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Yes, The Shecession is Real (But the Horizon is Bright)

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Even with vaccinations in sight, COVID-19 continues to ravage world health and drag economies downward. The resulting recession – the shecession – in the United States is having a sea-change impact on women.

For nearly a year, the pandemic pulled many women back into the home. Their new dual role: Serving as the primary caregiver and educator of their families while working remotely. Others have been forced out of the workforce altogether. The numbers are frightening. And yet, the likely long-term impacts offer both challenges and glimmers of hope, all at the same time.

The Shecession: Glimmers of Hope

On the hope side, the probable long-term impact of the large number of women working from home is promising. After all, perhaps for the first time, business leaders and decision-makers have had a front-row seat to the invisible work of parenthood. As a result, companies have sprung into action and added flex-time schedules, mental health, and childcare benefits. Some have taken the additional step of bolstering their paid family leave policies. Additionally, the pandemic has proven that flexible work schedules and remote work are viable. The widely touted concerns with declining productivity while working from home are unfounded, according to reports.

Going forward, companies will continue to capitalize on the remote work tools into which they have invested so much money and time. Many have already stated they will allow a large percentage of employees to continue working remotely post-pandemic.

It is not just women and parents that will benefit from this change. Other groups traditionally shut out of the workforce or marginalized to some degree due to an uncooperative infrastructure should continue to flourish. For example, people with disabilities should find more doors open to them they once found shut.

The long-term possibilities for many segments of the workforce are exciting – many are long overdue.

The Shecession: Our Current Realities

However, right now, the recession is having very harmful impacts with a disproportionate impact on women. It’s true: Overall unemployment numbers for women continue to improve since the early part of last year. But these numbers do not include women who are no longer seeking work. Data from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) is staggering:

In the month between August and September 2020, four times as many women dropped out of the workforce as did men.

“Over 1.1 million workers ages 20 and over dropped out of the labor force last month – meaning they are no longer working or looking for work,” NWLC wrote at the time. “Of the workers who left the labor force, 865,000 (80.0%) were women, including 324,000 Latinas and 58,000 Black women.”

Let us pause and let these numbers sink in.  It is no wonder so many people are referring to the current economic crisis not only as a recession, but also as the “shecession.”

The Pandemic Magnified Inequalities

Many employees struggle with serving as the primary caregiver of elderly relatives and children. Regardless of being driven by choice or necessity, this burden impacts women in more significant numbers than men. The pressures are particularly acute for women of color, who are often more likely to be breadwinners, care for multiple generations, and contract COVID-19.

For example, the unemployment rate for Black women and Latinas in September 2020 was more than twice as high as before the pandemic. These women were – and are –  disproportionately impacted due to high job loss rates in public-facing industries such as Leisure and Hospitality, Retail, Education, and Health Services. Many of these jobs cannot be accomplished remotely; as a result, companies eliminated these roles. What’s more, even when the pandemic is over, these industries are sure to be smaller and to look significantly different than they did leading up to the crisis. That means this critical cohort of people will not have as many of these jobs waiting for them when they return to the workforce.

There is no doubt: The pandemic has exacerbated existing inequalities in the labor market.

The Good News: Both Genders See the Possibilities

The good news is that men – who still are overwhelmingly the senior decision-makers in the business world – now recognize the opportunity to build more equitable workplaces. They see the need for more role model flexibility for all genders. HR leaders also see the issues that the recession has laid bare. More important, they see concrete actions taking place now that will positively impact the future.

The silver lining is that this crisis and these dismaying trends create an opportunity for leaders to pause and think. They can now ask themselves how their companies should adapt to survive and grow. They now must consider what they aspire to become as an organization and as an employer.

Yes, the shecession is real. But the companies that embrace more worker-centric, equitable, and inclusive workplace practices will reap the many benefits of these long-overdue changes. For them and their employees, the horizon is bright.

 

Editors’ Note: In addition to today being International Women’s Day, this is Women’s History Month. Each March, we commemorate and encourage the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history. To learn more, click here.

 

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Women’s History Month: A Chance to Make Equity a Reality

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Throughout my conversations with people in the world of work, I hear these questions every March — about the time we start celebrating Women’s history month:

Why still this fuss about Women’s History Month? 

Why isn’t there a Men’s History Month? 

And why do we need to attach gender to history?

