Category: Employee Engagement

Destination 2030: A Roadmap for Talent Acquisition Leaders

Posted on by akessler

By Robert Peasnell, Deputy Managing Director, PeopleScout UK

It’s been a wild ride for talent acquisition leaders these last few years, as hiring slowed for most and then grew to record levels. As global economies still remain somewhat tumultuous, the one constant we can expect is change. 

With this in mind, PeopleScout undertook a piece of research, evaluating global workforce trends and looking to the future to see how these trends might impact the way we work. The result is our new white paper, Destination 2030.

Here are our top 10 predictions for what work and recruiting will look like in 2030 and tips that talent acquisition leaders can put into practice now to prepare for the future.

Buckle up and join us as we travel to the world of work in 2030.

1. Our Working Models Will Be as Diverse as We Are

Organisations and their employees will decide between them how, when and where people will work. The ways we define work will grow (think hybrid, part-hybrid or even nomadic…), and there’ll be no such thing as a 9-to-5 job.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

With the growth of remote work, talent pools have become more globally dispersed. TA leaders who embrace global workforce planning in their talent acquisition strategy—taking a location-flexible approach—will give themselves a better chance at winning top talent. So, instead of looking for 20 FTEs in France, you could look for 20 French speakers anywhere in the world—vastly expanding your available talent pool.

TA leaders can augment their recruitment capabilities and reach by investing in recruitment process outsourcing (RPO). RPO partners offer single- and multi-country solutions that can help expand your geographic scope to target remote workers. Plus, RPO offers a consistent yet flexible process that can be nuanced to accommodate various cultures and candidate expectations.   

2. We Won’t Work, We’ll Contribute

Will the term ‘work’ even exist? Perhaps not. We will be measured by our contribution and the value we bring to the organisation. By 2030, success will be determined by meaningful output, not hours spent at a desk.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

A recent study revealed that 93% of workers want a flexible schedule. Organisations that rethink working patters and adapt to the desires of their target candidate audience will gain a significant leg up when it comes to competing for talent going forward. This will require significant workforce planning on the part of a TA leader to ensure your organisation can maximise productivity while also keeping employees engaged and motivated.

3. Reskilling Will Take on New Importance

The pace of change means reskilling will be the norm. No matter how much expertise you have in one field, you could find yourself changing direction and developing a new skillset in a totally different field.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

Going by the last 20 years, it seems inevitable that many of the jobs we’ll need in 2030 simply don’t exist yet. So, TA leaders can’t put off workforce planning as some far-off solution to future issues. It’s imperative you plan today for the talent you’ll need for the future—either through recruitment or through an internal training and mobility program.

Organisations who invest in reskilling and upskilling as a strategic initiative will boost their resilience for whatever future business environments have in store. Plus, it will have a positive impact on retention as companies that excel at internal mobility can retain employees nearly twice as long as companies that struggle with it.

4. Retirement Age Will Become Just a Number

Some of us will work hard and live frugally, so we can retire in our 40s. Most of us will work beyond the standard retirement age, taking on new roles, developing new skills and easing out of work slowly.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

By 2030, all Baby Boomers will have reached 65, the typical retirement age threshold in many countries. Keeping older workers in the workplace will become a priority for organisations as talent pools shrink and skills gaps widen. This also means addressing any age-based discrimination that may be hidden in your recruitment processes. Amongst job seekers over 45, 53% believe age is one of the biggest barriers to finding a new job. Eliminating bias in the recruitment process will ensure your organisation can access this valuable talent pool and the experience they can provide.

Additionally, employers will need to adjust contracts as few in this generation will want to continue working in a typical full-time capacity. Making certain concessions and ensuring your DE&I program also supports generational diversity will ensure older workers can continue to contribute and will help soften the effects of impending mass retirement of Boomers. 

5. The Greatest Skill Will Be Learning

As new technologies emerge and old ones become obsolete, our work will demand different approaches and expertise. This constant evolution means we’ll be learning new skills. Things will change so fast that the future discussion will go beyond reskilling and upskilling to ‘learning to learn’.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

Evaluate your assessment process to ensure it aligns with the outcomes you need from your roles—now and into the future. Judging candidates based on characteristics that help them succeed in your unique environment—rather than just on skills or experience—will help you unlock the potential of your new employees. Putting assessment activities in place that test for soft skills, like adaptability, will help create a culture of learning.

6. AI and Automation Will Create Jobs, Not Eliminate Them

Technology, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), will tackle mundane, highly complex and time-consuming work, freeing humans to focus on emotion-driven innovations. This will create a suite of new roles as well as cross-functional teams and agile working patterns.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

Talent acquisition and HR leaders can experience the benefits of AI too! Talent technology platforms offer multiple opportunities to introduce more automation into your recruitment processes, allowing your recruiters and hiring managers to focus on developing better connections with candidates, bringing your process to life.

With AI sourcing, recruiters can let the tech do the mundane work of searching for qualified talent and focus on engaging candidates, offering guidance and positioning your organisation as an attractive place to work. Automation can be leveraged throughout the candidate journey to supplement interactions from your team, including text interviews, interview scheduling, sharing content, handling basic candidate queries and more.

7. Inclusion Will Be Everywhere

The fact that hiring for potential and the need to reskill are the key criteria any organisation looks for in 2030 pretty much eradicates unconscious bias. Organisations that to cling to outdated modes of attraction run the risk of missing out on valuable talent.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

Hopefully, by now, everyone understands the importance of diversity and inclusion, if for no other reason than the economic benefits. It’s time for companies to really step up when it comes to diversity, equality and inclusion, especially because underrepresented groups are more likely to say that an employer’s diversity efforts make a difference in whether they decide to apply.  

While responsibility for diversity, equity and inclusion is shared across an organisation, talent acquisition leaders have a significant influence. Use that impact to help the business assess the maturity of its DE&I program. By pinpointing your current state and plotting out the roadmap to your desired state, your organisation can make strides in building a more diverse workforce.

8. Personalisation Will Drive the Need for Connection

Organisations will inspire unity, belonging and a collegiate spirit on one hand, balanced with hyper-personalisation on the other. While candidates and employees have a desire to be connected, they still want to be treated as an individual.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

Modern candidates expect digital experiences, but also want the human touch from recruiters. So, how can you achieve personalisation at scale?

Leveraging talent technology can be a great way to attain this. This could be through a CRM tool that lets you notify individuals in your talent pools about positions that are a fit for their skills and goals, or an ATS that gives candidates a personlised portal where they can track the status of their application. Technology can help you combine personalisation with the power of automation so you can show you recognise each candidate as a person, not just a CV. 

9. Say Goodbye to Work Permits

Workers will become global citizens, working from anywhere for organisations based anywhere. In a single, 10-person start-up, all 10 people could work from completely different places.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

One of the main benefits of RPO is ensuring their clients remain compliant in all the countries in which they’re operating. Most global RPO providers have offshore delivery centers that hold the necessary legal entities and licenses to hire in your chosen countries, so you don’t have to go through the effort or expense.

If you’re looking to expand your recruitment footprint, outsourcing may be an option to explore. Check out our ebook, Building a Business Case for RPO, to learn how to create buy-in and secure budget.

