Employee resource groups (ERGs) can lead to an increase in employee engagement of up to 15%. With stakes that high, it can help to have some employee resource group guidelines to set you up for success.

ERGs can also boost the visibility of underrepresented talent. Even more so when you consider the positive impact on employees’ networking opportunities, career growth, and job satisfaction.

But how do you equip your ERGs to thrive and drive real impact across your business? Here are some employee resource group guidelines to empower your ERGs to reach their full potential:

Pick the right leaders

Leaders aren’t just people managers, and the ones who run your ERGs don’t have to be. 

But they do have to be great listeners and able to tap into what the group wants and needs. This goes for your groups’ executive sponsors, too.

Successful groups live and die by their leadership as members will follow the example set by the people in charge. 

I’ve seen many groups falter and decline because previously enthusiastic leaders have lost interest. Or the wrong people have been put in charge.

The worst is when the role goes to someone because no one else wants it. Especially when it’s clear they’re not going to be the right person for it. This then risks causing existing members to become detached or disinterested. If the leader or sponsor doesn’t care or put the time in, why should they?

Enthusiasm for a cause is contagious, and your ERGs are no exception. When it comes to employee resource group guidelines, picking the right leaders is an important place to start.

Use the right tools

The right tools is the second pillar of our employee resource group guidelines. When you use a tool that makes it easy for people to join and stay engaged with your groups, you can maximize their success without the stress.

With all your groups’ important information and announcements in one place, plus automated feedback collection and real-time analytics, every ERG will have what they need to be at their best.

Check out our tip at the end for details on how to run your ERGs more effectively! 

Know their purpose

Why do you want to create ERGs? For whom do you want to create them?

Is it to boost talent attraction and retention? 

More than half of companies say ERGs have a positive impact on their recruiting efforts, so it’s a solid goal. 

A further 75% say that they’ve helped them with retention.

Plus, there’s the 15% boost in employee engagement we mentioned above.

Whatever your goals are with ERGs, view their creation, management, and budget through that lens. This will help you make more effective decisions about how they work and influence what you get out of them. This is key when it comes to employee resource group guidelines.

Tie them into organizational goals

How can you tie your ERGs into the company’s goals? 

For instance, if your goal is to increase diversity among new hires, would setting up ERGs for underrepresented talent, and including them in employer branding materials, help you show that you’re serious about your commitment and there’s a community waiting for them to join?

Considering how the groups can play other roles in helping you achieve business goals in the long- and short-term is core to employee resource group guidelines.

Support them financially

If an ERG wants to go on a trip or hold an event, can you support that financially? Giving them a budget shows that you see their value and want to support their continued growth and development.

Events and trips are great ways for members to interact in person. They can learn new things, visit new places, or just get a change of scenery. If you want to follow best practices for employee resource group guidelines, you have to put your money where your mouth is.

Create rules around fairness and inclusivity

You know when you request to join a Facebook group, a popup asks you to agree to the group rules? Things like no spam, be polite to everyone, etc.? You want something like that for your ERGs, too. Some employee resource group guidelines for within your groups, essentially.

ERGs should be safe spaces for everyone where they can be treated with fairness and respect. Having those rules in place acts as a reminder and a safety net. 

It’s not to say you think the worst of anyone by having them just in case. But you protect yourself, group leaders, and vulnerable members from being bullied if sensitive topics get raised. 

Employees should be able to have difficult conversations with each other and disagree amicably without the conversation becoming rude or offensive.

Talk about them!

If employees don’t know that your ERGs exist, they’re not going to join them. Let alone use them.

Introducing your ERGs should be a part of onboarding for any new employee. As should encouraging them to join any groups they feel are relevant.

But it shouldn’t be a case of sharing about them once during onboarding them forgetting about them. Employees learn a lot in their first few weeks on a job and may not have the bandwidth to join right away. That doesn’t mean they won’t want to join later, though! Keeping that door open is central to employee resource group guidelines.

Encourage their use

It helps when leaders encourage employees to join ERGs, reminding them that they’re there during company meetings, sending updates via email, and sharing their successes.

It’s also important to encourage ERG leaders to talk about them and invite people who might be interested in them to take part. Not in a pushy sales way that risks putting people off, but in a way that shares why it’s a welcoming, inclusive place.

Leaders also need to actively start and respond to discussions, as this will encourage others to take part. If leaders don’t participate, employees won’t see the point either, no matter how many other employee resource group guidelines you follow.

Conclusion

ERGs can be hugely beneficial for companies of any size. For larger or remote teams they’re especially effective at connecting employees who may not otherwise have the opportunity to meet. 

They also have huge potential to create networking and career growth opportunities for employees at all levels when run by the right people and supported by a company’s leaders. Following these employee resource group guidelines can help you make the most of yours.

Make managing your ERGs a breeze

The benefits of ERGs might be tempting, but the challenges of running them might be intimidating, too. 

Workrowd can help you organize and track your employee groups so that you and your employees get more out of them. 

Ready to learn more? Visit us online or write us at hello@workrowd.com to schedule some time to chat.

Women in the workplace still face barriers, despite 56% of women taking part in the US job market. Globally, 59% of women in the workplace face non-inclusive behavior. This can come in the form of being rejected for flexible work opportunities, intentionally sexist interactions, or more subtle discrimination.

Roughly two-thirds of women in the workplace are looking for new opportunities. This presents a challenge to employers. They must find ways to retain female employees so they can continue to benefit from their knowledge and diverse viewpoints.

So, without further ado, let’s explore some ways to empower women in the workplace:

Pay equity

Do the women in your organization get paid the same amount for the same job as their male colleagues? Is it time for a pay bump?

UK retailer Next risks closing stores—and potentially going bankrupt—because the UK courts have ruled that it didn’t pay women in the workplace as much as male workers.

It now has to pay back almost $40 million to 3,540 past and present female workers.

Its reasoning for paying less to female workers, who predominantly work on the shop floor, is that warehouse workers had to work undesirable hours and lift heavy items. Yet retail workers are on their feet all day, dealing with all kinds of customers. And also sometimes have to lift heavy items.

The Tribunal did say that Next’s behavior wasn’t a case of “direct discrimination.” Instead, it was about cost-cutting. However, it still didn’t think this was a justifiable excuse.

Times have changed. Excuses like Next’s just don’t cut it anymore. Putting profit above all else isn’t good enough. Businesses that do that will lose employees and customers.

