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INCLUSION, BEYOND DIVERSITY.
T URNING YOUR ORG A NIS AT ION IN T O A CA RING , F L E X I B L E A N D D I V E R S I T Y- O R I E N T E D W O R K P L A C E
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INCLUSION, BEYOND DIVERSITY. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) defines diversity as “the collective mixture of differences and similarities that include, for example, individual and organizational characteristics, values, beliefs, experiences, backgrounds, preferences, and behaviors.”
They break down diversity even further into two categories; visible diversity traits and invisible diversity traits. In discussions revolving around diversity, visible traits are often what is emphasized and include race, gender, physical abilities, age, and body type. Invisible diversity traits include things such as sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status, education, and parental status among other things. Inclusion, while closely related, is a separate concept from diversity.
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SHRM defines inclusion as “the achievement of a work environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal access to opportunities and resources, and can contribute fully to the organization’s success. It is important to establish a clear understanding of how the concepts of diversity and inclusion differ, as many well-intentioned companies have made the former a priority while neglecting the latter, leading to disappointing outcomes that often undermine the totality of diversity and inclusion efforts.
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THE SHIFT. In the current business scenario, two of the most significant shifts to have happened in a workplace are as under: ONE — TYPE OF THE WORKFORCE TWO — CHANGING NATURE OF WORK IN THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY
Peter Drucker, an influential writer, management consultant and selfdescribed “social ecologist”, was the first to identify the new kind of worker that information age required to succeed. The name he coined for them was ‘knowledge worker’.* “Dramatically different from the brawn-based workforce necessary in the industrial age economy, this brain-based worker is more educated, entrepreneurial and essential for the success of the information age. Demographically too, the new-world workers differ radically from their industrial-age cousins. No longer is the domain male-dominated. Knowledge workers could be women, persons of different colour, bi-racial, co-cultural and bi-lingual, bisexual, gay or trans-genders.
Workplaces must be able to adapt rapidly to the conditions and demands of a dynamic new world of business because the global marketplace is characterised by a diversity of people, products and markets. Organisations must be equipped to respond to changing market conditions, technologies and ideas. As organisations become more involved with global partners due to changing economic policies, political changes, foreign sourcing, they need to be able to adapt to the ever-changing market realities. In an inclusive environment, employees feel empowered to take calculated risks. Companies that are resistant to taking risks are also resistant to inclusion.
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For companies to be successful in a highly competitive environment, they must be able to take risks. By increasing the recruitment of diverse employees, companies can gain competitive advantages by establishing connections with a broader customer base. This can be achieved through leveraging the varied cultural and socio-political knowledge and linguistic skills possessed by diverse employees that are essential to creating and maintaining ties with diverse communities.”
*Concept of “knowledge worker” in his 1959 book “The Landmarks of Tomorrow”
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DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IS NOT ONLY A VALUE, IT IS ALSO VALUABLE. There are a myriad of benefits to building a diverse and inclusive workforce.
There are a myriad of benefits to building a diverse and inclusive workforce including: — Addressing the looming retirement crisis. — Attracting the best talent. — Increasing employee engagement by allowing employees to bring different ideas, suggestions and solutions to the workplace. — Fostering innovation. — Allowing the business to deliver and connect with a wide range of customers i.e. increasing customer satisfaction. A recent study by McKinsey* found that return on equity is 53% higher on average for companies ranking in the top quartile of executive board diversity while EBIT margins were 14% higher on average. *mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/is-there-a-payoff-fromtop-team-diversity & hbr.org/2013/09/great-leaders-who-make-the-mix-work
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WHY DO COMPANIES THAT PRIORITIZE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION PERFORM BETTER?
Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly of Harvard Business School conducted a study* in 2013 of 24 companies that had earned reputations for making diversity a priority.
Further, an inclusive workplace that understands the needs of their employees, making them feel valued and respected has a significant and positive impact on employee retention.