And, no, the people asking these questions aren’t always men. In fact, I have known women who were not exactly proactive about championing other women in the workplace or the workforce. Regardless of who asks, though, there is typically a noticeable pause among the women that witness these conversations. Also typical: Not too many of us women actually speak up when people ask these questions. 

Are we tired of advocating for what should already be a given? Or do we need new weapons in our arsenal to combat the same old problems — and some new issues — in more effective ways?

Designed to create a new way of answering generations-old questions, here are a few ways to improve your workplace — and your recruiting methods. The over-arching goal: Make the world of work better for everyone, including women.

Remove Bias in Written Form

In all industries, gender-coded language is alive and well in job descriptions and postings. Our intent may be to write engaging descriptions — but in the process, we inadvertently discourage women applicants. For example, we still seek “assertive” and “dominant” team members that play well in “competitive” and “fast-paced” environments (all predominantly male stereotypes).

While often a notorious offender of bias itself, HR technology has produced some highly effective digital tools to help. Augmented writing platforms (like Textio) and gender decoding software (like the free Gender Decoder) can seek and scrub bias and help bolster descriptions with engaging yet equitable language. 

Adjust Family Leave Policies

Better family leave policies can solve five fundamental problems: 

  • Eases the pressure on working women forced to make a tough choice
  • Removes the burdensome misbelief that child care is women’s work
  • Allows fathers to fully participate in child, pet and elderly care
  • Better supports same-sex families
  • Better reflects Millennial and Gen-Z values and expectations

According to the Pew Research Center, Millennials and Generation-Z believe in shared domestic responsibilities across genders. Companies that only provide maternity leave — as opposed to paternity or family leave — are seen as retrogressive. For employers, this is not a good look when attracting top talent under the age of 38.

Consider the Pandemic-Related Burdens Placed on Women

The pandemic has been brutal on many people, particularly women. Since the COVID-19 crisis began, according to recent findings by McKinsey:

  • Since the COVID-19 crisis began, women’s jobs have been 1.8 times more vulnerable than men’s jobs
  • Women make up 39 percent of global employment but account for 54 percent of overall job losses

Data shows these trends are even worse for women of color, who are more likely to work in service industries greatly impacted by the pandemic and are more likely to be called upon to be primary caretakers in multi-generational households. In addition, women of color are more likely to contract the virus itself and are more likely to be hospitalized, causing further work loss.

Just like adjusting family leave policies can level the playing field for women, employers can also help those women impacted by the pandemic by encouraging and enabling male employees to step up. 

Conduct a Pay Equity Audit

I’ve been saying this for years, and I’m going to repeat it now: We have a moral imperative to pay all people, including women, fairly. 

Fortunately, not doing so now has significant legal consequences for organizations. Lawmakers across the US are writing pay equity laws; as a result, companies with global affiliates or branches will need to pay closer attention to gender pay gaps. 

There are also countless ways to define equal pay for equal work or comparable pay for comparable work. But the only way to achieve true pay equity for all traditionally disadvantaged groups is to take a long, hard look at the realities of how and what organizations pay their people. Again, technology is our friend — and we now have more robust analytics than ever before. Don’t, though, settle for just throwing tech at the problem and coming up with some executive report that never sees the light of day. Instead, make the report known to your employees. At the same time, describe precisely how your company will resolve any issues discovered. 

Remember: Transparency = Truth. 

These are just four ways to ensure we recruit, treat, and pay women equally in the workplace. Until we incorporate these ideas and so many more just like them, each designed to provide a true sense of equity for women, the world will continue to need Women’s History Month.

 

Editors’ Note: This is Women’s History Month. Each March, we commemorate and encourage the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history. To learn more, click here.

 

Sergey Nivens

A Modern-Day Book Burning: Why Is Diversity Training So Controversial?

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It’s an understatement to say the past several months have been a troubling time for those of us committed to racial equity and broader diversity, inclusion, and belonging. And now, with attempts to stifle delivery of diversity training designed to counter racially-motivated injustices, the atmosphere has the feel of a modern-day book burning.

The Black Lives Matter movement that began after the acquittal in the murder trial of Trayvon Martin seven years ago reignited as people took to the streets in extraordinary numbers to demand justice. The horror of George Floyd’s murder, so closely following the killings of Breonna Taylor and Ahmed Arbury, occurred as the COVID-19 crisis hit communities of color hardest. An explosion of activism, alongside calls for police reform, followed. Protestors shined a light on the systemic racism that continues to repress people of color in our country. Companies and organizations around the world offered statements of commitment and support for the movement.