Make sure your employees are paid equally for similar jobs so you don’t end up like Next.

Mentoring

Mentoring can be an effective way to connect women in the workplace. It can give them a leg up, particularly in more male-dominated industries. It can also equip them with more support to help them navigate challenges. 

Moral support from someone who’s been there before is beneficial for people of any age. It can help with employee engagement and retention, even increasing the number of people who finish training programs.

However, 71% of executives choose to mentor people who are of the same race or gender. Which presents a problem when men hold 72% of C-suite positions. So it’s crucial that you build a leadership team that reflects the type of workplace you want to develop. Diverse workplaces take work to build and maintain—they don’t happen by accident.

(And let’s not forget that gender quotas do not mean the people you hire are less competent. Quotas merely weed out the incompetent.)

Employee resource groups

ERGs are a really good way to connect people with colleagues who share similar backgrounds and experiences. So, creating groups for women in the workplace can make a big difference for your female employees.

ERGs can be a place for them to share concerns, learn about how your benefits work for women and families, and just talk about life in a safe environment.

Plus, with access to the right tools, like Workrowd’s employee group management suite, you can ensure your ERGs drive real value for women in the workplace.

Flexible working

So many women can’t return to work because they can’t find a role that fits around childcare.  This is despite 8% more women than men having bachelor’s degrees by the age of 29.

Childcare is expensive, especially in some countries. And sometimes, even if a mother wants to return to work, it isn’t financially viable. Childcare would cost more than they earn in a month. But having a flexible working arrangement could make it all doable.

There’s no downside to offering flexible working. Whether that’s altering someone’s hours, offering a job share, or allowing employees to work remotely. 

Surely what matters at the end of the day is how well they perform in their role, rather than where they perform their role from?

Open communication

How do you know if you’re providing women in the workplace with what they need if you don’t ask them?

Needs change over time, which means if you’re not in regular contact with employees, it’s possible that something might’ve changed but they don’t feel comfortable raising it. If they don’t feel comfortable raising it, they’re more likely to leave if another opportunity comes along.

So make sure that managers regularly check in with their employees, send feedback surveys, organize events where they can meet colleagues, pay attention to what people say in ERGs, and maybe even organize focus groups to ensure you’re getting the full picture.

The more avenues you have for open communication, the more likely you are to find the information you need to empower women in the workplace.

Leaders also need to model this behavior. If they don’t encourage open communication, and create a psychologically safe workplace, no one will feel comfortable discussing their issues for fear of reprisals.

Conclusion 

Empowering women in the workplace is simple: pay them what they’re worth, help them connect, and keep communication open.

The more you do those things, the more it creates a positive cycle for women in the workplace and your business. 

Women get the support they need, financially and socially. Meanwhile your business gets the extra skills that come from having a more diverse workforce.

Support women in the workplace

Support the women in your workplace with Workrowd. You can manage and measure ERGs; collect employee feedback; and create a more engaged, empowered workforce. Get in touch today by visiting us online or emailing us directly at hello@workrowd.com to book your free demo.

The most culturally diverse companies perform 36% better than the least diverse companies, according to McKinsey research. But diverse teams can only reach their peak if cultural competence is a priority.

Cultural diversity at work leads to teams making better decisions 87% of the time. That’s a huge difference in a company’s decision-making abilities. Plus, it has the potential for ripple effects throughout the business and into the outside world.

Culturally diverse companies also have better collaboration, innovation, and operations. All things that are key to getting ahead of your competitors, whatever industry you’re in.

So let’s take a deeper look at cultural competence: what it is, what the benefits are, and how you can improve cultural competence in your business.

What is cultural competence?

Cultural competence refers to a person or business’s ability to understand different cultures and their needs.

Key elements include empathy and understanding for people of different backgrounds and experiences.

Why does cultural competence matter for the global workforce?

Here are just some of the benefits of cultural competence for businesses:

Recruitment 

Diversity is more important than ever to jobseekers. 76% now see it as important when picking an employer. 32% wouldn’t apply at all to a company that lacks diversity.

A lack of diversity within a business can make employees worry that they won’t be heard. 

The less diverse a company is, the more likely it is to fall into the trap of groupthink. This makes it harder for employees to speak up, even if companies put diversity statements on their job applications. (Which, let’s face it, many just do because it’s a legal requirement in some countries).

If your organization lacks cultural competence, you won’t be able to attract the underrepresented talent your business needs to thrive.

Employee satisfaction

When employees are satisfied with their employer’s DEI efforts, they’re happier at work. 

And when they’re happier at work, they can perform better and earn more money for your business.

Higher employee satisfaction, of course, also improves your retention rates. If employees are happy, why would they want to leave?

Despite this, 57% of employees feel their organizations could do more to increase diversity and cultural competence.

Innovation

One of the best ways to solve a challenging problem is to see it from a new point of view. 

New hires offer a great way to get a fresh perspective on your business. But don’t underestimate the power of diversity within your existing team, either.

The way someone from the UK approaches a problem will be different from how someone from the US approaches the same challenge.

Every aspect of someone’s background can impact how they solve a particular problem. And that’s a good thing.

The more diverse perspectives you have, the more they can combine to make your business more innovative and forward-thinking, helping to future proof it in the age of AI.

How to improve cultural competence in your business

So, what can you do to improve cultural competence in the workplace?

Training 

Training is one of the best ways to introduce new initiatives and educate employees. It can help them develop new ways of working and looking at the world. Which can go a long way towards helping them develop cultural competence.

It could be through a formal workshop, or it could come from things like written content, books, webinars, or podcasts.

The more options you offer for training, the more learning styles you can appeal to. This helps both with retention and attraction and shows that you really are committed to your DEI efforts.

Employee listening

The results of employee feedback surveys can be difficult to swallow. But they’re a vital way for you to spot problems before they become gaping chasms that seem monumental to fix.

Sending automated feedback surveys asking employees what they feel you could be doing better allows for an open dialogue about how your business operates and how you can create a strong company culture with high cultural competence.

If you’d like help sending your feedback surveys, why not get in touch? We can help you automate your employee feedback surveys and analyze the results so that you can collect more data and have more time to take action that supports your employees.

Get feedback

Employee listening is a crucial part of your feedback strategy. But so is managers actively asking for and collecting it from their employees. It’s important to not get complacent with things like diversity initiatives, as that’s when bias can creep back in.

If you really want to create a business with strong cultural competence, be sure to train your managers and employees on how to give and receive feedback. 