One of their key findings was summed up perfectly by Paul Block, the CEO of Mersant who told them “People with different lifestyles and different backgrounds challenge each other more. Diversity creates dissent, and you need that. Without it, you’re not going to get any deep inquiry or breakthroughs.” The dynamic created by dissent prevents organizations from becoming too insular and out of touch with their increasingly heterogeneous customer base and as a result, working teams are able to come up with a wider range of solutions to business problems.
Perhaps most importantly, research suggests that companies that openly articulate values of inclusion and have a diverse workforce tend to appeal to a wider customer and supplier base. From making better decisions to tapping into diverse markets to fostering innovation, diversity and inclusion is not only a value, it is also valuable. *hbr.org/2013/09/great-leaders-who-make-the-mixwork
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“People with different lifestyles and different backgrounds challenge each other more. Diversity creates dissent, and you need that. Without it, you’re not going to get any deep inquiry or breakthroughs.” —Paul Block, CEO of Mersant
“Our primary concern is not ensuring that the largest possible number of nationalities is represented in the Nestlé Group, but that different ways of thinking and/or ethnic perspectives are integrated and respected in all our decision-making processes.” —Paul Bulcke, CEO of Nestlé
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CASE STUDY. ADIDAS At adidas, one of the companies that ranked in the top quartile in diversity and performance, senior leaders have designated diversity as a strategic goal and started building it into the guts of the organization.
To deepen the talent base, for instance, the company has set hard targets for increasing the number of women in management ranks.
Senior leaders have designated diversity as a strategic goal and started building it into the guts of the organization.
In 2015, women accounted for 35 percent of all managers, up from 21 percent four years ago.
To deepen the talent base, the company has set hard targets for increasing the number of women in management ranks.
The effort is supported by numerous policies, including gender-balanced recruiting, child care assistance, and flex- and parttime work opportunities. To spur innovation across global markets, adidas is also ensuring diversity in its design centers—and has won a number of awards for product creativity.
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THE STATE OF DIVERSITY. In the past 20 years, diversity and inclusion has grown as a corporate imperative. According to 2015 SHRM statistics, 55% of companies are big promoters of diversity while 42% of diversity programs are advocated by the CEO, top leadership, and HR heads.
While approaches in various parts of the globe differ – diversity and inclusion programs in North America tend to be more centralized while programs in Asia and Europe are more relaxed – one commonality around the world has been a heavy focus on hiring and promoting women.
As a result, a majority of business leaders are concerned about large gaps in mirroring the general population, particularly with regard to three systematically underrepresented groups: workers over the age of 50, individuals with disabilities, and religious and ethnic minorities.
The focus on women is understandable as they constitute 50% of the global population and are easier by comparison to integrate into an organization due to fewer overall cultural differences with men who are heavily represented at the highest levels in the corporate workplace.
In the coming years it will be important for companies to overcome the hurdles that prevent these groups from being incorporated into the highest levels of an organization.
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DIVERSITY IS A CORPORATE IMPERATIVE. 55% OF COMPANIES ARE BIG PROMOTERS OF DIVERSITY. 42% OF DIVERSITY PROGRAMS ARE ADVOCATED BY THE CEO, TOP LEADERSHIP, AND HR HEADS. ONE COMMONALITY AROUND THE WORLD, HEAVY FOCUS ON HIRING AND PROMOTING WOMEN. THREE SYSTEMATICALLY UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS: 1. WORKERS OVER THE AGE OF 50 2. INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES 3. RELIGIOUS AND ETHNIC MINORITIES
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THE COST OF FAILING TO WALK THE TALK. Even extremely well-intentioned companies often run into great difficulty when it comes to achieving diversity and inclusion in practice. They are finding that no matter how much they talk the talk, walking the talk is much harder. The cost of failing to walk the talk can be high. Externally, the company can get a reputation as inhospitable to diversity, damaging the employer brand and making it more difficult to attract top talent. Internally, a lack of inclusiveness can lower morale and lead to higher turnover, with all of its human and operational costs. The less diverse the organization, the more likely it is to succumb to groupthink, where everyone shares the same assumptions and the cohesiveness and unanimity of the group override the will to consider other courses of action.
