Due to recent events,\u00a0my\u00a0Zoom\u00a0conversations around\u00a0race relations, the racial\u00a0divide,\u00a0and\u00a0inequities across the country have dominated meetings.\u00a0\u00a0This topic has been brought up at board meetings,\u00a0with\u00a0business groups\u00a0and in our personal conversations.\u00a0 We are discovering that\u00a0our organizations suffer the same ailments as\u00a0found\u00a0across\u00a0society\u00a0as a whole.\u00a0 We\u00a0have\u00a0all tried to embrace diversity and\u00a0inclusion\u00a0in one way or the other,\u00a0but we admit our efforts\u00a0have been marginal at best.<\/p>\n
A friend,\u00a0who is a well-known sales consultant,\u00a0had an insightful observation regarding\u00a0teleconferencing.\u00a0 She said, \u201cWith Zoom, we are all on the same playing field.\u00a0 All our squares are the same\u201d<\/p>\n
I love that- all the squares have a common core.\u00a0\u00a0Teleconferencing doesn\u2019t discriminate, however, you still have to be invited to the conference call.<\/p>\n
This topic has also dominated\u00a0my team\u2019s\u00a0discussions\u00a0because\u00a0we are committed to helping our clients\u00a0create\u00a0equality in the workplace.\u00a0 Companies who\u00a0outsource HR to us\u00a0desire\u00a0these\u00a0improvements.\u00a0\u00a0Strong HR puts plans into actions repeatedly and over time.<\/p>\n
Here is our suggested roadmap to put thoughts into action. Many times, it involves behavioral shifts and these initiatives must infiltrate every area of an organization to effect real change.<\/p>\n
Leadership -.\u00a0Heightened awareness surrounding the racial divide\u00a0and\u00a0other\u00a0forms of\u00a0discrimination in the workplace has\u00a0leaders\u00a0searching for critical tools and expertise to help them manage and mitigate people risks before, during, and after an incident.\u00a0Leaders\u00a0realize the benefits of a diverse workforce;\u00a0diversity and inclusion\u00a0is\u00a0becoming more of a business imperative.<\/p>\n
Organizational Behavior \u2013\u00a0Organizations need to create\u00a0a holistic approach to\u00a0diversity and inclusion programs, establishing\u00a0a budget,\u00a0diversity\u00a0task forces,\u00a0developing metrics,\u00a0hiring diversity\u00a0officers,\u00a0and\u00a0conducting\u202fdiversity training\u202fin\u00a0the workplace.\u00a0Perform a culture audit. Behavioral changes\u00a0may be met with resistance\u00a0and\u00a0it\u00a0must\u00a0include every\u00a0aspect\u00a0of HR- hiring\u00a0policies,\u00a0compensation, fair treatment protections,\u00a0performance management, career mapping, training,\u00a0discipline,\u00a0and termination.<\/p>\n
Hiring \u2013 Implement affirmative action framework, whether your organization is required to do so or not.\u00a0 Examine prior selection of candidates with a trained eye to stop discriminatory practices.\u00a0Examine the interview process, assessments, and\u00a0interview questions.\u00a0Cases\u00a0have revealed\u00a0some hiring tools are discriminatory\u00a0uncovering unconscious bias.<\/p>\n
Compensation\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Perform\u00a0an\u00a0adverse impact study on the current compensation structures, especially for similar roles.\u00a0 Reduce and\/or eliminate hires based on the\u00a0candidate\u2019s\u00a0ability to negotiate. It is proven women and people of color have less experience in salary negotiations. Rather, state the same salary range to every candidate, with specific criteria resulting in a lower or higher place in the range.<\/p>\n
Fair Treatment\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Develop safe mechanisms for employees\u00a0to report discrimination.\u00a0 Just like #Metoo in social media gave women a safe place to tell\u00a0their\u00a0stories of harassment, videos\u00a0are exposing injustices\u00a0and crimes committed against blacks.\u00a0\u00a0There is a societal shift happening.\u00a0 Many will not tolerate or remain\u00a0silent\u00a0to sexual or racial discrimination.\u00a0\u00a0Hold forums where people of color can safely tell their\u00a0stories.\u00a0A President of a large bank recently held such a forum.\u00a0\u00a0They had always thought of themselves as\u00a0progressive\u00a0but\u00a0the forum revealed\u00a0shocking stories, demonstrating\u00a0the need to listen more\u00a0and address inequities.<\/p>\n
Make HR an independent and protected reporter!\u00a0\u00a0Stop having HR report to the people that only want to control, contain,\u00a0or conceal problems.\u00a0 Deal with it!<\/p>\n
Training –\u00a0To building a diverse and inclusive culture, training is an effective tool to promote diversity, and educate employees on what diversity and inclusive thinking means in their day-to-day interactions with co-workers, customers, partners,\u00a0vendors\u00a0and others.\u202fOne of the goals of diversity training in the workplace is to raise awareness of the value of collaborating with people of different cultures, races, genders, ethnicities, beliefs,\u00a0experiences,\u00a0and ideas.<\/p>\n
Performance and promotion \u2013 Examine your promotion metrics and\u00a0conscious\/unconscious bias within the organization. Interviews reveal white men are told\u00a0that they have all the right stuff and to go for it.\u00a0 Females and people of color are told what they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have or the reasons they can\u2019t go for it.\u00a0\u00a0We have seen organizations with large percentage of\u00a0females or\u00a0people of color at the staff level and almost completely Caucasian\u00a0men in\u00a0management. Why?<\/p>\n
We are all feeling the results of workforce shortages.\u00a0 We cannot afford\u00a0to\u00a0turn away\u00a0talent, new ideas,\u00a0and creativity\u00a0based on\u00a0sex, race, or any other protected characteristic.\u00a0\u00a0Period.<\/p>\n
A\u00a0holistic approach\u00a0enables employees to understand how cultural competency, unconscious bias,\u00a0civility,\u00a0and workplace sensitivity apply\u00a0to every workplace\u00a0situation.\u00a0Training is a good\u00a0start\u00a0but\u00a0you\u2019ll need help putting knowledge into action.<\/p>\n
There is a new awareness of\u00a0just\u00a0how many people\u00a0never\u00a0get\u00a0invited to\u00a0the\u00a0call\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Due to recent events,\u00a0my\u00a0Zoom\u00a0conversations around\u00a0race relations, the racial\u00a0divide,\u00a0and\u00a0inequities across the country have dominated meetings.\u00a0\u00a0This topic has been brought up at board meetings,\u00a0with\u00a0business groups\u00a0and in our personal conversations.\u00a0 We are discovering that\u00a0our organizations suffer the same ailments as\u00a0found\u00a0across\u00a0society\u00a0as a whole.\u00a0 We\u00a0have\u00a0all tried to embrace diversity and\u00a0inclusion\u00a0in one way or the other,\u00a0but we admit our efforts\u00a0have been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":10844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[266],"tags":[],"post_folder":[268],"class_list":["post-11139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consulting-services"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11139"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11141,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11139\/revisions\/11141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11139"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gtm.com\/business\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=11139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}