Too often, there’s an assumption that people know how to do this. Giving feedback is all about clearly communicating positives and negatives. It’s not as easy to do effectively as it sounds.

Embody it

Understanding what cultural competence means is one thing. For it to truly happen in the workplace though, everyone within the business needs to live it. 

This starts with managers setting an example, being aware of the differences between employees, and supporting their varying needs.

It’s also about taking action when employees provide feedback. You can’t just nod along and say you know there’s a problem but it’s too challenging to fix. This puts employees at risk of becoming disengaged because they feel like their problems don’t matter.

Conclusion

Cultural competence impacts every area of your business, from profits to recruitment and retention. It leads to better decision-making in almost every situation. And, it helps you attract better quality candidates who can further support your initiatives.

To make it work, you need to listen to employees and act on what they want and need from you. 

You also need to ensure that all managers are trained in cultural competence—and don’t take it for granted. 

Employees will be able to see when managers don’t have cultural competence, and when they’re not open to feedback. Ensuring everyone within a business knows how to give and receive feedback puts everyone on even footing. It helps create a workplace where everyone feels included, regardless of their background.

Ready to boost cultural competence in your organization? Workrowd has the tools you need. From automated feedback surveys to ERG management tools to real-time analytics dashboards, everything you need is just a click away.

Want to learn more? Visit us online or reach out directly at hello@workrowd.com.

As the saying goes: what gets measured, gets managed. So if you want your programs to make a real impact, measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion is key.

How often do you assess internal attitudes around DEI? Should you regularly check in with your employees about your initiatives?

Well…

Companies that think they’ve solved all their DEI problems are the most likely to actually have DEI problems.

Why?

Complacency.

Complacency has consequences in every area of a business. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are no different.

DEI requires conscious effort from everyone in an organization to be a success. 

Things like your recruitment process, how managers communicate with their employees, and what employees say when they think their managers aren’t listening need monitoring so that standards remain high—and inclusive.

Unfortunately, almost a quarter of companies don’t bother measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion progress.

And only a fifth of global organizations measure the business impact of their DEI initiatives. Despite how much data is already out there about the benefits of diversity in almost every area, from company finances to employee mental health.

So, how do you go about measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion in your organization?

Check in as a business regularly

How diverse are your departments? How many women, people of color, or people with disabilities are managers? Where can you improve?

While there can be backlash around quotas, they do work. They help combat the desire to hire people like ourselves that leads to groupthink.

Instead, we’re challenged to see things differently and embrace people from all walks of life.

In one study, when quotas were instituted to hire more women, it helped exclude incompetent men.

Everything has pros and cons. Quotas aren’t perfect, but they can be a good starting point when you want to improve how you’re measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Look at your hiring and retention rates

How long do new hires stay? Do candidates drop off during the hiring process?

Over 75% of candidates value a diverse workplace. So could your lack of diversity be turning candidates off as they’re applying and interviewing?

Your hiring and retention rates can tell you a lot about your business—and how candidates, employees, and even customers perceive you.

If employees don’t stick around for very long, or some departments have higher turnover than others, it’s a sign that something is wrong and needs to be addressed right away.

Measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion at every point within your hiring process can help expose areas that need more attention.

Send surveys—and collect anonymous data

It’s the comments employees make when they think management isn’t listening that really tell you what they think.

There’s no real way to monitor those—they can turn into a he said/she said/they said if someone reports it—but anonymized surveys can help.

You can ask employees how they feel and what they’ve heard/witnessed/experienced. Even if they don’t want to officially report things that have happened, this is still important information to have.

Allowing employees to respond anonymously gives them a feeling of safety and removes the fear of reprisals. It can then open the door to more honest conversations between HR teams about what’s really happening internally and how to improve it.

Workrowd can help you send employee surveys and examine the results so that you can take action sooner. Our tools are especially useful when it comes to measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Look at the setup of your ERGs

What ERGs do you have? Who runs them?

Your ERGs will tell you what types of employees work within your business and potentially highlight gaps.

For example, do you have an LGBTQ+ or Pride group? Does the lack of one suggest that you don’t have many LGBTQ+ employees, or that they don’t feel comfortable being themselves at work?

What about one for women of color in the workplace? Employees with invisible illnesses?

The more diverse your ERGs are, the more it reflects an open, honest, welcoming company culture. And the more their data can support your efforts around measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion.

But don’t get complacent! 

These groups need to be active, too. 

If they rarely or never hold events or conversations, it still requires some investigating to find out what isn’t working.

Perhaps you need a new tool, like Workrowd, to help you manage your ERGs. It can help with everything from daily updates, to document sharing, to networking.

Want to find out more? Book your free demo today.

Track workshop attendees

How many people attend your DEI workshops? And how many attendees actually engage with the material?

In a previous role, I went to a diversity workshop and many of the participants made sarcastic or stereotypical comments.

It was pretty obvious they were there as a box-ticking exercise and didn’t understand why diversity matters. I couldn’t help but feel like they didn’t actually learn anything from it, and they were going to laugh about it after. There was little sense of empathy or understanding.

It wasn’t a bad workshop, but employees need to engage with the materials for them to make a difference in the workplace. And if they don’t, you need to work out where the root of the problem is.

There are lots of reasons people don’t engage with diversity practices, despite the many benefits it brings to businesses. The sooner you spot these issues, the sooner you can tackle them.

And the sooner you can start seeing better outcomes across your work on measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion

Consider the qualitative stuff, too

Measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion is about so much more than putting numbers on it.

It’s about your employees’ attitudes, internally and externally.

Do they collaborate well with each other? Within teams and interdepartmentally?

Do they make negative comments when someone who’s neurodivergent doesn’t understand a task? When someone who’s LGBTQ+ walks by?

The small things that are often hard to measure are your real indicators of DEI success.

They tell you about the inner workings of your employees’ minds and if they’re really on board with your DEI initiatives.

You’ll never achieve true diversity, equity, and inclusion success until they are.

Conclusion

Measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion is about so much more than numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s about the things you can’t measure, too: the stories employees tell themselves and each other. That’s where you’ll find the real information on your DEI efforts and whether they’re working.

If you’re ready to level up on measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion, Workrowd has the tools you need. With ERG management features, automated feedback surveys, and real-time analytics dashboards, you’ll always know exactly how your DEI efforts are performing.

