Do you think you are fair when you interview applicants for a position, or when you review your current employees at their performance review?
The Centre for Talent Innovation in UK has identified 3 factors which help create an inclusive environment where people regardless of background or identity, feel supported to achieve their potential at work. These were identified in employer organisations whose employees felt included and not discriminated in any way:
- Inclusive leadership: Having team leader who encourage people to speak up and ensure that everyone’s view is heard. Inclusive leaders create an environment where people feel comfortable presenting ideas, and they also empower team members to make decisions.
- Diverse Leadership: Having people in the top positions who are from a mix of backgrounds including race, gender and age
- Sponsorship: Senior leaders sponsor and support a diverse range of people
How can this benefit your organisation? This research showed that employees at large companies with an inclusive leader were 87% less likely to perceive a mismatch in how their superiors and they themselves would rate their potential, and they were 39% more likely to say they felt engaged at work.
Those working at companies with a diverse leadership were found to be 64% less likely to perceive a bias in judgment of their potential.
(How to keep perceived bias from holding back high-potential employees, Sylvia Ann Hewlett, Ripa Rashi and Laura Sherbin, Strategy+Business, Winter 2017)
Voltedge Management