms could experience an 8–13 basis point increase in their Return on Assets.
Hiring an individual with a criminal background results in less turnover.
Opening job opportunities to individuals with a criminal background significantly increases your labor pool as 1 in 3 adults in America have a criminal background.
A 2018 study by Accenture reports that businesses that actively seek to employ people with disabilities outperform businesses that do not. Their revenues were 28% higher, net income was two times more and profit margins were higher by 30%. Additionally, the Department of Labor found that employers who embraced disability saw a 90% increase in employee retention.
Additional Resources & Links
Introduction to the Human Resources Discipline of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
8 Diversity Recruiting Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
6 Steps for Building an Inclusive Workplace
5 Tips to Overcome Diversity Challenges
Savannah Regional Film Commission Diversity Resources
10 Books To Help You Foster A More Diverse And Inclusive Workplace
14 books all managers who want to build diverse and happy teams should order right now
Viewpoint: How to Create a More Diverse, Equitable and Inclusive Workplace