But even organizations that are diverse can fall short if they fail to achieve inclusiveness. Diversity without inclusion, without openness to the difference of others, without realizing the power of other people’s point of view and a genuine willingness to reconsider one’s own viewpoint, can lead to significant misunderstanding, conflicts and poor decision-making. Diversity and inclusion must go hand in hand. Lack of inclusiveness not only threatens the viability of companies, it impoverishes nations. In Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, economists Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson conclude that nations succeed economically when their institutions are inclusive and pluralistic, creating incentives for everyone, not just an elite, to work for a better future.
Groupthink thus not only stifles innovation but increases the risk of poor decision-making generally. Image Credit. hassellstudio.com
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DIVERSITY IN ACTION. THE PATH FORWARD...
ENSURE COMMITMENT FROM THE TOP.
Any initiative that doesn’t come with the full commitment of the top leadership is likely to wither on the vine. Diversity and inclusion is no exception.
THE ABILITY TO HANDLE DIVERSITY IS MEASURABLE.
Assess executives specifically for their competency in inclusiveness. The ability to handle diversity and inclusiveness is as concrete and measurable as any of the more familiar leadership competencies like strategic orientation,
change leadership, developing organizational capability, and market knowledge. Beyond demonstrating a superior level of team leadership and collaboration, which should be systematically measured in these traditional competencies, leadership also requires a specific competency of inclusiveness. As with any essential leadership competency, understanding inclusiveness and the typical behaviors for each level of performance is valuable in three essential ways.
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First, it provides an assessment tool for CEOs and senior leaders who are looking to hire the right executives for their top teams. Second, it provides an additional and increasingly important criterion that divisional and functional heads and other top leaders can use in selecting, promoting and developing team members. And third, it provides a personal development roadmap that executives and managers can use to improve their behavior and performance on diversity and inclusion.
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HAVE THE ORGANIZATION PROACTIVELY ACCESS THE POWER OF ITS MANAGEMENT TEAM’S DIVERSITY.
Evaluating the management team’s strengths and weaknesses in the context of diversity and inclusion can provide a clear roadmap for existing teams to constantly improve their impact. It can help guide the composition of new or reorganized teams. And in all cases, teams can target dysfunctions and eliminate them, and identify strengths and leverage them.
CONTINUALLY BUILD PIPELINES OF DIVERSE TALENT.
It should go without saying that minority groups of all kinds are by their very nature, smaller than their majority counterparts. Size constraints of varying degrees can make recruiting the right kind of talent from a given group quite the challenge. Often the biggest barrier to building a diverse and inclusive workforce is the unfounded concern that an organization must sacrifice quality to meet a quota. The truth is that high quality, diverse talent exists but it may be harder to find. Combatting this dynamic requires advance preparation.
Companies should make a point to engage with diverse talent on an ongoing basis long before the need arises to pull new people into the organization.
It can be very difficult to recognize potential in people very different from us. Providing the organization with a robust framework for assessing potential is therefore key.
By proactively getting to know people of varying backgrounds, business and HR leaders will be prepared to hire diverse talent with speed and confidence.
Beyond experience, performance, and competencies, the framework that can be developed includes specific drivers of potential like curiosity, engagement, and insight, as well as a thorough understanding of each individual’s identity and ambition.
DONT CONFUSE SHORT TERM PROMOTABILITY WITH POTENTIAL — ASSESS FOR POTENTIAL
In recruiting, succession planning, inviting young talent to the high potential pool, and many other talent appraisals, organizations too often base their judgments solely on the individual’s experience and past performance. Both of those criteria are important, but they don’t necessarily predict future behavior; and they confuse short-term promotability with potential. Giving experience and performance undue weight is not only a poor predictor of real potential, but it can also particularly disadvantage individuals who may have had unorthodox or simply different career paths or been denied opportunities to gain specific experience. On the other hand, a lack of criteria and a framework risks reverting to subjectivity, which highly favors “in-group” members.
