Often processes and systems that have served us well in the past may no longer do so today, nor are they always relevant or appropriate for the workplace of tomorrow that we’re building.
Bringing in an external consultant to review people and organisational policies and processes through the lens of inclusion provides an objective assessment of where practices can be enhanced and strengthened. Here’s a story of how we’ve helped some of our clients…
Client industry:
Healthcare
Project objectives:
High level review of HR and general staff policies, job descriptions and job ads for inclusion language and systemic bias in processes (to support greater diversity in hiring and career management) and make recommendations on enhancing inclusion outcomes.
High-level review findings:
While there were a number of foundational strengths, the following are just a few examples of some of the identified gaps and recommendations reported back to the client:
- Flexible working… Consider including available leave options into the blend of flexible working types to allow employees to support employees in meeting their work and life commitments. Also create a greater distinction between what is formal / informal (regularly or ad hoc) flexible working while minimising the administrative burden on managers to implement options.
- Staff Code of Conduct… Add in that ‘just joking’ behaviour is never acceptable.
- Parental leave… add a definition of being a parent / carer to be overt about the diversity of families e.g. ‘we use a broad and inclusive definition of parents to allow us to support the many ways in which employees can have children and be a family. This includes married couples, single parents, those in same-sex relationships or de facto relationships, adoptive or foster parents, employees who are surrogates, and those who care for stepchildren’.
- Recruitment… Be more explicit about diversity of background and experience e.g. “The best person for the vacant position will be selected by considering the diversity in background, experience and capability that they bring to meet the requirements of the role”. Evaluate candidates for their inclusion skills, not just surface-level diversity characteristics.
- Job advertisement… Add in that flexible working is available through a range of both formal and informal flexible working options, as well as leave types. Encourage candidates to have the conversation with the hiring manager during the interview about the flexible working options available.
- Interviewing… Some organisations provide an ‘Interview Guide’ to support managers with consistency in hiring approach and questions to minimise bias and guide them in inclusive decision-making.
- Position descriptions… inconsistent use of the position description template was noticed across different roles, which may impact a fair process or allow for bias in the hiring process. In some cases, there was excessive weighting placed on technical experience which could limit the candidate pool.
Interested in this capability? Get in touch and let’s discuss how this service offering can help your organisation embed diversity and inclusion as a strategic business imperative.