Equal and Opposite Reaction

However, as Isaac Newton postulated, every action has an equal and opposite reaction.

Sadly, overt white supremacy (as well as more subtle examples of racial injustice) found a stronger foothold. Rather than addressing racially motivated police brutality, too many leaders politicized the social movement, attempting to frame it as a Republican-versus-Democrat, us-versus-them issue. In particular, one leader seemed more interested in discrediting the isolated incidents of violence during the protests than taking up issues of systemic racism cared about by the mostly peaceful protestors.

Nonetheless, undeterred people across the country, representing a diverse array of backgrounds and ethnicities, have come together in solidarity. They vow to make a difference in their communities, workplaces, and individual lives. Simultaneously, numerous books on racial inequities have emerged on bestseller lists. The result? Many Americans, many for the first time, are coming to understand the impact structural racism has on society.

Corporate America Steps Up

Companies have begun or have reinvigorated conversations about biases in hiring practices, micro-inequities and micro-advantages, and racial disparities for under-represented groups. Even in our economically challenging times, new efforts to educate people in organizations of every kind have emerged. But, not everyone is on board with the discussions. Detractors question the message and the time and monetary investment. Many see the ideas inherent in diversity training conversations as an affront to their personal values and a threat to a system that serves them well.

These attacks, based almost entirely on misrepresentations of intention and methodology of our work — and even out and out lies — put many in the crosshairs. The never-ending attacks also led to the drafting of an executive order to attempt a modern-day book burning. Specifically, the order banned several kinds of diversity education within the government and subsequently from government contractors. Fortunately, the results of the election mean that this action will likely be short-lived. Still, even as 1,500-plus CEOs sign the CEO Action Pledge for Diversity and Inclusion, resistance to the work remains significant.

Systemic Bias Remains

And yet, systemic patterns of bias remain in existence — perhaps because they benefit somebody. People whose group dominance gives them advantages based on the current system are not anxious to relinquish those advantages. And because those advantages have been around before any of us were born, people with privilege may not even see them as advantages. That is an inherent quality of privilege — to not have to acknowledge that it exists, even to oneself! These patterns of dominance and privilege occur as “the way the world works.” In either case, educational efforts, like diversity training, affirmative action, or any other attempts to deconstruct white, male, heterosexual, or other forms of hegemony, can be perceived as a direct threat to people who benefit from the existing system.

The reasons for this are varied – and worth examining. Some have these underpinnings:

Stereotyping Based on Race

Incidents of unfair treatment based on race abound. From the episode of a Starbucks employee calling the police on two Black men harmlessly sitting at a table to two Middle Eastern passengers kicked off a Chicago flight for speaking Arabic. These aren’t so much a series of individual instances as much as they are an endemic pattern. Yet people tend to think we’re immune to biases and stereotyping – and they consequently have a greater likelihood of unconsciously denigrating people in nondominant groups.

Constructions of the Unconscious Mind

Our perceptions and our social judgments are all constructed by our unconscious mind. They form from the limited information that we interpret through the expectations we have, the context in which we see a situation, and what we hope to get out of a problem. This means that, when we observe a person or situation, our unconscious memory guides our reaction. It operates quickly and instinctively, driven by visceral, emotional responses. In turn, these judgments lead us to see people within the context we’ve developed about “those kinds” of people. Toward people who we’ve been conditioned to feel are like us, we’re more positively disposed. As makes sense, we’re more negatively disposed to those we feel are not.

Selective Attention

It’s not uncommon for people to direct their attention to particular groups and behaviors while at the same time remaining completely blind to others. Members of the dominant group – which in the U.S. generally means white, male, Christian, and heterosexual – are often unaware, for example, that people are more likely to talk over women in business meetings and to give their full attention to the men. Many behaviors taking place around us daily often go unnoticed. We see what we look for, and we look for what we know.

Who, for example, do we see doing something wrong? And who do we neglect to notice exhibiting the same behavior?