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ROOT OUT UNCONCIOUS BIASES.
Social psychologists tell us that deep-seated, largely unconscious biases prevent us from accurately interpreting the behavior, character, motives, and worth of people who differ from us. These can lead to poor talent decisions in any of the steps described above. These cognitive biases lead, in turn, to biased behavior such as micro-inequities – the tendency to give preferential treatment to others perceived to be members of one’s group – or to the setting up of formal and informal groups that exclude people perceived to be different. Such behaviors undermine inclusion and lead those who are excluded to feel that the organization is merely paying lipservice to diversity.
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BE FLEXIBLE AND LEAD BY EXAMPLE.
Flexible work arrangements can be very beneficial to the development of a diverse and inclusive workforce. Flexibility such as work-fromhome options help to alleviate the pressures of recruiting diversity candidates who may be a good fit for a role but may not be in a position to relocate.
EMPHASIZE MENTORING AND COACHING.
Providing access to leadership and training opportunities for women, minorities, and other historically underrepresented groups at lower levels in the organization will boost efforts to craft a more diverse and inclusive senior leadership team by ensuring that diverse candidates are eligible and qualified for promotions.
Mentorship programs have For candidates who are able to the added benefit of fostering relocate, such flexibility often helps inclusivity by offering employees to reduce the impact of leaving a feeling of belonging and a safe behind a support system of friends place to discuss sensitive issues. and family who might otherwise step in to assist with things like This also creates a “chain of child care. Flexibility provides command” of sorts for escalating the added benefit of aiding in issues to senior leaders who are the recruitment and retention of then enabled to keep an eye on the women at the senior level who, challenges of promoting diversity despite working full-time, still take and inclusion, and can re-calibrate on the bulk of household and child programs or approaches as needed. care responsibilities. The key to making flexibility work is leading by example. It is not enough to simply put a policy in place – employees must understand and believe that taking advantage of flexible work arrangements will not reflect on them negatively. Very senior leaders should find ways to demonstrate that sometimes family considerations take precedence – and that’s okay.
Image Credit. hassellstudio.com
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DIVERSITY IN ACTION. STRATEGIES AND BEST PRACTICE.
“Celebrating an Australian Citizenship by giving an “Aussie Pack” to our new Aussies.” — NOVA GROUP OF COMPANIES
“Our Indigenous Employment Strategy is a core element. Indigenous Australians represent around 2% of the working population. Our vision is for around 2% of Nous employees to be Indigenous. Currently we employ 2.5% Indigenous Australians on a permanent or contract basis. Our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) is a clear expression of our core value of “positive influence”. We provide an opportunity to participate in a range of events, e.g. Reconciliation Week; celebrating with a morning tea in each of the offices. An Indigenous Employment Strategy to attract candidates for roles
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across the business. We have acknowledgement plaques in each of our Australian offices that acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the land. We use indigenous catering companies to provide food, etc. at relevant events. If not available, we aim to use an Asylum seekers resource centre to cater our events in some of our offices. We seek opportunities to source from and work with Indigenous businesses.” — NOUS GROUP
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CULTURAL DIVERSITY STRATEGIES.
— Recognising, valuing and leveraging the cultural diversity of the workforce. — Establishing a leadership team to champion diversity in the workplace. — Establishing an employee network which promotes and encourages diversity. — Promote development opportunities with an emphasis on improving leadership capacity.
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EXAMPLE — ZENITH OPTIMEDIA Second Life – This program is for our more experienced staff members who may want to look at different opportunities or ways of thinking. This enables a single member or group to pitch an idea to the Executive and one individual or group will then have access to the “Second Life” fund to pay for their further education.