Want to see how our all-in-one platform can make measuring diversity, equity, and inclusion a breeze? Write us at hello@workrowd.com to set up some time to chat.

According to a 2018 research paper, 31% of people are highly sensitive. That’s a big enough portion of the population that you need to know how to manage sensitive employees.

Famous sensitive people include Princess Diana, Abraham Lincoln, Frida Kahlo, and Mozart.

If you don’t know how to manage sensitive employees, it can lead to burnout. Or your sensitive employees might just leave altogether because they feel unsupported.

What makes someone sensitive?

Sensitive people are those of us who respond to physical, mental, or emotional stimuli more strongly than an average person. It’s often perceived as a negative trait, but it comes with huge positives.

For example, a sensitive person may experience emotions more deeply – but this means they can better empathize with others. Many creatives are sensitive and that’s why their songs, poems, and art create strong reactions in others.

Sensitive people can be great at sales because they can quickly build a rapport with prospects and show an understanding of the person’s problem.

This empathy and understanding also makes them great leaders, because they listen to, and take on, other people’s feelings.

Other symptoms of high sensitivity include a lower pain tolerance (including finding fabric itchy); perfectionism; jumpiness; being easily affected by other people’s moods, and a greater attention to detail.

For a complete list of symptoms, check out this sensitivity list from the Highly Sensitive Refuge. Someone doesn’t have to experience all the symptoms to be a sensitive person.

While being sensitive has many benefits, and great thinkers and inventors throughout time were sensitive, it comes with challenges.

So here are some steps that can help with how to manage sensitive employees.

Give them control over their workspace

When an employee can control their own space, and work on their own terms, you’ll get the best out of them whether they’re sensitive or not.

Forcing them to work in a cold office with bright fluorescent lights at a time when they’re half-awake means you’ll have unhappy and unproductive employees. Being inflexible can really take a toll when it comes to how to manage sensitive employees.

If they need to be in the office, perhaps you could compromise and allow them to work remotely a couple of days per week.

They could come in earlier or stay later so that they can work when it’s quieter.

At my previous job, I started an hour before most of the people on my floor. It was magical how quiet it was. 

I loved that time because it felt like I could think more clearly without the constant background noise that comes with an open-plan office.

Use open communication

Sensitive people often don’t want to ask for what they need for fear of upsetting others. So instead, they suffer themselves.

This is why open communication is so important.

Periodically, ask employees if there’s anything they need to do their job better.

It might be that their chair is uncomfortable, or they want to work from a different desk. 

Small things like this can help you get more—and better quality—work from your employees.

Not only that, but establishing a culture of open communication is key to efforts around how to manage sensitive employees. It makes people feel calmer and more supported, further helping them perform at their best.

And encouraging them to stay for longer.

To make sure you don’t forget to ask employees what they need, why not turn on automated surveys? Better yet—automate the data analysis, too.

Get in touch to find out how Workrowd can help you do just that.

Allow for regular breaks

Regular breaks should be acceptable in any workplace, in my opinion. No one can work for four hours straight, have an hour for lunch, then work for four more hours. Not a single person has concentration skills that good.

Not to mention how often we get interrupted by colleagues walking past, emails coming in, Slack or Teams messages, social media…then how hard it is to focus again after all those disruptions.

Regular breaks, particularly in busy or noisy spaces, allow employees to reset.

This then means they can come back to their desks recharged and better able to concentrate.

Breaks also help us return to a problem with a clearer head, making it easier to find a solution we missed before from spending too long working on something.

Giving them the space to take a breather when needed can be a big help when it comes to how to manage sensitive employees.

Reduce visual clutter

Sometimes, to fill a space, there’s the temptation to turn a wall into an art gallery or add lots of inspiring quotes or bright colors or patterns.

This visual clutter is mentally stimulating, but in busy environments it can quickly become overwhelming. This is an especially key consideration when thinking about how to manage sensitive employees.

You obviously don’t want team members to fall asleep, but the office should be a calm place to be, not one that’s going to leave people so distracted they can’t concentrate on their roles.

Consider things like:

• Adding some plants (fake ones if you can’t keep real ones alive, but real ones can work well as air purifiers. Avoid ones with lots of flowers so that you don’t trigger hay fever sufferers)
• Using neutral/natural colors like white, cream, or light green. Blues and greens are the most calming colors
• Resisting the temptation to put tons of inspirational quotes on the walls
• Getting rid of glaring fluorescent lighting. Anything is better than that
• Providing screen protectors to reduce the glare on monitors for anyone working near bright lights or windows

Offer employees noise-cancelling headphones

Background noise can be irritating to some people but not others.

For instance, as I write this, I can hear:

• The air purifier humming
• The fridge/freezer buzzing
• Cars driving past
• The dog breathing

And each one of those sounds distracts me.

Some days those noises don’t bother me, but right now I need to go find my noise-cancelling headphones so that I can focus.

Providing noise-cancelling headphones is an effective way to up your game on how to manage sensitive employees. They block out external stimuli and send a clear signal to colleagues that a person doesn’t want to be disturbed.

Set up an ERG

ERGs are great places for employees to meet like-minded people.

It gives them somewhere they belong at work, further providing sensitive employees with the support they need to perform in the workplace.

Need help organizing yours? We’ve got you! Get in touch to book your free demo.

Conclusion

Sensitive employees bring a unique set of skills that every workplace can benefit from. 

To get the most out of these employees, it’s important to encourage them to ask for what they need, and provide them with time, space, and equipment. This recipe ensures they’re happy in their roles and more productive as a result.

If you’re wondering how to manage sensitive employees and want some help, Workrowd has your back. Our all-in-one suite of tools makes it easy to give sensitive employees everything they need to engage at their own pace.

Plus, with automated surveys and real-time analytics, you always know what’s working and where you could step things up a bit.

Ready to learn more? Drop by our site or reach out to us at hello@workrowd.com.

62% of workers believe a company’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is important to its ability to drive success.

And they just might be on to something—businesses in the top quartile for gender diversity are 25% more likely to financially outperform their peers, and those with high ethnic diversity are 36% more likely to outperform competitors financially.

This makes sense when you consider that inclusive teams are more than 35% more productive and make better decisions 87% of the time.

The more diverse a team is, the less likely that team—and therefore that business—is to fall into groupthink.

Stepping up your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion opens you up to a wider range of ideas. The more suggestions you have, the more likely you are to find the best one.

So, what are some ways you can boost your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion this year?

Brush up on your law

The laws around your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion are regularly changing.