Groupthink

So many of our personal biases are not personal at all. They’re deeply influenced by the cultures and groups with whom we associate. This becomes obvious when we look at the hundreds of historical examples where ordinary people got caught up in a sort of collective societal madness and turned on their fellow citizens. Our group associations and beliefs deeply influence us. Life is more comfortable when we fit in with the group around us. Yet, at some point, we stop thinking because the group thinks for us.

Consider thought patterns that go unchallenged. For example, the prevailing thought that those people who go to certain schools are better people. Or that people in a certain socio-economic group are “our kind of people.”

Diversity Training = Acceptance of Responsibility

When people hear about concepts of white power, white privilege, and white supremacy in diversity training, they often don’t feel it describes them. They see themselves as good, well-intentioned people. No, these concepts don’t necessarily mean that every white person has more access, money, or even safety than every person of color. They do, though, mean the system makes it easier, safer, and more accessible as a whole to be white. Privilege also allows us not to pay attention or be unaware of what others have to deal with.

Disparities continue in virtually every area of our lives. Based on societal suspicions and fears, people of color constantly walk a tight rope. A tight rope that has them teetering on the brink of disaster. It’s past time for us to take responsibility. Diversity education is a first step in acknowledging the past injustices. And understanding how the past has given us patterns of being in a society that is advantageous to the dominant group. It helps us recognize patterns that have impacted us personally. It allows us to change behaviors enough to end the pattern.

There Will Always Be Resistance

Systems do not want to change. They are, after all, perfectly designed to produce exactly the result that they are producing. However, my personal 35-year experience in the field has taught me that we just have to keep moving forward. Ludwig von Bertalanffy, one of the founders of General Systems Theory, called it equifinality: many roads to the same place. If education is delayed, focus on systems and structures, leadership development, or coaching. Or perhaps turn your attention to developing employee resources groups or putting in better measurement systems. There are dozens of other ways to address the challenge. Whatever it takes, keep moving forward.

As practitioners, we must keep an eye on what moves the system, as opposed to only paying attention to what drives us. As the old saying goes:

“When you go fishing, you bait the hook with what the fish likes to eat, not what you like to eat.”

Essentially, the ultimate purpose of diversity training is to fulfill the American Dream: That all people are created equal, and all have inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As for the detractors? Don’t let fools get you down.

Remember, as Gandhi said, “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

 

 

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The ‘Why’ and ‘How’ of Building Workforce Diversity

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The evidence overwhelmingly supports the business case for workforce diversity. So why are companies still failing to achieve their diversity goals?

Diversity has become a higher priority on the corporate agenda. Simultaneously, the business case for workforce diversity is now well evidenced (especially by McKinsey & Company, where analysts have been tracking the performance of more diverse companies for years). And yet, many organizations still struggle with ‘why’ diversity programs fail and the ‘how’ of doing diversity well.

Perhaps outreach programs are successful, but few candidates make it to the final selection stage? Perhaps diverse early career talent is easier to onboard, but fewer diverse candidates progress into senior leadership? In our work, we often find organizations undermine their own efforts. Quite often, through the use of a flawed recruitment and assessment process.

Biased decision making can creep into any stage of the hiring or development process, creating a disadvantage for minority groups. In other cases, inadvertent use of tactics that offer an advantage to those with access to exclusive knowledge or education occurs. These tactics perpetuate a cycle that maintains the status quo and prevents diversity from flourishing.

At Sova, we’ve long championed fairness and equality in recruitment and career progression. As occupational psychologists, one of our main goals in designing assessment is to provide a truly objective view of a candidate. We see it as our role to help companies go beyond the CV to make better, unbiased, and fair decisions about talent.

‘Why’ the Selection Process Goes Wrong

Before we talk about how we can improve diversity through fair selection processes, it’s useful to highlight some of the areas where we see diversity fail. These failures happen even when recruitment and HR teams invest in better diversity through actions such as targeted advertising, tailored marketing materials, and broader outreach programs:

  • The interview process starts with killer questions, such as asking which university the candidate attended, which is unfair when the candidate relies on knowledge or experience that isn’t available to all.
  • Too much emphasis on the CV screen effectively defines people through past achievements rather than their future potential.
  • Reliance on academic achievement, often linked to educational opportunity, makes those from more disadvantaged backgrounds less likely to be considered.
  • A reliance on unstructured interviews has been shown by extensive research to typically be much less predictive than either structured interviews or other more objective assessment measures.
  • Traditional assessments, such as a series of verbal and numerical reasoning tests, act as a hurdle race, potentially excluding otherwise suitable candidates.
  • Poorly designed assessments that lack scientific rigor bring a degree of embedded bias; some rely on exclusive knowledge of lifestyle habits or culture.
  • Assessors at assessment centers who are not well trained in managing unconscious bias impact fair selection; so does the center’s content when it favors particular groups.
  • We often fail to collect the right data; that data must be readily available and frequently reviewed.