10. The Future is Bright

With Millennials at the helm, we can look forward to ethical and empathetic leadership and a holistic approach to wellbeing. Consumers and shareholders alike will put pressure on businesses to look after the planet as well as society—a welcome shift indeed.

How talent acquisition leaders can prepare:

By 2030, Millenials will make up the biggest generation in the global workforce, representing a massive 40% of all workers. As a whole, they are much more motivated by the difference they can make in the world than they are by how much money they can earn. So, it’s important that employer’s keep in mind that whilst success and status are definitely still in the mix, it’s the cultural fit, values and purpose that matter most for this generation.

Now is the time to assess your employer brand and EVP. Do they reflect your values and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts? Including these strategies as a visible part of your candidate attraction efforts will ensure you are seen as an employer of choice amongst the generation that will lead your business forward.

I’m sure you’re already thinking about budgets for 2023, and I hope you’ll consider some of these opportunities for investment. To learn more about how we came to the predictions and see our research, check out our Destination 2030 white paper.

Destination 2030: 10 Predictions for What’s Next in the World of Work 

Posted on by akessler

Destination 2030:

10 Predictions for What’s Next in the World of Work

The last few years have been tumultuous for talent acquisition leaders, and it doesn’t look as if the pace of change is going to let up. Are you looking for ways to future-proof your workforce and create a resilient talent strategy?

Buckle up and join us as we travel to the world of work in 2030! Our ebook, Destination 2030, explores the latest research and global workforce trends and how they might impact the way we work.

In this ebook, we explore:

  • Demographic changes in the workplace and how to engage each generation
  • The changing role of technology in candidate and employee engagement
  • Our top 10 predictions for what’s next in world of work

Global Diversity Awareness Month: Resources to Improve Your DE&I Outcomes

Posted on by akessler

Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DE&I) is a priority for 75% of global organisations and corporate DE&I programs offer a huge opportunity to win over talent in today’s tight labour market.

In recognition of Global Diversity Awareness Month, we’ve examined the state of diversity recruiting in our recent report, Diversity & the Candidate Experience: Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes. This deep dive into the candidate journey uncovers common areas where employers are unintentionally sabotaging their DE&I efforts. Plus, we offer actionable takeaways for addressing these issues and improving diversity recruitment outcomes.

In addition to the report, we thought we’d share some of our top articles and podcasts to help you create a diverse, equitable and inclusive candidate and employee experience where everyone feels welcome and respected.

DE&I and Talent Acquisition

Talent acquisition plays a crucial role in bringing to life diversity and inclusion within an organisation through sourcing, engaging and hiring talent from underrepresented groups.

Here are our top insights for talent acquisition leaders for improving diversity recruitment outcomes.

  1. DE&I: Assessing Programme Maturity & the Role of Talent Acquisition:
    Anthony Brew, Vice President of Diversity, Equality & Inclusion at our parent company TrueBlue, shares how to determine the maturity of your D&I program and ideas for talent acquisition leaders to increase their influence.
  2. Podcast: Building an Inclusive & Equitable Employer Brand & Recruitment Process:
    In the episode of our Talking Talent podcast, we hear from Paula Simmons, our Director of Employer Brand & Communications Strategy, about building an employer brand and a recruitment process that is equitable and inclusive for candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.
  3. Podcast: Reducing Unconscious Bias for an Inclusive Recruitment Process:
    In another podcast, Simon Wright, Global Head of Talent Advisory, teaches us about unconscious bias and shares tactics to reduce it from various stages of your recruitment process.
  4. Data & Diversity: Using Analytics to Achieve Your DE&I Goals:
    As the saying goes, you can’t improve what you can’t measure. In this article from Liz Karkula, Associate Product Manager of Affinix™, and Jason Kaplan, IT Manager of Business Intelligence, how to leverage technology and analytics to measure and improve DE&I in your recruitment programs.

Research Report

Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes

Download Now

DE&I and Employee Experience

The employee experience is just as important to the success of your DE&I program. For employees from underrepresented groups, meaningful engagement and organisational commitment to DE&I can improve retention, productivity and employee referrals that can boost your diversity recruitment efforts.

Below, we’ve outlined our most read resources for creating a more inclusive workplace.

  1. Feeling Part of the Team: The Importance of Building an Inclusive Culture in the Workplace:
    Make your diversity recruitment efforts count by following these ideas to cultivate a culture of inclusion.
  2. Diversity Training: Getting It Right, Right Away:
    Diversity training is one way organisations are fostering inclusion within company culture. This article explores different kinds of diversity training and how to leverage them to improve your D&I efforts.
  3. Diversity and Inclusion: Building Employee Resource Groups and Driving Change:
    Employee Resource Groups, or ERGs, have multifaceted benefits that impact an organisation’s strategic diversity and inclusion efforts in recruitment, retention, mentoring, leadership development, customer relations and more. Check out this article for practical tips on supporting ERGs in your organisations.
  4. Improving Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Workplace:
    This article is a guide to benefits to of diversity and best practices when it comes to implementing and monitoring a diversity policy in the workplace.
  5. Podcast: Women in Leadership:
    In this episode of our Talking Talent podcast, PeopleScout’s diverse group of female leaders from all around the world share what it means to be a woman in leadership. Women at all levels of the company—from executive leaders to team leaders and managers—talk about how they got to where they are and how to create work environments where women can succeed.
  6. Benefits of Workplace Diversity: The Value of LGBTQ+ Employees:
    This article provides a historical look at LGBTQ+ activism and its victories in the fight for workplace equity. Plus, you’ll learn strategies to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace.

No matter how you’re celebrating Global Diversity Awareness Month at your organisation, we hope these resources give you practical steps you can take to improve your diversity recruitment outcomes and create a more equitable and inclusive culture at your organisation.

Want to learn more about diversity and talent acquisition? Download our report, Diversity & the Candidate Experience: Identifying Recruitment Pitfalls to Improve DE&I Outcomes, for the latest research on how to improve the candidate experience for underrepresented groups.

Soft Skills Training for Employees: Improving Internal Mobility with Soft Skills Training

Posted on by edyson

Soft skills training can help both employers and employees alike. Soft skills are increasingly important as organisations across all industries look to fill roles, and talent leaders are increasingly investing in internal mobility programs to harness the skills of internal talent. While employers can assess candidates and employees alike for competencies like communication, conflict resolution and problem solving, some internal candidates may need additional training or education when moving into a new role or area of business operations. What’s more, soft skills training can help improve client relationships and foster a stronger team dynamic. In this article, we list the benefits of including soft skills into your employee training and professional development program.

Benefits of Soft Skills Training

Improved Customer Service

When an employer invests in soft skills training for employees, they are preparing their workforce to better engage customers. For example, training employees on active listening means they will more effectively establish customer needs, identify issues and help resolve them. Moreover, empathy can have a positive impact on company culture as a whole in addition to customer service.

Soft Skills Training Can Increase Sales

Improving soft skills can benefit your sales team during the sales negotiation process. Employees can use their competencies to engage with the client on a more personal level, without breaching the all-important professional boundaries, and your customers will appreciate this. When employees take additional time to discuss the pain points that your clients experience and match them with the right solution, the sale will happen by itself.

Better Employee Retention

Investing in the professional growth of your employees will pay off with increased employee retention. You will reduce the need to hire and train replacement staff, thus reducing organisational costs. Additionally, soft skills improve knowledge retention and equip employees to take ownership of their personal development.

