'A more human workplace:' How companies can improve their inclusion efforts

Among the unprecedented disruption businesses have faced over the past year, one positive light shone through: Their employees were able and ready to adapt and do what it took to keep lights on and businesses running. As a result, many employers have come to see their workforce in a new light, recognizing that the practices they’d relied on for years were in dire need of an update. And with businesses now in the midst of planning a return-to-office strategy, there’s no better time to revisit those practices.

Amid all of this restructuring, incorporating diversity and inclusion has been a key focus, but one that many employers continue to come up short on.

Recently, Dr. Meisha-Ann Martin, director of people analytics at Workhuman, a social recognition and continuous performance management platform pioneering the human workplace, shared some insights with BenefitsPRO to help employers and their HR teams bake inclusion and diversity best practices into their overall strategies.

You have a unique background, having a Phd in Industrial Organizational Psychology. How does your degree play a role in your current professional position?

My educational background gave me an opportunity to dive deep into the behavior and general patterns of employees and employers. After gaining a better understanding of how technology could help drive positive change in a professional setting, I decided to champion process changes with a focus on using data and analytics to highlight inequities in the workplace. Several years of study and research, as well as personal experiences, enabled me to find ways to create a more positive work environment by bringing more humanity into the workplace.

In what ways do you think companies can do a better job when it comes to diversity and inclusion both in the workplace and during the recruitment process?

Given our current climate, companies have begun mandating specific practices to meet DE&I goals. In hiring, we have seen companies ensure that at least one diverse candidate is included in every round of interviews for an open position. While it may seem like this is a standard good practice, it can actually do more harm than good. When companies have specific quotas to meet, they are often not paying enough attention to the outcomes of the interviews.

So while they may be bringing in more candidates to interview, they may also be rejecting these candidates at a higher rate. In order for companies to do a better job when it comes to recruitment, they need to make sure they are not only setting goals for bringing diverse candidates in, but are also measuring the process and the outcomes just the same.

When it comes to the workplace, we hear all the time why we need to have diversity in leadership, but one of the primary reasons for doing this is that it helps with recruitment. If you bring in a diverse candidate for an interview, your interview panel should be diverse as well.

It’s important that companies are also transparent about this topic. If you are trying to diversify your leadership team but aren’t there yet, it should be a conversation that is brought up with candidates. It can be much worse for a company if they fail to acknowledge that the leadership team lacks representation.

How do you think companies can plan for the future of work given the future is unplannable right now?

COVID-19 has taken a toll on everyone and as more of the world opens up, we are seeing conversations around going back to work and when we will be back to “normal.” When it comes to the future of work, companies haven’t been approaching this subject correctly. Even though there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to what comes next, organizations have to stop outlining a return to work plan that they think will make everyone happy.

The truth is, individuals have to make decisions that work best for them and how they will feel the most comfortable. So instead of companies deciding on whether to create a hybrid plan or not, they need to ensure they establish an environmentme of trust. There’s a major difference between saying you have “flexibility where you work” versus “I trust you to figure out how to best get your work done.” When employees feel like their organizations trust them, it takes a weighted stress off their shoulders and instead rewards employees for their output and efficiency.

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