How Important is Diversity and Inclusion for Your Dealership?

Recent research conducted by Ennis and Co reveals that 85% of automotive businesses believe that diversity and inclusion is a priority in the workplace; however, in comparison to other industries, we are lagging behind.

While diversity and inclusion (D&I) may be seen as a priority for the majority of companies, only 55% agree that they have made good progress in this area and a meagre 15% say that they have seen positive results from D&I strategies that they have implemented.

Changing Stereotypes

An inhibitor of D&I in the workplace is that people who would make your workplace more diverse are not applying for the positions you advertise. We could simply say this is out of our hands and give up, or, we could investigate the reasons behind this.

When people imagine certain job roles, minds tend to leap to a stereotype, and if an individual does not fit the stereotype for a job, they may be deterred from applying or not even consider applying in the first place. This is an issue particularly in the automotive sector and if we are going to increase D&I, public perceptions must be altered, and certain stereotypes eradicated.

Employee Retention

When it comes to discussing public perceptions, one group of people who seem to embrace D&I without question is millennials. Growing up at a time when acceptance of diversity and non-traditional job roles is at an all-time high may mean that young people have not formed such strong stereotypes themselves and they could be easier to recruit.

However, millennials are now just coming out of school and into work, and trying to identify a career path for themselves, and at this point, they may be likely to stray. To retain your young employees, help them understand what opportunities are available to them and how they may be able to progress within your company.

Employee Engagement

Action to improve D&I in the workplace must come from employers, but it is very important that everyone in the company is on board. Ford has hosted company-wide diversity and unconscious bias workshops to ensure that employees are aware of the importance of the topic.

You don’t need to go to this level, but make sure your team members are aware of the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace by implementing a clear strategy and talking to them about the subject.

For information on how Click Dealer can help your dealership, get in touch today via marketing@clickdealer.co.uk, 01782 478220 or through our contact page.