Top Soft Skills in the Workplace

Now that we have outlined some of the benefits of soft skills training, here we provide the top soft skill competencies you should concentrate your employee soft skills training on. LinkedIn published a list of the most in-demand soft skills with leadership, communication, collaboration and time management coming out as the soft skills employers were actively seeking. In this section, we take a take closer look at the specific skills you should consider training your employees on and the best ways to train your employees.

There are a number of options for delivering soft skills training to your workforce. You can dedicate entire courses solely to soft skills, or you can add relevant soft skill sections to your existing employee education content. In terms of delivery methods, consider using some of the options outlined below.

Coaching and Mentoring

If you identify an employee who has a development need for a specific soft skill like leadership, you can consider bringing in a mentor or coach and tailor a learning approach that’s specific and targeted. The coaching process in the workplace typically implies collaboration with the employee to identify, target, and plan for better performance.

A coach can help the employee define their goals, existing skill sets, strengths, and, of course, weaknesses. For example: the employee finds out that he/she is not good enough at communicating with the staff supervised, so a coach creates a development strategy and provides him/her with a clear pathway to improve their communication skills. When an employee is on their way to implement this strategy, a trainer supports them and provides them with actionable feedback.

Coaching and mentoring is especially effective in imparting soft skills, such as communication and leadership which are key in improving customer service.

Interactive Workshops

If you want to train an entire group of employees in a specific soft skill, you can organise live workshops to reach as many employees as possible while also helping to foster team building skills. The best workshops have a concrete, action-oriented purpose and aim to find answers to current problems in the field.

Let’s say you want to teach your customer service staff how to resolve conflicts with clients. You can develop role-play scenarios and play them out right in the workshop. Let the supervisor or learning and development representative be a disgruntled customer and your employees will have to try to settle the conflict. Based on their responses, the trainer will be able to bridge skill gaps and point them in the right direction.

Peer Learning

Another effective yet simple way of developing soft skills is to learn with other people. Research has shown there is a significant link between having fun in the workplace and informal learning. You can take advantage of this by creating streams of work or small-scale projects that require collaboration between colleagues at work. Or you can undertake social learning online via the use of social apps and other tools.

Try launching a peer forum where employees will discuss soft skills in the workplace and how to achieve their full potential. They will have a place to ask questions and share stories to get peer-based feedback. For instance, an employee encountered a particularly difficult customer who got on his/her nerves. He/she can share his/her experience on the forum, discuss it with colleagues, and get useful advice for the future.

What Is Emotional Intelligence? Is it a Soft Skill That Can Be Learned?

Emotional Intelligence or (EI) is the ability of a person to manage both their own emotions and understand the emotions of people around them. There are five key elements to EI: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills. Employees with high EI are better at identifying how they are feeling, what those feelings mean, and how those emotions impact their behaviour and in turn, other people such as customers and coworkers.

It can be a little difficult to “manage” the emotions of others as one cannot control how someone else feels or behaves. If employees can identify the emotions behind their behaviour, they have a better understanding of where they are coming from and how to best interact with them.

High EI overlaps with strong interpersonal skills, especially in the areas of conflict management and communication—crucial skills in the workplace. Employees who can self-regulate their emotions are often able to avoid making impulsive decisions since they think objectively before they act. Operating with empathy and understanding is a critical part of teamwork; being able to attribute someone’s behaviour to an underlying emotion will help you manage relationships and make others feel heard. On an individual level, being aware of your feelings is the first step in not letting those feelings control you. Recognising how you feel, and why, will help you to sit with those feelings and then move forward in a productive way. 

Effective leaders are often very emotionally intelligent. In the workplace, it’s important for leaders to be self-aware and able to view things objectively. This translates into understanding your strengths and weaknesses and acting with humility. This must be balanced with empathy—employees who feel appreciated and valued at work aren’t only happier, but more productive.

Fortunately, you can help employees improve EI skills with some thoughtfulness and practice:

  • Ask employees to try to slow down their reactions to emotions. Try phrases like: “Next time you feel angry, try to sit with it before lashing out.” “Did someone upset you?” “What do you think was the emotion underneath their behaviour?”
  • Ask employees to think about their strengths and weaknesses. No one is good at everything, and that’s okay! Make sure employees understand that it’s okay to ask for—or offer—help.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, putting in the effort to better train and understand your employees’ soft skills can greatly improve communication between customers, employees and coworkers. The modern workplace can sometimes make employees feel confused and overwhelmed which can have and adverse effect on employee mental health. Soft skills training can equip your workforce with great compassion and competencies that will make an impact on a human level.

Diversity Training: Getting it Right, Right Away

Posted on by edyson

Diversity training is important. Creating a more diverse and equitable workplace culture encourages a true sense of belonging among coworkers. So, how can employers create a more diverse and equitable workforce? Not only does diversity improve coworker relationships, it also helps the bottom-line. In fact, the numbers on DE&I in the workplace speaks for itself. According to McKinsey’s Diversity Wins study, diverse organizations are more likely to be more profitable than their less diverse counterparts.

What’s more, in PwC’s Global Diversity & Inclusion Survey, 75% of respondents cite diversity, equity, and inclusion or (DE&I programs) as a priority. However, only 4% say their organization succeeds in DEI initiatives.

The data is clear—it is not enough for employers to merely create a diverse employee population. Employees inside the organization need to feel that they are truly included and that their experiences matter. However, fostering a true sense of inclusion and belonging seems elude many employers. Organizations still struggle with implementing diversity programs that truly improve individual employees’ sense of inclusion.

Some employers may not know where to start. In this article, we provide guidance on building a thoughtful diversity training program to help increase employee awareness, empathy, understanding and inclusion.  

What is Diversity Training?

diversity and inclusion training

Diversity training is a type of professional development training that increases employees’ cultural awareness, knowledge and communication skills. There is no one size fits all approach to diversity training, as it can look different in every organization. However, diversity training should help educate employees on the following topics:

  • Awareness around workplace diversity issues. Examples include issues underrepresented minority groups face, gender gaps, microaggressions, and other forms of discrimination that may not be apparent to employees
  • Beliefs and challenges surrounding unconscious bias and discrimination in the workplace
  • Connecting employees through gaining a deeper understanding of what motivates colleagues of other cultures to get a sense of how others feel
  • How to effectively collaborate and communication with employees from different backgrounds.
  • How to spot and report discrimination, racial bias, microaggressions, or other misconduct  
  • How employees can contribute to an inclusive workplace culture and environment through employee resource groups

In its diversity training, an organization may also want to educate employees about the organization’s commitment to diversity and history of progress on social issues effecting a variety of demographics. Use your diversity training as an opportunity to communicate the company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion goals and aspirations.

Why is Diversity and Inclusion Training Important?

The differences between people are what make us unique and offer a richer tapestry of experiences and perspectives to draw upon in the workplace. However, at times, employees experience difficulties communicating and celebrating differences.

As organizations grow their DE&I efforts, it’s important to offer employees the right type of diversity training and support to ensure that DEI programs and learnings translate into a more inclusive environment in practice.

Below, we have compiled three reasons why diversity training programs in the workplace have a positive impact.