EXAMPLE — OMD We introduced a reverse mentoring scheme where our Gen Y employees get the opportunity to mentor our senior execs in the company giving them a fresh perspective from their point of view.
Image Credit. hassellstudio.com
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EXAMPLE — SWISSE WELLNESS We have a reward card called the SMART Card, that rewards a team member with a “guru session”, with the manager of their choice. It is a great opportunity for people to gain dedicated exposure to someone in the business that they admire and feel they could learn from.
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MULTI GENERATIONAL WORKFORCE.
— Create organisational goals to become an employer of choice for both mature-aged workers and younger workers. — Create recruitment and selection practices that value all candidates regardless of age. — Recognise and value the abilities of all employees regardless of age. — Facilitate information sharing amongst all staff to enhance corporate knowledge and relationships across multi-generations.
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EXAMPLE — ACCOR Accor has been dedicated to hiring and integrating people with disabilities into the workforce since 1992. To hire more people with disabilities, Accor launched various recruitment and training programmes in its local and regional offices. For example, one initiative is based on an Accor collaboration with JobinLive, a French company that specializes in creating video résumés for people with disabilities at no charge. Job candidates with disabilities record 5 three‐minute video résumés to present themselves, their competences and experiences.
So far, 100 video résumés have been created and 20 candidates have been recruited by Accor France. To better support and retain its disabled employees, Accor launched several disability awareness initiatives. For example, the company provides various training programmes for its managers and employees to alleviate any communication barriers that may exist between employees of different abilities. In Accor Latin America, the Formule 1 Morumbi (Sao Paulo) offers a sign language course to its managers and employees.
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The goal is to enhance communication with hearing‐ impaired employees and also increase the quality of service for hearing-impaired customers.
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PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES.
Adopt a strategy to improve the overall employment policy, specifically the human resources development strategy, which may be linked to employee assistance programmes. The strategy should have provision for: —
Recruiting disabled jobseekers, including those who have not worked before and those who wish to return to work after a period of non employment.
— Equal opportunity for them. — Job retention by employees who acquire a disability. — It should be linked to a workplace-level policy on promoting a safe and healthy workplace.
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WLB commitment cards which encourage everyone to make a commitment to themselves that they have at their desk everyday as visual reminder. The “Floating Hour” is an hour people can spend as they choose, it’s time we give back to them allowing them to either start later, leave earlier or even take a two hour lunch if desired. — MEDIACOM ME Days: Five EXTRA, fully paid leave days per year for all employees to go and do something for themselves — BAYER AUSTRALIA
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Me/We/G Days - In order to empower all our employees around the world to change their own lives and create happiness for themselves we provide three days off per calendar dedicated to personal development, a day to volunteer in the community and a day to embrace the bizarre (a core value). To do something that pushes you out of your comfort zone, something you have never done before. — G ADVENTURES ‘The floor is closed’ initiative was created from the insight that there is a misconception that people who work flexibly or remotely don’t produce the same level of output as those who work 100% of their working
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hours in the office. Therefore Maxus closed the floor on 26 April 2015 in a symbolic gesture to demonstrate the company’s commitment to removing this perception and creating more flexible workplace conditions. — MAXUS We launched an exciting new program called Working and Traveling where employees are offered to a chance to work from anywhere in the world for a period of three months, whether it is from their home office or backpackers hostel in Reykjavik! — ENVATO
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WORK / LIFE BALANCE. —
Both diversity and work/life initiatives promote employee commitment, improve productivity, lower turnover, result in fewer employee relations challenges and decrease the likelihood of unethical business practices.
— Caring and flexible workplaces where people feel welcome and can be themselves are more likely to be advocated by their employees as a great workplace and to naturally promote diversity.