It’s therefore important that you’re aware of what’s recently changed in your country’s laws, or any future potential updates.

Also monitor the law in countries where you operate, as even countries as close as England, Scotland, and Wales can have different laws.

Hold regular unconscious bias training (for everyone)

Even when we’ve done unconscious bias training before, we still need refreshers.

It’s too easy to fall back into old patterns, or pick up bad ones, when we don’t actively work on creating an inclusive workforce and checking our own unconscious biases. 

And with everything going on at work, it can be easy for bias to creep in.

When managers regularly attend unconscious bias training—without complaining or rolling their eyes—it sets an example for the rest of the team and for other managers. It shows that they take this seriously because they understand the positive impact it can have not just on the business, but on employees’ lives.

Ask employees what matters to them

The best way to support a diverse workforce is to ask your employees what’s important to them.

If your diversity, equity, and inclusion statement doesn’t hit the right notes, if employees feel like you say one thing but do another, it will create a disconnect between you and your workforce. They’re less likely to trust you, and as a result, less likely to stay.

On the other hand, if they feel listened to and valued, they’re more likely to stick around long-term.

So make sure that when it comes to creating an inclusive workplace, you ask employees what matters to them, how you can support them, and what you could do better. 

It’s through this continuous improvement that you’ll cultivate the happiest, most engaged, most hard-working team.

Showing your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion by asking about and meeting a wide range of employee needs is important.

Update your DEI policy

When was the last time someone updated your DEI policy? Have the laws changed since then?

As with any workplace policy, it’s important to evaluate it regularly. This ensures it stays relevant to both you and employees.

It also ensures you adapt it to any future laws that may involve new protected characteristics. For example, the Scottish government recently updated their hate crime laws.

Being aware of these laws—particularly if you have a global workforce—ensures your policies benefit everyone.

Your DEI policy can also inform your business strategy, keeping decisions on track.

In the policy, make sure to explain why DEI matters to your business, and include definitions for different protected characteristics. You could even mention how you support each of those characteristics.

Also mention where you want to go next. What’s the goal of your DEI policy? For your business, your employees, your customers, and even the world?

The next time you update your DEI policy, you can reflect on how far you’ve come and what direction you plan to go in next. It will help reinforce your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Hire a chief diversity officer

HR pros are busy. Sometimes, things can get lost or missed. It’s no one’s fault, but they can still impact your diversity efforts.

A chief diversity officer’s job is to spot ways you can make your workplace more diverse and support diverse employees. So then the rest of the HR team can focus on other areas of the business.

When you have a specific role dedicated to diversity, it shows employees and candidates that you’re serious about diversity being a priority in your business. In other words, your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion isn’t just talk.

This means you’ll attract a more diverse pool of candidates. Existing employees, meanwhile, will feel more visible and listened to within the workplace.

Don’t copy and paste diversity statements (especially in job ads)

Is it just me, or is every job ad starting to look the same?

I’ve spoken to several people recently and we’re increasingly noticing that pretty much every LinkedIn job ad now looks identical.

From what the job entails, to the skills required, to the diversity statement at the end.

I get it. It’s tempting to use AI. AI has many benefits.

But when every diversity statement reads the same, it comes across like you’ve only put it there to cover your business legally and that your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion isn’t genuine.

So instead of attracting people from diverse backgrounds, you miss out on underrepresented candidates because it reads like what matters to you the most is getting things done quickly and cheaply. Even if those attempts are half-baked and sound exactly like everyone else.

Connect your employees with ERGs

Employee resource groups are powerful tools to help improve employees’ senses of inclusion and belonging in the workplace.

They’re the perfect place for people to meet colleagues with similar backgrounds, interests, and goals to them even across a remote workforce. 

The more an employee feels like they belong, the more likely they are to stay and be engaged at work. As a result, they’ll be more productive and earn you more money.

If you’re not sure where to start with ERGs, or want to get more out of yours, get in touch to book your free Workrowd demo.

Conclusion

The more diverse your business is, the more future-proof it will be.

Employees want to work for businesses with a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion because they understand how much it benefits the workplace and their employee experience.

So take these tips as a starting point to improving your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in 2024. And most importantly, remember that building diverse teams is a journey, not a destination.

Are you ready to take your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion to a new level this year? Workrowd can help. Our all-in-one suite of tools makes it easy to launch, manage, and track DEI initiatives while giving everyone on your team easy access to the parts of your employee experience they like best.

Ready to learn more and see how our platform could accelerate DEI progress across your workplace? Send us an email at hello@workrowd.com to set up some time to chat, or simply drop by our site for more info.

Nearly 90% of global businesses believe a multigenerational workforce plays a valuable role in growth and success.

Yet just 6% of employees strongly agree that their leaders can effectively lead a multigenerational team. Yikes.

It’s estimated that around 30% of 65- to 74-year-olds will still be working by 2026. As the number of workers over 65 increases, businesses need to do more to get the most out of every generation.

Embracing a multigenerational workforce and encouraging cooperation means you’ll get greater diversity of thought, leading to more creative thinking.

In fact, 87% of US workers feel multigenerational workplaces experience increased innovation and problem solving.

More creative thinking helps you stand out from your competitors to both customers and job seekers. They’ll be intrigued by your innovations and want to support them.

When it comes to hiring, you’ll attract candidates who want to work for creative, forward-thinking, diverse businesses. Further increasing your diversity efforts.

How today’s multigenerational workforce breaks down

Roughly speaking, the generations look like this:

• Silent Generation (sometimes called Traditionalists): born 1925-1945.
• Baby Boomers: born 1946-1964
• Generation X: born 1965-1980
• Millennials (Generation Y): born 1981-1996
• Generation Z: born 1996-2012
• Gen Alpha: born 2013-present

Obviously, members of Gen Alpha are too young to work right now, but it won’t be long. I’m a Millennial and it feels like only yesterday that Gen Z-ers entered the workplace.

Each generation makes up the following percentage of the global workforce:

• Silent Generation: 2%
• Baby Boomers: 25%
• Gen X: 33%
• Millennials/Gen Y: 35%
• Gen Z: 5%

Different generations want different things from their working lives. For instance, Millennials want purpose and growth from their work, while Baby Boomers want security.

Your workplace benefits, therefore, need to have a wide appeal to support a multigenerational workforce. A lot of it comes down to company culture and what you prioritize as a business.