Increased Employee Engagement

diversity equity and inclusion training

When employees feel excluded, engagement suffers, which in turn can hurt production and profits. In fact, according to Gallup, a highly engaged workforce can outperform peers by 147% in earnings per share. By implementing a diversity training program, your organization will foster greater inclusivity and increase overall employee engagement which can boost revenue.  

Improved Employee Retention

The Great Resignation is causing organizations to focus on employee retention more than ever. Employees who do not feel included in an organization’s structure and mission may be less likely to invest their time and energy in the organization’s future success.

On the other hand, employees who feel a sense of belonging are more likely to stay with an organization. Diversity training programs help to increase that sense of belonging amongst employees—and overall, can help improve your retention rates.

Positive Systemic Change

Often times, our systems and existing power structures have been built for some—but they certainly may not “work” for all. Put into practice, diversity training can help change systematic diversity hurdles—things like your organization’s hiring practices, how diverse talent is sourced, actions to increase board or leadership diversity and more. These steps may make positive systematic change for all employees, not just some.

The Four Types of Diversity Training

diversity training program

Just like our diverse workplaces, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to diversity training programs. Diversity training programs come in all different types and can be catered to help achieve your organization’s goals.

Awareness Training

Oftentimes, awareness training is the type of early adopter diversity training that’s highly effective for most (if not all) workforces. Awareness training is essentially the first step in creating change in your organization. It gives employees an overview of:

  • Workplace and/or organization demographics
  • Education around sexual orientation, gender, race and racial minorities, ethnicity, and more
  • Education and awareness around workplace equity

Many diversity trainings stop there, making people aware of their actions and how that is experienced by others. But this is a valuable opportunity to drive awareness of the benefits to everyone in the company of having a truly diverse workforce where people can contribute at their best.

By implementing awareness training, team members will increase their problem-solving and decision-making skills. Through awareness training sessions, you can help shift to a belonging mindset—and promote respect, inclusivity, and value among your employees.

You’ll also lay the groundwork for the need for change and additional actions to come because your workforce is now educated and aware of the diversity issues at hand.

Skills-Based Diversity Training

diversity training in the workplace

Skills-based diversity training focuses on specific actions people at different levels across your workforce can take to practice the skills of inclusion to ensure all employees are equipped to foster belonging. This type of training helps employees at the “awareness” stage move into a “proficiency” stage when handling diversity in the workplace. For example, skills-based training could include a session solely focused on communication and best practices. At the end of the session, employees will walk away with the communication skills needed to foster a culture of inclusivity in their work environment.

Basic Diversity Training

We know sometimes, it’s best to start with the basics. Basic diversity training has a simple goal: create respect and empathy within your workforce.

In a basic diversity training program, it’s common to find the below topics:

  • Identifying company values—and how DEI embodies those values
  • Anti-racism training
  • Anti-sexism training
  • Educating about sexual orientation and gender identities
  • Cultural sensitivity training
  • Human resource compliance training
  • How to create effective diversity training

Regardless of what type of training(s) you choose to implement at your company, it has to be effective to truly make an impact. But how do you create effective diversity training?

First, it’s important to understand where your organization falls in your DE&I journey. Once you’ve figured out what work needs to be done and identified your top priorities, use some of these tips to ensure you’re delivering an effective diversity training programs to your employees.

Be realistic about what you can accomplish. Being aware of where you’re starting as an organization is crucial. If you’re setting out to change your company’s culture with a diversity training program, you might want to think again.

Set goals and communicate them to your employees. Once you’ve established where your organization is on its DEI journey, set realistic goals. It could be as simple as setting a goal that 100% of employees take at least one diversity training course. Once you’ve determined your goals, communicate them. Studies show that accountability translates to better outcomes.

Equip your employees with resources to reach your DE&I goals. It’s not enough to set goals and ask your employees to reach them. Organization leaders need to equip their teams with the resources to reach those goals. Having a portfolio of diversity training programs or encouraging employees to start employee resource groups (ERGs) are just some examples of how leaders can get started.

Measure your progress — and report out how you’re doing. Similar to setting goals and communicating them out, it’s important to measure your progress. Employees aren’t going to be able to impact change if they don’t know how they’re doing. Share feedback with your teams on the company’s progress and ask for their support. 

Fostering a culture of belonging is not an easy journey. Uncomfortable, hard conversations will inevitably be had between peers and leaders. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It’s in these tough (yet respectful) conversations where real growth happens.

Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace culture is everyone’s responsibility. That means everyone in the organization needs to be a part of the training, regardless of where they fall in your organization’s hierarchical structure.

Commit to the work. Implementing a diversity training program is not going to fix your DEI issues. It’s a great start, but to truly impact change, your organization will need to commit to the ongoing work. You might uncover more work as your organization moves through its diversity training programs—and that’s okay. Stay committed to the big picture.

Conclusion

diversity training programs

Training has so many benefits for any organization. Not only will you see better overall performance that impacts your bottom line, but employees will be more engaged, happier and more productive.

Remember, diversity training is more than an item on your HR to-do list. It is a vital and important component of organizational growth. Companies who are going above and beyond the standard one-and-done diversity training make inclusive leadership a core competency.

Interviewer Skills Training: How to Conduct Interviewing Skills Training for Hiring Managers

Posted on by edyson

Interviewing skills training is crucial, as many hiring managers feel that the success of a well-conducted job interview hinges on the interviewers ability to build a connection with the interviewee. What’s more, for many candidates, the interview is a critical factor when deciding whether to accept a job offer, with 50% of candidates declining job offers after feeling disrespected during the interview process.  

When interviews do not go well, they not only lead to candidates declining offers, but they can also lead to poor hiring decisions, possible compliance issues, and hiring manager burnout. Interviewing candidates is arguably the most important part of the hiring process, so interview training for hiring managers is essential. Hiring managers touch many parts of the recruitment process—often opening new roles, writing job descriptions, posting on job boards, interviewing, and in some cases, making that final call on which candidates get hired. 

With all that’s riding on the hiring manager, they must know how to interview effectively. Interviewing tips for managers can come in handy because the interview process can be stress-inducing regardless of which side of the table you happen to be on. In this article, we provide insights into training hiring managers to be effective, impartial and empathic interviewers. 

 

Securing Hiring Manager Buy-In for Interview Skills Training

recruiter training

Both new and experienced hiring managers can benefit from interview skills training. A veteran hiring manager typically has years of hands-on experience engaging, interviewing, and hiring candidates for a variety of roles. However, even the most seasoned hiring manager may need to brush up on their skills through learning emerging interviewing skills and techniques, like combating bias and improving diversity, how to use structured interviews, and avoiding cliché or out-of-date questions that conflict with the modern hiring experience.

For newer hiring managers, interview training can serve as an on-the-job education and can help accelerate their career through learning the latest and most effective interviewing techniques.

Before introducing a new interviewing skills training program, schedule a meeting with hiring managers to discuss the status of your current interviewing process as well as their thoughts and concerns when it comes to engaging with candidates. You can ask them if they use interview techniques such as structured interviews, panel interviews, and blind interviews to gauge areas of interest and potential training topics.