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EXAMPLE — MECCA BRANDS Our Parental Support Program includes ‘It’s a Baby’ box. Employees who announce their pregnancy are sent a gift box containing a congratulations note from Jo Horgan. 4 MECCA Brands pregnancy safe beauty products (that our previous pregnant employees were not able to live without), a pregnancy support journal, information on applying for maternity leave and a frequently asked questions and answers list. When an employee announces they are pregnant, the employee’s manager is sent a toolkit to help them navigate
through the parental leave process in a compliant, caring and supportive way. Employees on parental leave are sent the Company newsletter, the Beauty Edition, in order to keep up to date with what is happening at MECCA Brands. Employees are also invited to attend company celebration events such as Christmas parties as well as relevant information, training and strategy sessions. In addition, Support Centre employees on parental leave are invited to attend weekly mums and bubs yoga and meditation classes at Happy Melon which are paid for by the Company.
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Employees returning to work are sent a welcome back gift box containing a self-pampering massage or blow-dry voucher, as well as advice from MECCA Brands mothers, information on returning to work and a frequently asked questions and answers list. Where possible, MECCA Brands provides employees with a staged return to their full time position or alternatively, part time and casual work options for mothers who are not looking to return to the workforce full time.
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PARENTS RETURNING TO WORK AND / OR EMPLOYEES WITH OTHER LIFE RESPONSIBILITIES. — Establish a “keep-in-touch” program for employees on parental leave. — Support and ensure employees are aware of options to help them balance work and personal responsibilities.
FATHER FRIENDLY PRACTICES. — Demonstrate a commitment to work-life balance is a powerful tool in helping align employee goals with corporate ones. — Support and ensure fathers are aware of options to help them balance work and personal responsibilities.
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The term “transgender” is commonly used to refer to people who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth or with standard societal expectations of male and female gender roles. Employers that are unprepared to handle a gender transition are likely to face not only employee relations issues but also discrimination claims. How employers can best manage the workplace issues surrounding an employee’s gender transition? When is a transition “official”? A key question HR needs to consider is when to start
regarding a transitioning employee as being officially a member of his or her chosen, new gender. There is no single means of defining a person’s legal gender, and there is no official point in time when a transgender person changes from one gender to the other. No uniformity on this issue exists among the states or even among federal agencies. Because the laws vary, employers should seek legal advice when addressing gender transition issues. Until a transgender person begins working in his or her new gender role, the person should be considered a member of his
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or her original sex and should be treated the same as other members of that sex. Once the employee begins to present himself or herself in the new gender role at work, the employee should be considered and treated as a member of the new sex. This approach follows the growing legal trend toward recognizing that a transgender person should be treated as a legal member of the gender in which he or she lives life.
HR may also have to deal with questions from and reactions by co-workers of the transitioning employee. Although many employees want to be supportive
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of an individual in transition, others may be offended by the idea of transition. Diversity in a workplace means that employees should be able to work with all people; it does not require that employees believe in or accept transgenderism. Employees are entitled to their beliefs, but they should also be required to treat the transgender person—and every other employee—with respect and tolerance. Employers need to make clear statements in all employee handbooks, rules manuals, orientation and training that all employees are welcomed and supported. Employers should also remind managers that they are responsible for following policies on transgender issues and for maintaining a harassment-free workplace. Employers should be aware that the single most sensitive issue for co-workers of transitioning or transgender people is often the issue of bathrooms and workplace dressing rooms. Experts advise that employers should let transgender employees use the facilities designated for their chosen gender—even if other employees are uncomfortable with that. In keeping with the highly individual nature of gender transitions, the transitioning employee, HR and management can work together to determine when the employee would start using certain facilities. EXAMPLE — ERNST & YOUNG Guidelines recommend a workplace engagement plan and includes steps for the transitioning employee’s “support team” of supervisor, manager and HR. The guidelines provide specific questions for the support team to ask the transitioning employee to obtain input on important changes, such as whether the employee wants to remain in the same job position after transition or would prefer to be redeployed. Ernst & Young’s guidelines also acknowledge that there may need to be “difficult conversations” with some clients when an employee changes gender, but adds that client contact is no reason for an employer to deny anyone the right to dress in a chosen gender role.
