How to Support Diverse Needs in a Workplace

Diversity is more than just a corporate buzzword – it’s a cornerstone of success in business. Diversity in a workplace offers unique perspectives and ideas, and is something that should be valued and embraced. But with a diverse workforce comes diverse needs, and it’s essential these needs are all accommodated to ensure everyone can access facilities and contribute to business success. In this blog, we explore practical strategies, solutions and best practices to support diverse needs in the workplace, ensuring each individual feels valued, respected and able to flourish.

Incorporate flexible ergonomic design

A vital part of catering to different needs in the workplace is by offering flexible, adjustable ergonomic tools and accessories. With the right tools designed to fit the individual, people will be able to stay focused on their work while supporting their physical and mental wellbeing. A properly calibrated ergonomic workstation will look different for everyone – so it’s important that each individual has what they need.

Some people might need specific types of ergonomic office chairs that provide extra support to alleviate back pain. Others might benefit from using a sit stand desk converter, allowing them to keep active while working and seamlessly switch between sitting and standing.

When it comes to desk ergonomics, it’s never “one size fits all”. So, you should aim to offer adaptable equipment, such as our adjustable laptop stands. Leitz has a range of height-adjustable laptop risers that will lift laptop screens to the ideal height for each individual (at or just below eye line). We understand that this height will be different for everyone, so our products give people the choice to find the optimum height for what they need.

Offer flexible working

Flexible working offerings have grown exponentially since the pandemic. What started out as a necessity has now grown into a mutually beneficial solution for both businesses and employees.

Flexible working can be offered in many different forms. It can be as simple as allowing people to work from home when it suits them, either on a full-time basis or as hybrid working. It could also involve flexible working hours, allowing people to choose how their working day looks, such as starting earlier so they can finish earlier, or vice versa. Flexible working could involve offering a four-day week, where employees have an extra day off each week. The kind of flexible working your organisation can offer will differ depending on the needs of the business and the needs of the individuals working there.

Flexible working can help to give people a healthier work-life balance, allowing to better balance things like childcare and self-care. It will give them more time to dedicate to their other responsibilities whilst also keeping productive at work. This can help people to avoid burnout, helping them to maintain their mental wellbeing.

Flexible working is also a vital part of catering to diverse needs. There can be many reasons why people might prefer to or need to work from home, including physical disabilities, mental health needs and neurodivergence. Offering flexible hours also helps to support people who might have caring duties for others or might need to regularly attend appointments for their own health. Overall, businesses should aim to embrace flexibility to create an inclusive workplace that can be accessed by all.

Utilise technical solutions

There are all kinds of technical developments that can help to support diverse needs in the workplace, such as video conferencing, cloud computing, collaboration software and more. These solutions all help to support remote working, ensuring team members can communicate and work together wherever they may be in the world.

Technology can also help to enhance accessibility in the workplace. Solutions such as voice recognition software, screen readers and real-time subtitling can all help to support employees with diverse needs and disabilities. They can help to create a more universal, accessible space, so everyone can participate and contribute.

You can speak to your employees about what sort of hardware and software could help to support them in their work. Alternatively, you can ask them what barriers they are facing and work with them to find the solution, as they may not be aware of what tools are available.

You should bear in mind that often with new technologies, individuals will require training to be able to use it properly and get the most out of it. Make sure that everyone who wants training for new software or hardware is able to access it in a way that suits their needs.

Implement health and wellbeing initiatives

Employer responsibility for employee wellbeing can extend to designing and implementing initiatives to support physical and mental health. These should be created with varying needs in mind; offering a variety of initiatives can help to ensure everyone can be included.

These initiatives could be fitness programmes, meditation sessions, recipe sharing for healthy eating and mental health resources. If you have people on the team who work remotely, you should ensure the initiatives can also be accessed by them, either by holding virtual sessions or by providing written materials and guidance. This will help people to maintain good health working from home as well as in the office.

Employers who show this investment and care for their employees are demonstrating how valuable each individual is to the business. This can help to improve employee engagement and retention, contributing to an overall more positive workplace.

Provide diversity and inclusion training

Create an inclusive workplace that supports diverse needs to encompass the people working there too. Employee responsibilities will include looking out for each other and being mindful of different needs amongst the team.

One way a business can help to foster a positive, inclusive environment is to provide diversity and inclusion training and educational materials. This could be a series of talks held with a third party or could involve distributing resources so individuals can do their own reading. The aim is to help everyone understand and embrace their differences and know how they can accommodate everyone’s needs. This can be especially important for managers who are responsible for a team of people and need to know how to effectively manage people with diverse needs.

Encourage and collect feedback

With such a diverse range of requirements, it can be challenging to accommodate everyone’s needs. You can simplify the process by speaking to your workforce and establishing a secure system to gain constructive feedback from the team.

A good way to gain honest feedback is by asking people to fill out an anonymous survey. This could ask what people need from the business to accommodate their needs and also ask for any suggestions the individual may have for the business to improve. You can also use suggestion boxes in the office, virtual suggestion boxes using online tools, focus groups and one-on-one discussions.

In order for people to feel comfortable giving their feedback, you will need to ensure that you have created a trusting and supportive environment. This will help employees to feel valued and make them feel confident in offering their opinion and speaking up for their needs.

Leitz has a huge range of ergonomic office equipment to support productive and comfortable working for a diverse range of needs.

You can read more about supporting employee wellbeing below:

10 Ways to Create the Best Hybrid Working Environment

Signs of an Unhealthy Work Life Balance and How to Fix It

How to Recognise When Your Employees Are Suffering from Burnout