So, how do you maximize employee engagement for a multigenerational workforce? Let’s take a look:

Be flexible around working styles

Every person is different, and each generation grew up in a totally different world. As a result, they all have different requirements and expectations.

To get the most out of someone, managers need to actively ask employees what they need.

For some, this will be flexible start and finish times to pick children or grandchildren up from school.

For others in a multigenerational workforce, it may mean working remotely to manage health issues.

Avoid assumptions about each generation

When you make assumptions about someone, these pre-conceived notions can affect how you talk to them and have a detrimental impact on your working relationship. This is especially true in a multigenerational workforce.

For instance, if you see older workers as slow to learn, you may give them less to do, causing them to get bored and frustrated.

Or if you see a younger generation as entitled, you may not provide them with the praise they deserve simply because you want to bring their ego down a peg or two. Which can then impact their performance because they may not feel like their hard work is appreciated.

These assumptions are often subconscious. And why training programs in diversity and soft skills are so important. 

Training programs help everyone to not make assumptions about the people in front of them based on their characteristics, leading to better collaborations and happier employees.

Encourage connections

Whether it’s through mentoring or employee groups, encouraging employees to connect is good for not just their workplace productivity, but their overall wellbeing, too.

Older generations can teach their younger counterparts a plethora of skills that can help them in their current role and beyond. It’s a perfect workplace mentoring opportunity.

The more that different generations interact in a multigenerational workforce, the more they can learn from each other. They may learn how to adapt their communication styles based on who they’re interacting with or the type of meeting they’re in, for example.

If you’d like help connecting your multigenerational workforce, get in touch to discover how Workrowd could help boost your employee engagement.

Train communication skills

Communication skills are too often taken for granted. But there are lots of different communication styles and we must adapt ours to fit our audience. This ensures we get the most out of the interaction and don’t offend or upset anyone.

Given that 81% of workers feel the most significant difference between generations at work is their communication styles, and 38% find it hard to communicate with coworkers from other age groups, training around communication styles could be the key to a team’s success.

According to a study by AARP, 60% of workers feel the presence of generational conflict. 70% of older employees dismiss the skills of younger employees, while 50% of younger colleagues dismiss what an older employee can do.

I’ve dealt with this myself. Someone hired me to consult on a marketing project but constantly questioned my judgment. I was made to feel like my opinions and experience weren’t valid no matter how much data I provided to prove my points.

This is why teaching everyone how to improve their communication style is so important. We all have traps we can fall into; ones we don’t even notice. Sometimes all it takes is a training program to refresh our memory and improve interactions across a multigenerational workforce.

Conclusion

As the workforce evolves and increasingly includes multiple generations, businesses will have to find more and more ways to cater to generational differences. This generational diversity comes with huge benefits, too, such as different perspectives on projects and problems.

It starts by embracing and accepting each different age group. Learning their strengths, their areas for improvement, and how they fit best into your diverse, multigenerational workforce. This will ensure they have the best employee experience, and as a result, you’ll get improved employee satisfaction and engagement.

Ready to boost outcomes across your multigenerational workforce? Workrowd’s all-in-one suite of tools can help. By building connections across age groups and enabling you to track everything via real-time analytics, you can deliver a top-notch employee experience for all ages.

Ready to learn more? Visit us online or send us an email at hello@workrowd.com to schedule some time to connect.

Having had some form of invisible illness most of my working life—most of my life, actually—I’ve seen a lot of signs of ableism in the workplace.

Sometimes this comes from people who mean well but have no experience with a particular health condition. Other times it’s based on the assumption that someone would fake or exxagerate health issues to get out of work.

I don’t deny that there are people out there who might do that. However, most of the people I know with significant long-term health conditions play them down.

They may not even disclose their health issues to their employer because they’re worried about being discriminated against.

And, since the most common form of discrimination claim in the US in 2020 was disability discrimination, this is a legitimate concern.

So how can you avoid ableism and disability discrimination? Here are some tips from someone with personal experience with signs of ableism in the workplace:

Don’t offer unsolicited advice

“Have you tried lavender to help you sleep? What about going to bed earlier? There’s this really great supplement that—”

My whole life, on and off, I’ve struggled with insomnia. And, as much as I love lavender, it hasn’t helped.

But far too many colleagues have suggested it as a panacea to my brain that won’t quiet down.

Or suggested I can magically go to bed earlier and I’ll be able to adjust my sleeping pattern quicker than I can say “F1” (my favorite sport).

Unsolicited advice like this is unbelievably frustrating. It may be well-intentioned, but that doesn’t change how it feels to receive it.

It doesn’t take into account someone’s individual needs or what they might’ve already tried. People often volunteer it without listening to that person’s frustrations, or history, first. 

If an employee has a diagnosis for a long-term illness, there’s a high chance they’ve already tried a lot of the basic solutions that you can find on Google…many of which don’t even have any scientific basis to them. (Take it from someone who reads the studies about them for fun.)

Listen to employees’ concerns—don’t assume what they need

Every employee with a disability will have different needs.

Many people with disabilities have a “cocktail of conditions” (thanks to my support worker for that term), too.

For example, I have fibromyalgia and ME/CFS. These conditions can be connected to ADHD. They can also weaken muscles and make it harder to exercise, further exacerbating my chronic pain. And all three come with sides of insomnia.

So what I need because of my chronic pain/ADHD combo is different from what someone with only chronic pain or only ADHD might need.

Many conditions can have dozens, if not hundreds, of symptoms. So it’s impossible to take a one-size-fits all approach. Health issues will show themselves in different ways depending on the person.

And that’s why it’s so important to listen to an employee’s needs in order to address signs of ableism at work.

Help employees adapt their work environment

Lots of different things can make employees’ working lives better or worse.

In addition to asking employees what they need, have a list of things you can offer.

Options that the UK’s Access to Work scheme, which helps get people with disabilities into work, provide include:

• Noise-cancelling headphones
• Touchscreen tablets or e-ink tablets
• An ergonomic keyboard or mouse
• A virtual assistant
• A better desk chair

Be mindful of energy drains

Full-time work, especially when it’s in an office, can be incredibly draining.

There’s constant stimuli in the office from people talking, flashing computer screens, colleagues’ deodorants, air fresheners, fluorescent lights, and more.

We may not consciously realize it (although I think more people do since the pandemic), but all these things assail our senses and drain us faster than if we’re working in our own spaces.

Not only that, but things like having to be in the office at a certain time can be hard for someone with a disability. Health conditions are often worse in the morning after the body has been in the same position all night.