It may be a good idea to create a list of questions for hiring managers to think about leading up to their training. Questions for your hiring managers may include:

  • Can I talk about the company’s strategy, mission and structure confidently?
  • Can I answer questions about perks and benefits accurately?
  • Do I know what the job description involves before going into an interview?
  • Have I coordinated with my team on the candidate and job details?
  • Have I read candidates’ CVs?
  • Do I know what interview questions I’ll ask?
  • Are my interview questions reviewed by HR for legality?

 

Interviewing Skills Training: Help Hiring Managers to Combat Bias

job interview skills training

Meeting a candidate for the first time may prompt a series of unconscious judgements that cause a hiring manager to make unfounded assumptions based on attributes that are not job-related, such as race, gender, religion, or socioeconomic status. These unconscious biases can result in unequal treatment of candidates. Yale University released a study revealing that hiring managers judge candidates’ socioeconomic status based purely on the first few seconds of their speech. Furthermore, the candidates perceived to be from a higher social class received more lucrative salaries and signing bonuses.

Everything that makes a hiring manager a better interviewer in turn makes them less biased. The best way to combat biases during interviews is to be aware of them. This can’t be achieved overnight—it takes time and effort. A good start would be to help the interviewer standardise their interviews.

Unstructured interviews lacking defined questions where a candidate’s experience and expertise are meant to translate naturally through conversation can be unreliable and produce bias. Structured interviews, where each candidate is asked the same set of defined questions, thereby standardising the interview process, help minimise bias.

This outcome (allowing hiring managers to focus on skills and experience that directly impact the role)  comes from having an interview based on job analysis and a structured, evidence-based assessment framework. Standardising the interview process reduces bias by creating a level playing field for all candidates and ensuring that everyone is asked the same questions in the same way.

Combating bias is not easy, however, by addressing bias you will empower your team to tackle bigger challenges and to make a real commitment to building an inclusive culture.

 

What is a Structured Interview? Teaching Hiring Managers to Understand Structured Interviews

Structured Interview

Conducting structured interviews is an exceptional strategy for screening job candidates and finding the best possible person for a role. So, what is a structured interview? Structured interviews ask a set of questions in a structured format intended to help hiring managers to collect valuable data from each interviewee that can then be compared to the response of other candidates. Your should also include a clearly defined rating process for hiring managers and interviewers to follow when evaluating and scoring candidate answers to questions- asked during an interview.

Structured interviews are more objective and legally defensible than unstructured interviews. Interviewers who use this interview format should learn how to prepare behavioural questions, understand rating scales, and score candidates consistently.

In this section, we provide examples of structured interview questions as well as how to conduct and rate interviews.

 

Role-Related Structured Interview Questions

Role-related questions ask candidates directly about the duties and responsibilities of the role. Including role-specific questions in a structured interview can assist a hiring manager in determining whether or not a candidate possesses the skills and experience necessary to succeed in the role.

Examples of role-related structured interview questions include:

  • What are the advantages and disadvantages of the CRM software you used in your last role?
  • What in your career or educational experience do you believe connects you with this role ?
  • What do you like and dislike about working in nursing?

 

Behavioural Questions and Structured Interviews

Behaviour-related questions in structural interviews ask candidates to provide examples of their professional experiences. Including behaviour-related questions in structured interviews can help hiring managers to find out which experiences the candidate may have excelled in and struggled with in the past. Ask a mix of questions to gain information about each candidate’s professional successes and challenges and the way they interacted with their clients, coworkers, and superiors.

Examples of behaviour-related structured interview questions include in interview skills training:

  • Describe a time when you have had to deal with a difficult colleague?
  • How do you ensure that you know what kind of experience your customers are having in your stores?
  • Can you tell me what you look for in a manager or which management style fits you best?

 

Situational Questions for Structured Interviews

Situation-related questions in a structural interviewing skills training ask candidates to think on their feet and imagine how they would handle varying scenarios working for your organisation. Situation-related questions can determine a candidate’s critical thinking and problem-solving skills. There are a variety of questions that assess how candidates would interact with your clients and employees, how they work with a team, and how they would react to common workplace challenges.

Examples of situation-related structured interview questions include:

  • How would you handle an unhappy customer?
  • How would you pitch our new product line to customers?
  • How would you prioritise multiple deadlines from different stakeholders?

 

What is a Mock Interview? Teaching Interview Skills Training Best Practices Through Role Playing

mock interviews

Mock interviews are simulated or role-playing interview exercises designed to give hiring managers the opportunity to sharpen their interviewing skills through formulating responses in real-time. Mock interviews can help inexperienced hiring managers familiarise themselves with an interview setting and give veterans a chance to practice the latest techniques. For example, hiring managers can practice brief notetaking techniques to avoid being distracted by their notes during actual interviews.

Here are the goals of mock interview training for hiring managers:

  • Identifying the common steps of the interviewing process and how to respond
  • Learning how to thoroughly review a candidate’s CV and prepare for a productive conversation
  • Developing technical, cultural, and behavioural questions to successfully evaluate a candidate’s fit in the role and organisation
  • Determining what they need to do before, during, and after an interview
  • Evaluate information gathered during the interview more successfully
  • Understanding how to interview within the law using acceptable and appropriate questions
  • Reading body language

Much of communication is nonverbal. In an interview setting, hiring managers unable to understand body language may misinterpret what is being communicated during an interview. Mock interviews can help interviewers become more aware of candidates’ nonverbal cues, thus improving their overall interviewing skill set. For example, if a candidate’s body language suggests they are anxious, interviewers may make a more conscious effort to relax the candidate. You can train interviewers to control their body language as well. Even if hiring managers think a candidate is unqualified, they should not let their body language negatively affect the candidate’s experience.

Job Interviewing Skills Training: Compliance Training is Key

One of the best ways to avoid potential legal compliance issues is to ensure that all interview questions are related solely to the role the candidate is interviewing for and are in compliance with the employers hiring laws and practices. To determine if a question is truly role-related, have your hiring managers ask themselves the following questions:

  • What type of information is the candidate likely to provide in response to the question or the comment?
  • Is that information related to the job?
  • Is the question that I am about to ask, or the comment that I am about to make, necessary to make a legitimate assessment of the candidate’s qualifications?
  • Could it appear to the candidate that I was trying to encourage them to reveal information related to the candidate’s inclusion in a legally protected class (based on age, race, disability, national origin, marital status, etc.)?
  • Do I need to know the information that I am about to (or likely to) gather?

What’s more, many countries have laws protecting job candidates from discrimination during the hiring process, so it’s important for hiring managers to understand how discrimination can occur in recruiting, interviewing, and hiring and how to remain complaint with local laws. You can provide guidelines for handling your interview-related responsibilities fairly and legally. Guidelines may include:

  • Guidance on identifying candidate categories protected from employment discrimination
  • Follow a standardised interview process to help ensure a fair and consistent hiring process
  • A list of questions to avoid during interviews that can lead to discrimination claims
  • How to differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate interview behaviour from candidates

 

Skills Training for Interviewers Begins and Ends with Relationship Building

As a talent acquisition leader, investing in interviewing skills training can mean the difference for your organisation’s ability to hire quality staff in today’s candidate-driven market. With a well-run interviewer training program, you can increase the chances of securing the talent your organisation needs for a competitive edge.

It is no longer only about candidate experience, it is about building candidate relationships. Candidates expect their job search and hiring experience to be positive, and the interview is a key component of fulfilling their expectations.