‘How’ to Improve Workforce Diversity During Recruitment

Here are five practical changes that improve hiring processes and facilitate fairer decision making:

1. Consider carefully and thoughtfully what “good” looks like for your organization.

The definition of good needs to be through a wide lens and with the scope of diversity in mind. Rather than addressing one aspect, think about what diverse talent means as a whole. Consider how you describe what you look for in a candidate. Ask if your description might be perceived as exclusive when framed without thought to diversity. For example, have a broad range of people provide feedback on a job description and posting.

2. In designing your process, think about which techniques are fairest.

Have an inclusive approach to design. Gather insight into how others interpret your process design. Questions and assessment content need to be objective and not discriminate based on access to specific knowledge exclusive to some. Having input into the design from a diverse group is also essential, so gather different viewpoints on the assessment.

3. Thoroughly monitor the success of your assessment process.

Take the time and care to measure easier to acquire metrics such as gender. Also, gather data over the longer term – for example, who gets promoted. To see the whole picture, keep sight of all the assessments in your process and across all groups. Link to this data routinely and review it in real-time, not only on an annual basis.

4. Use analytics to learn which parts of your journey – or which questions and content – are working fairly and which are not.

Layout the parts of your process shown to be generating unfair responses. Then consider whether to change them or remove them. For example, are certain questions excluding those qualified applicants without a university education? Or are you excluding candidates based on language or numeracy skills not applicable to that specific job?

Once you’ve built the business case for diversity, the next step is to practically put in place a new process that will result in fairer outcomes. Diversity strategy guides the organization, of course. But without practical application at every stage of recruitment, assessment, and development, organizations will struggle to truly make a difference in their workforce diversity.

To learn more about leveling the playing field through fair assessment in hiring and development, you can download Sova’s free white paper: Leveling the Playing Field.

 

This post sponsored by Sova Assessment.

 

Nathan Anderson

How Future Workplaces Will Work Better for People with Disabilities

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Today, we feature this post, originally published in February 2019, in recognition of National Disabilities Employment Awareness Month.

According to a major study by Accenture, 29 percent of all people were appropriately employed, compared with 75 percent of those who listed disability. Furthermore, that study made a direct link between a company’s overall profitability and its inclusiveness of people with disabilities. In fact, organizations that stand out for leadership in areas related to disability inclusion performed better in several key financial metrics.

The study directly addresses one of the basic drives in any business: Return on investment. It’s part of a growing body of literature that highlights the importance of a strong focus on inclusivity when it comes to hiring, continuous development, and the makeup of a company’s workforce. The ethics of inclusion programs and a push for more diversity within any organization are clear. But this study makes the case for disability inclusion’s value as a direct driver of profit.

Including people with disabilities in your company culture is not only a moral imperative. For most companies, it is a financial incentive.

Disabilities Accommodations: Bottom Line No Longer King

In business, the bottom line is often king at the expense of other considerations. As such, simply adhering to laws such as the U.K.’s Equality Act by providing reasonable adjustments for staff with disabilities can sometimes be thought of as a hindrance to profits. But these attitudes have changed a lot in recent years. We’re at a stage now across industries where employers aren’t looking to work out how to dodge their responsibilities. Instead, employers are going above and beyond in providing for as many people as possible.

Here are some key considerations when it comes to making sure your place of work is catering to as broad a pool of talent as possible, whether that’s prospective employees or those with disabilities already working within your organization.

Hiring Using Algorithms Is the Future — but Be Careful

HR decision making is increasingly automated, and with the proliferation of readily available data about potential job candidates through public platforms such as LinkedIn, this trend is surely here to stay. The use of algorithms to filter out unsuitable candidates helps cut costs and contributes to a streamlined and efficient recruitment process. AI and machine learning will only further improve this kind of activity as technology continues to develop.

