The uneven playing field
How can your purchasing decisions around Talent Technology support your diversity goals?
Diversity is one of the hottest topics in society today. No-one could argue that it remains an unresolved societal problem. An article published by New York Times in September 2020 reported that, of more than 900 officials and executives in prominent US positions, about 20 percent identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, multiracial or otherwise a person of color. This compares to a diversity population of around 40%. And this is arguably a slim definition of the full extent of social diversity.
Taking domestic issues to work, and work to the kitchen table
Workers expect providers of their income to have a moral position, a perspective on societal issues. And some of those perspectives will need to be enshrined in policy: For example, whether people should be allowed to work from home for some of their working week; or whether it’s fair that someone not attending the office should be paid less, or be overlooked for promotions—even when their carbon footprint is lower, and they’re being more productive at home.
Following research into work trends, Gartner concluded in April 2021 the No. 1 executive priority should be to shift from managing the employee experience to managing the life experience of workers. They reported a tangible increase (more than 20%) in people reporting better mental and physical health, and a 21% step up in the number of high performers compared to organizations failing to provide that same degree of ‘life experience support’ to their workforce.
The argument for employers to hold an opinion
How workforce technology is adapting to serve the socially aware enterprise that has diversity goals to hit
Here are five examples where technology is lending a hand to create a fairer workplace and support diversity goals
#1 Preventing bias at hiring
Recruitment bias can introduce unintentional discrimination and result in poor decision-making. It should certainly features in your diversity goals. Demonstrating fairness and parity of opportunity for people from all sorts of backgrounds is not only a legal requirement but also a major contributor to a positive brand reputation. VMS solutions are today adopting artificial intelligence to expose phrases that indicate bias in job posts, and terms that could invoke bias in CVs, etc. This tooling serves to enforce positive behaviors in recruitment processes and can have a major role to play in the avoidance of recruitment bias.