Prioritising Mental Health for Employees: Creating a Culture That Promotes Employee Mental Health and Wellbeing

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Mental health for employees continues to be at the top of minds since the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly contributed to deteriorating employee mental health around the globe, bringing new awareness to the importance of employee wellbeing. Globally, the overall number of mental disorder cases rose dramatically in 2020, with an additional 53.2 million cases of anxiety and 76.2 million cases of major depressive disorders, as reported by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).  Many of the factors that led to this dramatic increase at the height of the pandemic remain—childcare and other caretaking responsibilities, financial difficulties, economic uncertainty and unemployment, to name a few.  

“These are stressful times. Half of Americans say their mental health has been affected by the pandemic. When you add racial injustices and a recession into the equation, a mental health crisis is imminent.”

Stephen Etkind, telemedicine provider with First Stop Health

Forbes noted that nearly six times as many employers have reported increased mental health issues among employees since the pandemic began. Clearly, this growing problem is one that employers can’t afford to ignore. 

Staggering Statistics

Mind/body health company All Points North conducted a survey of 1,000 individuals. They found that, since the onset of the pandemic, 36% of respondents reported experiencing more anxiety, 32% were suffering more panic attacks and 27% reported greater depression—with more than 30% saying that they regularly battled stress and anxiety. Similarly, a report from Indeed found that 52% of all workers were feeling burned out, up more than 9% from a pre-COVID survey.    

Mental Health for Employees

According to the 2022 State of Workplace Mental Health report by Lyra Health, working parents and other caregivers are more likely to face mental health challenges; nearly 90% of caregivers surveyed said they had experienced at least one mental health challenge in the last year and were more likely to experience worsening mental health. Moreover, Mental Health America estimates that depression costs the U.S. $51 billion in absenteeism and lost productivity alone, and Gallup data backs up this theory, finding that burned-out employees were 63% more likely to take a sick day and more than twice as likely to be actively looking for a different job.   

However, just as employee mental health is not a new concern, it’s also not one that will vanish anytime soon. As such, it’s essential for employers to recognise and prioritise the psychological safety of their employees, just as they protect employees’ physical safety. But, how do employers prioritise mental health in order to retain employees and give themselves a competitive advantage? Let’s start by taking a closer look at worker expectations. 

What Workers Want: How to Better Support Mental Health at Work

Mental Health at Work

The pandemic shined a light on previously unexamined areas of peoples’ lives—causing many to shift their priorities, rethink their work/life balance and reevaluate what really matters. And, these moments of clarity are unlikely to be forgotten anytime soon. Workers want a change in their working lives and are prepared to leave their jobs if they don’t feel support for their mental health at work.   
 
For instance, according to a FlexJobs survey, 56% of workers listed flexibility in their workday as the top way that their employer could better support them. In fact, remote work is considered the most important element to compensation and benefit packages, ranked only behind salary. Encouraging time off and offering mental health days were tied for second at 43%, and 28% said increased PTO and better health insurance were needed. Evidently, adopting a remote or hybrid work model could go far in many organisations, although that may not always be realistic depending on the role or industry. Fortunately, there are other ways that employers can ensure employee wellbeing. 

Actionable Ways to Prioritise Mental Health for Employees

employee mental health

The problem is clear: Employees are suffering mentally, emotionally, psychologically and even physically. So, to effectively prioritise the mental health of employees, it must be woven into the fabric of a company’s culture. The following are a few actionable ways you can do so. 

Effective Leadership and Mental Health at Work

As with any meaningful cultural change, leader buy-in is essential—and mental health prioritisation in the workplace starts at the top. By demonstrating awareness, compassion and openness toward mental health, leaders can reduce employee concerns of being perceived as weak or vulnerable if they come forward with an issue. And, the most successful leaders know that leading by what they do is far more effective than what they say.

In an article on post-pandemic mental health predictions from Forbes, Adam Weber, SVP of community at 15Five, said,

“If executives want their employees to prioritise their mental health, they need to be doing the same in a very visible way. It’s one thing to encourage people to take time off for therapy or a mental health day, but most leaders have yet to take the next step of doing that themselves in a transparent way.”

Adam Weber, SVP of community at 15Five

Leaders should also regularly and actively listen to their employees; having open and honest conversations with employees about what matters to them and how they’re feeling mentally and emotionally is critically important. For example, in a study with Qualtrics and SAP, Harvard Business Review found that nearly 40% of global employees said no one at their company had asked them how they were doing. Conversely, ensure that your leaders are creating a safe space during one-on-one meetings with their staff to bring forward any worries, anxieties, struggles and concerns.  

In the People Managers’ Guide to Mental Health, UK-based mental health charity Mind and international champion for better work CIPD offer the following suggestions for a management style that promotes employee mental health:  

  • Create realistic deadlines. 
  • Communicate job objectives clearly. 
  • Deal with problems as soon as they arise. 
  • Give employees the right level of responsibility. 
  • Encourage participation from the whole team. 
  • Act as a mediator in conflict situations. 

When managers and executives are on board with prioritising mental health, the groundwork is laid for a culture that acknowledges and protects all aspects of employee wellbeing.   

Recognise the Signs of Mental Illness in the Workplace

Once top-down buy-in is achieved regarding the importance of employee mental wellbeing, it’s important for employers to understand and be able to spot the early signs of mental health issues in the workplace—and know how to respond. While employers should not give advice about a mental health problem (as they’re rarely qualified to do so), identifying warning signs and responding appropriately can help prevent issues from escalating. This awareness is also a critical component of a culture that prioritises the mental wellbeing of its employees.  

Early indicators of a potential mental health struggle may include:  

  • A sudden change in the employee’s work habits 
  • A dramatic difference in an employee’s personality 
  • An increase in absences or arriving late to work 
  • A sudden inability to control extreme emotions 
  • Social withdrawal 

If you notice any of these red flags, or if an employee approaches you with concerns regarding their mental health, be sure to approach the topic carefully and with respect. Make them comfortable by showing empathy and compassion, and reassure them that there is no judgement or risk to their professional reputation.  

Organisation-Wide Training

Beyond identifying the warning signs of mental health concerns, employers must also equip employees at all levels of the organisation to manage issues as they arise. In a recent global managers’ survey from Yahoo, less than one-third of managers said they felt equipped to handle the mental health needs of their team and 80% of managers worried about using the wrong language when addressing sensitive topics like mental health.

Additionally, some individuals may feel more comfortable bringing forward a concern to a peer, as opposed to their leader. For this reason, it’s critical to educate all employees on the best way to manage these situations. Plus, the right training can help bridge the gap between mental health awareness and effectively meeting the mental health needs of the workforce. Investing in mental health training for all levels of the organisation will pay dividends in employee wellbeing and retention. Formal learning programs can also help substantially move the needle by debunking myths, reducing stigma, and building skills to appropriately and effectively manage concerns.

Employee Resource Groups 

If you don’t have the budget to invest in training, mental health employee resource groups (MHERGs) are a low-cost way to build a culture that prioritises employee wellbeing. Regardless of the segment of your employee population that they represent, ERGs provide employees with the unique support that only those with shared experiences can provide.  