There are, however, limits to the powers of this process. It’s important to understand just how fallible algorithms are. No matter how complex an algorithm gets, existing biases are always embedded within. Therefore, in an ideal world, hard screening decisions should not be made solely by algorithmic processes, at least for the foreseeable future.

Algorithms are Imperfect

Does your organization filters candidate lists using AI-based processes, with human oversight coming at a later stage? Do you routinely get a high volume of applications that limits human participation?

If yes, it’s important to be aware of the fact that your algorithms are imperfect. This should naturally lead to a culture of continuous auditing, modification and improvement to your selection processes. By enlisting a member of HR staff to evaluate a random sample of applications, spot checks can be carried out on decisions made by your preferred algorithm. Do those spot checks. Then see if there’s a difference in results. When doing this, it’s important to heavily focus on potential biases on both sides — machine and human.

The ‘Reasonable’ in ‘Reasonable Adjustments’

The U.K.’s Equality Act 2010 sets out legal protections against discrimination in the workplace. It describes the “reasonable adjustments” that must be made to facilitate employees who may face obstacles in the organization. The definition of “reasonable” here is key, as well as ambiguous. And it’s this ambiguity and businesses’ attitudes toward it that are crucial.

A lot depends on how big the business is. Larger organizations will find it easier to afford the resources to make expensive adjustments for staff members.  Smaller organizations, of course, need not go bankrupt to make accommodations. For example, buying land to create closer parking spaces for employees unable to walk long distances is not a requirement.

Seek Out Partners

However, companies must understand the provisions available from the government. They should also seek to work with local schemes and charities. Primarily, this means engaging with the U.K.’s Access to Work program. Through this, staff can gain grants for equipment, aids, adaptations or support worker assistance. The program can also provide additional assistance to employees in getting to and from work.

Instead of seeing this exercise as a means to tick a box, the best employers will have HR practitioners who have a deep knowledge of and working experience with the Access to Work scheme, and will know how to present a compelling case for their staff who require or would flourish with adaptations that can be sourced through these means.

Examples of Disabilities-Friendly Practices

When it comes to welcoming a diverse workforce, there are a number of practical points most organizations can focus on. Regular feedback from employees, pulse surveys and engendering an open and honest environment can help decide where focus belongs. The state of your staff as a whole is a factor in deciding which to actually implement.

  • Make physical adaptations and remove physical barriers.
  • Provide training and information in accessible formats.
  • Offer specialist training.
  • Invite inclusion-focused guest speakers at in-work functions or meetings.
  • Encourage flexible working patterns and remote working where possible.

For profiling your staff so your organization can be proactive in determining which adaptations are required and implemented, consider using a digital tool like Clear Talents. Actively seeking out case studies in related fields is also excellent practice.

In addition, the Business Disability Forum is an excellent resource for this type of activity and can signpost important initiatives.

Make the workplace work better with people with disabilities. Starting today.

#WorkTrends: How to Rethink the Modern Workplace for Gender Equality

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New research shows that diversity and inclusion are a top priority for leaders. So why does the needle seem to be moving backward when it comes to gender equality at work?

On this week’s episode of the #WorkTrends podcast we dive into some of the answers with Dorothy Dalton, who is working to shift the conversation about men, women, work and bias.

Based in Belgium, Dalton has been working in talent management and recruitment for many years. She runs her own executive search firm and has founded an organization to help professional women reach their potential. In our conversation she offered important insights into how we can start to transform the modern workplace to make it more equal and inclusive for everyone.

Listen to the full conversation or read the recap below. Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Make It More Than an HR Issue

Dalton, an expert on gender-neutral and bias-conscious recruitment, says one of the challenges when it comes to diversity in the workplace is that people see it as an HR issue rather than an overall business issue.

“What we need for any cultural transformation to be effective are the three pillars: leadership commitment, systemic change and behavioral change,” she says. “What we’re doing is we’re cherry-picking a bit because no one really likes to change. All of us are quite locked into our old ways of doing things, so it really is part of an overall business transformation, not an HR problem to be solved with a few little training sessions — which is, quite honestly, the way people tend to go about it.”
Don’t Expect Progress to Just Happen
Dalton says that while every generation tends to think they are more understanding than the previous one when it comes to workplace diversity issues, the progress isn’t always so linear.

She says that when her own daughter, an older millennial, entered the workplace, she was horrified to discover that gender and diversity issues hadn’t progressed much. Dalton says we all have certain biases, and those shouldn’t be demonized, but they can’t be ignored either if we want to truly create more equitable workplaces.