GENDER REASSIGNMENT. — HR should prepare its policies so it is ready if an employee makes a gender transition, or if a new hire is a transgender person. — Preparation includes first updating existing policies and procedures, then creating guidelines for handling gender transition issues. — HR departments must remember to cover these issues in employee training and communications.
EXAMPLE — CHEVRON Chevron’s LGB and T document offers a particular tool—the “workplace engagement plan”—that other employers could adapt. Chevron urges transitioning employees to work with HR and managers to create this written plan that includes a list of stakeholders in the transition (such as the employee’s supervisor and co-workers who need to know); a timeline of milestones; documentation of agreements between the employee and others on topics such as use of restrooms; and a list of steps the employee should take once he or she is coming to work in the new gender role, such as getting a new ID badge photo, changing details on insurance forms and changing the employee’s name on team rosters and contact lists.
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EXAMPLE — ATLASSIAN Side-by-Side is a volunteerdriven effort to improve diversity and inclusiveness at Atlassian. It is coordinated by separate groups in each office, and each group meets on a monthly basis to discuss progress around their chosen areas. Side-by-Side attacks equality issues through a range of different ways, include formal company policies and training, individual staff initiatives and partnering with other community bodies.
One of the goals of Side-by-Side is to reach out to the younger population of girls and let them know that programming can be awesome and it isn’t just “a thing for boys”. EXAMPLE — EMC We sponsored our internal Talent & Acquisition Team through EMC Business Units to build brand awareness through university visits targeting young graduates and especially females looking at a career in IT. We promoted social events covering cultural festivities across all locations. Examples include Oktoberfest, Independence Day, foods from around the world lunch.
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As part of raising awareness for females in IT, we announced an Outstanding Women@ EMC award and asked employees to nominate a female EMC colleague that had inspired change either in our work environment or in the community. We received 13 nominations and chose two exceptional women to honour with the award presented at our All Hands quarterly business meeting.
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WOMEN IN THE WORKPLACE. — Create leadership team and champions who support the development of women in the workplace. —
Create mentoring programs to develop leadership capability in women and encourage women to access networking and development opportunities.
— Monitor the progress of increasing women in senior roles. — Establish a culture of flexible work arrangements Monitor pay equity.
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“IF DIVERSITY HAS BECOME A WELL-RECOGNIZED PLUS, INCLUSION HAS BECOME A MUST. INSTEAD OF SUFFERING FROM MISUNDERSTANDING AND DISTRUST, THE ORGANIZATION BECOMES AN INCUBATOR OF FRESH IDEAS AND NEW PERSPECTIVES THAT CAN LEAD TO PREVIOUSLY UNRECOGNIZED OPPORTUNITIES IN PRODUCTS, SERVICES, AND MARKETS. IT BECOMES AN ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH BETTER DECISIONS AND EMPOWERED EMPLOYEES – ARE THE NORM.” ZRINKA LOVRENCIC, MANAGING DIRECTOR, GREAT PLACE TO WORK AUSTRALIA
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Great Place to Work is global research and consulting firm specialising in employee engagement, organisational alignment, and its effect on high-performance workplace cultures. Through proprietary assessment tools, advisory services, and employer branding programs, including Best Places to Work benchmark studies, Great Place to Work provides the framework and expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognise outstanding workplace cultures. Copyright Š 2016 Great Place to Work Institute Australia Pty Ltd (Great Place). All rights reserved. This document and all works comprised in it are copyright and no part of it may in any form or by any means (including without limitation, electronic, mechanical, microcopying, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) be modified, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, published, broadcast, distributed or transmitted without prior written permission of Great Place. No express or implied license to use any part of these works is granted to any person without the express prior written consent of Great Place and any implied licence to use any part of these works is expressly negative.
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