According to Bernie Wong, manager of research and design at Mind Share Partners, MHERGs are “an effective resource that reduces mental health-related stigma through an evidence-based model of social contact, peer support and education.” Further, Wong believes that MHERGs should be open to the general employee population and that participation should be encouraged for all employees—regardless of their mental health needs—so that belonging to the group doesn’t “out” someone as having a mental health issue. This also ensures that membership doesn’t violate employee privacy rights.  

At PeopleScout, our Healthy Minds Collective is an ERG that “inspires individuals to enrich their mental health and wellbeing by enhancing the mind, body and spirit connection.” Additionally, our team in the Europe/Middle East/Asia region (EMEA) also created a group called “Here For You.” This team of volunteers received the training and certification* required to serve as “Mental Health Responders” to provide employees with a confidential channel for reporting mental health concerns and share valuable resources with employees. 

Even if employees choose not to participate, simply making employees aware of ERGs such as these and openly communicating about group activities and discussions can go a long way in normalising mental health in the workplace, which helps foster a culture of inclusivity and emotional wellbeing. 

* Level 2 Award in Mental Health: Workplace Responder qualification from St. John Ambulance service 

Employee Assistance Programs 

In addition to employee resources and training, comprehensive health benefits that include mental health services are quickly becoming a requirement, not a perk, according to Corporate Wellness Magazine. These benefits (or lack thereof) are influencing employees’ decisions about staying in their current job versus looking for a new one. For instance, in Lyra Health’s 2022 State of the Workforce Mental Health, it was reported that 84% of employees surveyed indicated that it was important that a prospective employer offer “robust and comprehensive mental health benefits,” with 29% saying it was “very important” and 55% saying it was “somewhat important.” 

During COVID-19, many companies added or expanded their Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) to help employees cope with the added stress, uncertainty, personal loss and safety concerns associated with the pandemic. However, as we’ve learned, heightened mental health issues aren’t dissipating anytime soon. Therefore, providing employees with access to quality, convenient and affordable mental health care is more important than ever.  

Encouragingly, many employers are catching on to the need for comprehensive health benefits to attract and retain employees, as well as improve employee satisfaction and experience. As an example, Kara Hoogensen, senior vice president of specialty benefits at Principal Financial Group, said EAPs, telehealth and mental health programs were among the top benefits that employers planned to increase in 2022.  

Employers across the globe are recognising the importance of supporting and protecting the mental health of their employees as a vital component to the future success of their business. However, although we saw a rise in conversations around mental health during COVID-19, the stigma still remains. Therefore, above all else, practice normalising conversations about mental health and creating a safe space to raise and address issues. Additionally, encourage employees and managers to openly use the term “mental health” and integrate associated language into corporate training, company newsletters, meeting agendas, and more to make it clear that your workplace acknowledges and prioritises mental wellbeing. Finally, practice self-care at all levels of the organisation—in a visible way—to assure employees that they can and should do the same. 

Why Treating Colleagues as Friends Leads to Greater Employee Engagement

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By Robert Peasnell, Deputy Managing Director

Let’s be honest, you won’t often find me with my head in a copy of Psychology Today. But I’m increasingly interested in how people engage with organisations and brands in the current world.

So I found an article called “Friendology: The Science of Friendship” in Psychology Today which is a worthwhile read. Research has found that the best and longest friendships are those formed between people who are the most similar in values and behaviour.

In other words, when it comes to friendships, opposites do not attract.

These similarities of personality are most notable in four specific areas found in all strong friendships:

  1. Pleasure in each other’s company
  2. Reciprocity
  3. Mutual respect and trust
  4. Social or political benefit

Whilst relationships between employers and their existing and potential staff are not the same as those between two friends, we can incorporate these pillars into our candidate attraction and employee experience strategy.

Pleasure in Each Other’s Company 

For businesses, this translates into the total employee experience, including how well you engage and communicate with existing and potential employees.

Before they give their loyalty, they are looking for a more personal connection and to know that they are heard. Do you have the channels and mechanisms in place to capture ideas and feedback on an ongoing basis – not just an annual survey? And how consistently do you act on it?

Reciprocity 

Reciprocity simply means that there is a perceived fair exchange of value between the brand and employee.

It’s your EVP – ‘the deal’ – and ensuring that it’s fair, authentic and compelling will go a long way in supporting your retention goals.

Mutual Respect and Trust 

Trust is a foundational aspect of any long-term relationship, regardless of whether it is among groups of people or between businesses and their staff. Trust begins with transparency and honesty in communications. Employers must be honest about their business practices and deliver on their promises.

Social or Political Benefit 

We all want to be friends with popular, inspiring people who reflect well on us. Anyone hiring graduates or apprentices will recognise that organisational culture and purpose are increasingly important to potential hires.

According to Bright Network, 89% of students think about an employer’s commitment to DE&I before applying and 91% think about their commitment to employees’ mental wellbeing. We want to be associated with a brand that is a good reflection on us. This is especially true for Millennials, who rank a company’s reflection on them as their highest criteria for brand loyalty.

I’ll leave you with that as I get back to my reading.

Post-Pandemic Workforce: Think ‘Great Reflection’, Rather Than ‘Great Resignation’

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By Robert Peasnell, Deputy Managing Director

We all love a pithy phrase. But whilst the ‘great resignation’ neatly captures what all employers are experiencing currently—1.3 million vacancies in the UK, 33% of employees allegedly planning to look for a new job in 2022 and 26% having already called recruiters or shared their CVs online—it explains the symptom, not the cause.

At PeopleScout, we’re seeing a fundamental shift happening in how people are reflecting on their lives and work as the COVID-19 pandemic endures into 2022. Conversations with employees across all ages and sectors indicate that people have developed a new sense of awareness and worth for themselves and the world around them. This is prompting them to demand more personal value and purpose from both life and work. 

Changing Employee Expectations

In one study, 65% of participants said the pandemic had made them rethink the place that work should have in their life, and 56% said it made them want to contribute more to society. 

Smart employers will acknowledge this truth and respond with a more human and purpose-driven employment offers.

Today’s REC/KPMG report on UK jobs, highlights the ongoing pressure on salaries with wage inflation at it’s highest for mover 20 plus years. However, rather than just paying staff more, employers need to develop a more human employer value proposition (EVP).

The era of the employment contract, in which a worker provided services purely in exchange for monetary compensation, is over. Employees want organisations to recognise their value and provide value back to them on a human level. Monetary compensation is important for surviving, but deeper relationships, a strong sense of community and purpose-driven work are essential to thriving. 

This is the value that employees expect their employers to provide.  

Is your EVP based on legacy conditions and thinking? Or does it deliver the personal value and sense of purpose demanded by a post-pandemic workforce? 

Feeling Part of the Team: The Importance of Building an Inclusive Culture in the Workplace

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The letter of resignation came as a shock. The departing employee had just started six months earlier and brought the ideal skill set for the position. They received a substantial salary increase from their previous job, and no one had noticed any signs of discontent. When asked their reason for leaving during the exit interview, after some hesitation, the explanation came out: “I don’t feel like I belong here, and I don’t think anyone really understands who I am.” 

When pressed for details, none were forthcoming. One question came up among the leadership team again and again, “How many other employees feel the same way and what changes do we need to make?” This prompted a review of the company’s diversity and inclusion programme, which showed some progress in the diversity of its workforce, but no clear way to measure improvement in inclusion.