“It’s really normal to have opinions and biases, but we have to set up procedures and processes, checks and balances, to make sure that we’re on track to make better business decisions,” she says.

She says research shows that most of us think we don’t have biases and that we behave correctly, but digging deeper reveals we have plenty of biases. “We’re still at a very primal level,” she says.

Take Steps for Change

Dalton offers a number of ways organizations can make an impact right now in their own companies, starting with how they recruit. “Women tend to look for promotional opportunities within their own organizations,” she says. “If they look outside then it tends to be in response to usually external circumstances — either a change in their personal lives or a takeover, a merger, or something’s not working.

“Organizations may have to have gender-neutral adverts. They have to have put the flex opportunities [and] remote working upfront because women are afraid to ask because they feel they’re discriminated because of it — and they are.”

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Let’s continue the conversation. Join us on Twitter (#WorkTrends) for our weekly chat on Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, 10:30 a.m. Pacific, or anywhere in the world you are joining from to discuss this topic and more. On this week’s episode of #WorkTrends we talk to Dorothy Dalton about the work she’s doing to shift the conversation about men, women, work and bias.

Employee Engagement: Why Is Gender (Still) A Factor?

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Written by Elyssa Thome

Fact: Men are more likely to be engaged in the workplace than women.

Does that surprise you? If so, you may want to take a closer look at recent research by Human Capital Institute and Acheivers. The survey was designed to find out more about the factors that correspond with high employee engagement. And the results indicate that today’s most engaged employees are males, age 50 or older, who hold senior-level positions, and have been with an organization for at least 15 years.

Implications For Women

What explains these results? There is no single answer that applies to all companies. Also, employee engagement varies from person to person, for multiple reasons. However, for any of us to engage in our work, we must feel a sense of control over the workload, and believe that our efforts have a direct impact on the company mission.

Not surprisingly, the higher we climb within the workforce, the more likely we’ll experience those key factors of control and meaningful contribution. And employees who have been in the workforce longer and have risen in the ranks to executive levels tend to be males who are 50 or older. The truth is, despite huge progress in gender equality among college graduation rates and even in the level of entry-level jobs, women are still absent from top leadership at most companies.

What To Do?

I work with powerful, fierce, dedicated women every day. They may not be top executives (yet), but they are valuable contributors, and they have tremendous potential. Imagine the impact on business performance if employees like these were more invested in making their company better.

As the U.S. Census Bureau points out, there’s a long way to go before we reach a truly equitable workplace. But we won’t arrive at that goal unless we continue to work toward progress. For example, we can rethink business practices that may erode engagement among women employees. Here are three options:

1) Support Flexible Schedules

While it may not elevate more women to the corner office, schedule flexibility does offer employees of both genders a sense of control that translates to higher engagement. Building in options to work from home or to arrange flexible hours provides a level of personal freedom and responsibility that leads to increased productivity and deeper investment in the company.

2) Promote From Within, When Possible

Don’t overlook existing talent when filling open positions. There is nothing quite as demoralizing as having an unproven manager hired over you, when you’re confident that you can be effective in that role. Investing in the development of current employees and giving them the opportunity to demonstrate return on that investment allows for individual and company growth.

3) Advocate For One Another

More opportunities for female advancement are unlikely to arise unless women proactively champion the concept. My friends and colleagues point to female mentors that provided support, confidence and guidance that led them to high-potential roles. As Sheryl Sandberg points out in her provocative book, Lean In, women have a harder time talking about their own successes, but easily promote the work of others. Use that trait for a greater good. Open the door for employees to recognize one another, and listen carefully.

Addressing women in the workplace more effectively can have a huge pay-off. You’ll likely stop losing top female talent to issues you were overlooking. Also, with a more diverse workforce, your company can expect to be more effective at driving creativity and innovation. Ensure that your organization isn’t unintentionally limiting voices. It all starts with an environment where everyone believes there’s an equal opportunity to contribute.

For more information on what makes an engaged employee, download the full report here.

ElyssaThome-blog(About the Author: Elyssa Thome is a copywriter at Achievers. She has developed expertise in numerous topics, and currently focuses on the human resource space — specifically how to create Employee Success. She has worked with and for powerful, talented, inspiring women, and she hopes to be one herself someday.)

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