This means an employee with a disability may be more productive if they can start or finish later, if they can work from home, or if they can work for fewer hours.

Sending an employee feedback survey helps to gauge employees’ wants and needs. That way, you can improve employee wellbeing and thereby productivity and engagement.

And, with Workrowd, you can automate survey sending, meaning you get all the answers in an easy-to-read dashboard with no effort on your end.

Embrace pacing

Pacing is the art of, well, pacing your energy levels. When I received my diagnosis, the doctor described pacing as doing slightly less on the good days and slightly more on the bad days. That way, in theory, my energy would balance out.

In the workplace, this could look like offering more breaks for employees rather than one long lunchbreak.

It’s not natural for us to be superglued to a desk chair for eight hours a day.

Even with a lunchbreak in between that’s far too long for us to sit down for.

A lot of chronic pain improves with moving more often. This is especially true for chronic back pain, which is one of the biggest reasons for workplace sickness.

So if you’re worried about absenteeism alongside signs of ableism in the workplace, enabling employees to move more often is one of the simplest solutions.

Allow employees to connect

Having any sort of long-term health condition can be isolating. A lot of people don’t get it (that’s where the unsolicited advice often comes from—people’s desire to “fix” us).

Enabling employees to connect with others who face similar struggles makes a huge difference. It means they feel less alone and there are people within the organization who can provide empathy and compassion when they’re having a bad day.

Sometimes, when someone talks about their illness, they’re not looking for a solution. They just need to externalize their feelings so that they don’t take over. The solution to that is listening.

That’s why employee groups can be such a powerful tool for connecting employees.

Workrowd can help you manage your employee groups and get more out of them—and therefore your employees.

Conclusion 

Signs of ableism in the workplace can creep in in unexpected ways, especially if someone doesn’t have experience with disabilities, directly or indirectly.

It’s therefore important that team members, but especially managers and HR pros, are educated in the best ways to support people with disabilities.

This allows employees with disabilities to stay in the workplace, not face discrimination, and feel a sense of purpose—something that’s good for their mental wellbeing.

Businesses also get to be truly diverse instead of preaching diversity but not living it.

Are you looking for ways to address signs of ableism in the workplace? Workrowd has the tools you need. From standing up and managing employee groups, to collecting and visualizing employee feedback, we’re your one-stop shop.

If you’d like to learn how Workrowd can help you automate tasks and build a more inclusive workplace, visit us online or send us a note at hello@workrowd.com.

Unconscious bias at work continues to be a major problem for both employees and employers. 83% of employees who’ve experienced, or witnessed, bias(es) at work feel that they were subtle and indirect, or microaggressions.

This means that the person responsible may not know that what they were doing was even a form of unconscious bias.

But it’s still their responsibility to grow their awareness and fix it. Especially when almost two-thirds of employees believe their workplace is biased.

Bias can come in many forms, including:

• Gender
• Race
• Religion
• Sexuality
• Age
• Weight
• Height 
• Disability

Making assumptions about people based on any of these characteristics is a form of bias.

For example, assuming that someone over the age of fifty is less computer literate than a twenty-year-old.

This has a financial impact, too. The estimated cost of workplace bias is $64 billion per year. This is based on the cost of replacing more than 2 million US workers who leave due to unfairness and discrimination. 

It doesn’t factor in the legal costs involved when companies need to defend themselves. Or when they’re fined because of unlawful behavior.

So, reducing unconscious bias at work could save—and make—your company a lot of money.

How do you know if it’s a problem in your organization, though? Here are 8 examples of unconscious bias at work you may not have considered.

Thinking there’s no unconscious bias in your workplace

No one is perfect. And it’s far better to admit that, and accept that everyone is a work in progress, than to try to block it out. 

You can do all the training you like, but you still may fall prey to unconscious bias at work. Eradicating it requires active, conscious work. Especially when someone is new to noticing it. 

Eventually the good behaviors become habit, but that takes time. Just the same as learning those good habits did in the first place.

Interrupting colleagues in meetings

Did you know women are more likely to be interrupted in a meeting than men?

Next time you’re in a meeting, track how often each person, or demographic is interrupted. The results may surprise you.

The Woman Interrupted app detects how often men interrupt women during a meeting.

Its data discovered that in the US, men speak over women 1.43 times per minute. PER MINUTE.

In the UK, this goes up to 1.67 times per minute. In Malaysia it’s 6.66 times, it’s 7.22 times in Nigeria, and in Pakistan it’s 8.28 times.

Questioning expertise

How often do you challenge someone’s ideas in a meeting? Do you challenge everyone’s ideas equally?

Men often have their ideas questioned less, even if they have less experience.

Women, meanwhile, find that their ideas and expertise are questioned more often. And they’re more than twice as likely to have to provide evidence of their competence.

But when a man makes the same suggestion, people more readily get onboard. And give him all the credit. It’s one of the most common examples of unconscious bias at work.

You hired your employees because they have the required expertise for the job. So it’s important that their colleagues know, understand, and respect this. And that their behavior reflects it.

Assuming everyone is able-bodied

Not everyone likes to disclose that they have a disability to their employer. Many people with disabilities worry that their colleagues will treat them differently or think them less capable of doing their job if they share their condition.

Whether it’s asthma, allergies, chronic pain, neurodivergence, or something more visible, almost everyone has something.

Yet the default is still to assume that everyone is able-bodied.

So businesses work under that assumption, rather than making accommodations that improve everyone’s quality of life. This is just another way that unconscious bias at work can show up.

For example, does your office have an elevator?

Do you have a plan in place for if there’s a fire in the building and it’s unusable? Who’s going to help employees with mobility challenges down the stairs during an emergency?

Making assumptions about people’s health, and their needs, leads to a huge disconnect. And can mean that employees who don’t disclose their disabilities are more likely to leave because their workplace is unfit for purpose.

Thinking you understand someone else’s experiences

Unless you’ve lived through something, it’s really hard to understand what it’s like. For instance, living with a particular health condition or growing up in a totally different culture or location.

Having witnessed it helps, but it will never give you the full experience because you’re not in that person’s body or mind.

Thinking you know exactly what a person thinks or feels leads to making assumptions about what they need. Which can be risky territory.

Different people can experience the same situation completely differently. That’s why listening in the workplace is so important. You get a better understanding of someone’s experiences and needs, and can suggest further ways to accommodate them.