An Inclusive Culture Enables a Diverse Workplace to Thrive

The term “Diversity and Inclusion” has become so common that it can be easy to miss the different meaning of each word. A recent article in Gallup’s Workplace magazine defines the distinction between diversity and inclusion:

“Inclusion has to be understood as very different from diversity because simply having a wide roster of demographic characteristics won’t make a difference to an organisation’s bottom line unless the people who fall into any one demographic feel welcomed. Inclusion refers to a cultural and environmental feeling of belonging.”

Organisations that have successfully established a diverse workforce can reap the proven benefits that it provides, including a wide array of perspectives and experiences.  However, seemingly innocuous practices that are embedded in a company’s culture have the potential to make a segment of its workforce feel unwelcome and alien. But, when the possible problems with these practices are identified, a commitment to creating an inclusive culture can lead to changes that can vastly improve a work environment.

Consider the example of a tech start-up company that was founded by a group of friends from college, all coming from very similar backgrounds. Every year, a company picnic was held on a Saturday or Sunday with two key competitions taking place among the work teams: a relay swim race and a barbecue cook-off, followed by an employee recognition awards ceremony. This tradition continued as the company grew rapidly and employed a diverse range of talent.

While many employees looked forward to the company picnic, others began to quietly dread it. A few of the reasons these employees felt uncomfortable were: 

  • The religious practices and restrictions on Saturdays or Sundays followed by some employees made them feel like they had to choose between “being part of the team” and their faith.
  • Those who were differently abled or unable to swim well felt excluded from the relay race in the pool.
  • Vegetarians would have to excuse themselves from the “taste-test” part of the barbecue competition.

The goal of the company picnic was to build teamwork and show appreciation, but it had the opposite effect on some employees. For some, the timing and activities held at the picnic sent the message that “you and those who are like you do not really belong here.”

When leadership became aware of the distress that the picnic was causing some employees, they took the time to reach out to every employee to get their feedback on the timing and the events held at the picnic. Great care was taken to implement all of the ideas they received that were feasible and each employee was specifically thanked for their input. This effort was an important step in creating an environment in which every employee felt included and valued – in other words, a culture of inclusion. 

Removing the “Identity Cover”

At some point in many job interviews, the job seeker is asked, “Tell me about yourself.”  They will try to respond with details about themselves that they think the interviewer will like. But, as the candidate mentally calculates what to emphasise, they may also be thinking about what information to withhold because of how the interviewer may perceive them. Once a candidate is hired, this stressful mental exercise can continue.  This can be especially true for those who are in some way different from the majority of their coworkers.

An article in the Harvard Business Review notes that, “Employees who differ from most of their colleagues in religion, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background and generation often hide important parts of themselves at work for fear of negative consequences. We in the diversity and inclusion community call this ‘identity cover,’ and it makes it difficult to know how they feel and what they want, which makes them vulnerable to leaving their organisations. The key to inclusion is understanding who your employees really are … In an ideal world, all leaders would be adept at understanding their employees and making sure they didn’t lose any through neglect or ignorance.” 

Employees who feel they need to cover parts of their identities can lead to behaviour in the workplace that is driven by fear. Examples provided in the article include a mother who hesitates to put up pictures of her children because she is afraid coworkers will question her commitment to her job; a Muslim who prays in his car because he does not want to experience Islamophobia; and a gay executive who hesitates to bring his same-sex partner to a company event. By masking part of who they are, these employees implicitly feel that they do not fully belong where they work.

The leaders at the tech start-up had no idea that they were alienating part of their workforce at their company picnic. It can be challenging to perceive what aspects of the work environment need to be changed to promote inclusion, especially for those employees whose backgrounds and identities may be unfamiliar to the majority at a workplace. It is for this reason that the proactive approach of implementing an inclusion programme is an important first step in creating an inclusive environment.

Inclusivity Checklist

Every organisation is different, so the content and structure of a new inclusion programme needs to meet the conditions of your organisation. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) offers an inclusivity checklist for HR that provides a good place to start:

  • Make sure company leaders understand that inclusion is about ensuring that everyone’s voice is heard, opinions are considered and value to the team is evident.
  • Train managers – and hold them accountable – to show that inclusivity is a core competency.
  • Form an inclusion council with genuine influence and power.
  • Value differences, and create an environment where people can feel comfortable bringing their authentic selves to work.
  • Identify the needs of underrepresented groups, and give them necessary support and resources.
  • Provide workers with a safe space to voice their concerns.
  • Benchmark key aspects of your organisation’s culture, and understand the employee experience before making changes to promote inclusivity.
  • Remember that daily interactions are the most telling sign of whether your company has an inclusive culture.

Empowering the Workforce by Example

When Eric de los Santos arrived at Brown University as a scholarship student from Hawaii, he was struck by how different he felt from the other students. As a child of immigrants and a gay Filipino-American, he grew up valuing the diversity of cultures that characterise Hawaii. When he came to the mainland, he noticed that many people he encountered were guarded about their cultures and identities.

His commitment to confronting and challenging bias led him to become co-founder of the Filipino Students Alliance. After receiving a law degree from the University of Washington, de los Santos worked as a trial lawyer before joining TrueBlue as a corporate counsel. Shortly after joining the company, he was invited to a corporate outing that included spouses and significant others. It was the early 2000s, when same-sex relationships were far less accepted than today, and same-sex marriage was still several years in the future. After he introduced the man who is now his husband as his boyfriend, he was congratulated by many of his colleagues, who thanked him for being open about his relationship.  

When TrueBlue started a Diversity and Inclusion Council, de los Santos was the natural choice to lead it. Today, in addition to being the President of National Filipino American Lawyers Association, de los Santos is Associate General Counsel, Senior Director of Employment Law at TrueBlue.

At PeopleScout’s 2019 NEXT Talent Summit, de los Santos led a Big Idea Talk and breakout session in which he reflected on his own experience, the success of building a diverse and inclusive work environment at TrueBlue, and the vital role of leadership:

“It is important to be your authentic self, not to feel that you cannot be who you truly are because of another person’s preconceived judgement,” de los Santos said. “If employees feel they cannot be who they truly are and express themselves in a way that is natural for them, they will not be able to display their full potential. If an employee is struggling with something in their lives that they don’t feel they can share, that employee will feel isolated. They may not be able to concentrate on their work and could develop a feeling that no one cares about them and start to think about an exit strategy.

“But, when employees experience genuine respect and feel safe to express themselves, productivity, retention rates and morale all increase. Leaders have a duty to create an environment where people can be their authentic selves and set the example with their own behaviour that displays respect and a willingness to listen, and clearly communicates the value of every employee.”

Inclusion Pays Off

While the arguments to build an inclusive culture at work may sound compelling, how important is inclusion to an organisation’s success? A study from Deloitte cited research that found that organisations with inclusive cultures have a clear advantage over those that do not.

Organisations with inclusive cultures are:

  • Two times more likely to exceed financial targets
  • Three times more likely to be high-performing
  • Six times more likely to be innovative and agile
  • Eight times more likely to achieve business outcomes

Successfully building a culture of inclusion requires a serious commitment from the leaders of an organisation and participation at every level. While there may be challenges along the way, the efforts made to create a culture of inclusion can result in   increased retention, greater commitment and input from the workforce, which can lead to markedly improved business outcomes.