Not paying attention to promotions

Gallup’s Women and the Workplace study found that at almost 600 companies, for every 100 men promoted, only 85 women received promotions.

Women are also more slowly promoted in the workplace than men with the same level of education and experience. Such unequal promotion rates are a strong indicator of unconscious bias at work.

Telling women to just ask for a raise

I’m sure you’ve heard this before—that women just need to more actively ask for raises.

What if I were to tell you that women do, in fact, ask for raises…we’re just less likely to get them?

That’s what research from Australia showed.

Worse still, male hiring managers are more likely to dislike women who negotiate during the hiring process. It doesn’t bother them if the candidate is male. 

Female hiring managers treat both genders the same.

Assuming someone’s role

48% of African American women, and 47% of Latina women, report having being mistaken for administrative or custodial staff. Regardless of their actual role within the business.

Female managers and CEOs have even had people assume that their employees, or even husbands, are the leader in an organization, addressing the men first or even outright ignoring the women.

Conclusion

There are many ways that unconscious bias at work holds businesses back. Knowing the signs is key to taking the steps to eradicate it.

Does your business suffer from unconscious bias at work? If so, it’s time to make some changes, for both your people, and your bottom line.

If you want an easier way to implement your new programs and track progress, Workrowd can help. Reducing unconscious bias at work is no easy task, but our all-in-one tool suite can set you up for success. From launching and managing ERGs to collecting and analyzing employee feedback, we bring everything you need under one roof.

Ready to learn more? Visit us online or send us a message at hello@workrowd.com.

Unconscious bias is everywhere. We may not always notice it, but that doesn’t stop it from doing damage. Which is why tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices couldn’t be more important.

We’re all guilty of it. And when we think we’re not…that’s usually when we’re more likely to be guilty of it.

Picture someone in the following professions:

• Doctor
• Pilot
• Soldier

Did you picture men for all three of them?

That’s unconscious bias.

What about these professions?

• Nurse
• Kindergarten teacher
• Hairdresser 

Thinking of a female?

Still unconscious bias.

It seeps into our lives without us even realizing it (hence why it’s called unconscious bias).

For us to mitigate its effects, and work toward eradicating it, we have to take conscious steps to change our environment and thought processes. And make an ongoing effort to reduce it.

One of the areas that’s especially important for HR to pay attention to is tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices. 

From focusing on different skillsets based on someone’s gender, to not interviewing someone at all because of their name, there are lots of ways that bias plays a role.

So, let’s look at some tips for tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices to set you up for success:

Check job descriptions for inclusive language

Words like “ambitious” or “competitive” have very different connotations from words like “empathetic.” Even “management” can have more masculine connotations.

It’s easy to let unconscious bias slip into the language we use (it is unconscious, after all).

That’s where using a tool that can help you spot unconscious bias in your job descriptions can be useful. It’s a great starting point for tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices.

Create a more diverse hiring team

If a hiring team contains just one woman, that team is less likely to hire another woman.

With a token female onboard, the men think they have to worry less about diversity.

But the woman is afraid that if she backs a female candidate, the men will think she’s playing favorites.

So what you actually need is more representation throughout the hiring process. Have at least two females on a hiring panel, two people of color, etc. This can set you up for greater success when tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices.

Implement anonymous hiring

In an eye-opening study, male and female managers thought male candidates would be more competent in a role.

This was more likely to happen at organizations that believed their profession no longer had any gender bias.

It was mostly men who felt this way, but the women who felt this way undervalued female employees just as much as their male counterparts.

A female applicant is 30% less likely to be invited to an interview than a man who’s just as qualified.

Anonymous hiring, often called blind hiring or recruitment, removes information that could inform hiring managers about candidate characteristics such as someone’s gender, race, age, or socioeconomic status.

Studies in Europe, Canada, and the US showed that this hiring technique improved the numbers of underrepresented hires in organizations that still struggled with tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices.

Test them before you question them

When you assess someone’s skills before interviewing them, you have concrete evidence of their abilities before you ask them any questions.

This makes it easier to judge them based on the quality of their work, not traits such as their gender, race, or even their likeability.

Likeability isn’t a measure of competence but it can have an impact on which candidate hiring managers prefer. This can work against people who don’t conform to societal stereotypes or who are neurodivergent.

Ask everyone the same questions

Women are more likely to be hired for their past achievements, while men can be hired for their potential. Meaning that questions can go in different directions.

Hiring managers can also end up with different expectations because of someone’s background.

When you ask everyone the same question, it creates a fairer playing field. You then have comparable data between applicants to help you make a more informed, data-driven decision.

Relying on facts rather than feelings is crucial to tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices.

Don’t ask about gaps in employment

Many people have gaps in their employment, whether that’s because they took time off to raise a family, travel, or because of an illness. 

Asking why there’s a gap in someone’s employment makes them feel like they did something wrong by not prioritizing work, living their life, or getting sick.

There’s also then the risk of discrimination against that person because they’re a parent, they choose not to be, or they have/had a long-term illness.

Set targets

Having targets—and tracking your progress toward achieving them—keeps everyone within your business accountable. It keeps diversity initiatives front of mind instead of them becoming an afterthought during your hiring process.

This data also means that you have hard evidence to prove how well you’re really performing, rather than operating on gut instincts and overconfidence. Which helps maintain motivation toward achieving the targets.

One trackable target you could set could be quotas. While many people dislike the idea of them, they do make a difference. Especially in the early days.

Quotas weed out incompetent applicants who benefit from their societal privilege, giving more opportunities to underrepresented talent.

Conclusion

Unconscious bias is an inevitable part of being human, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fixable. Tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices requires active work to ensure the best candidate is hired regardless of demographics.

Some of the steps businesses can take to remove bias include blind applications, setting competence tasks, and asking everyone the same set of questions so that they can be compared fairly.

It’s also important to encourage employees to network with colleagues with whom they have things in common, especially when they’re new to the organization. This creates a sense of belonging in the workplace, helping ensure underrepresented hires stick around and don’t feel isolated because they don’t fit in.

Looking for ways to maintain your gains after tackling unconscious bias in hiring practices? Workrowd has the tools you need.

From fostering genuine connections between team members, to keeping everyone informed and included, our all-in-one platform can help you overcome bias to build a more engaged and productive workplace. Plus, with real-time analytics, you always know what’s working, and where you should focus your efforts.

Want to learn more? Visit us online or send us an email at hello@workrowd.com.