employees

It has long been clear that creating and maintaining a sustainable culture of diversity and inclusion is challenging for many organizations. Most efforts at building a diverse workforce focus on recruitment and hiring, but once diverse individuals are in the door, they often find themselves in cultures where opportunities for interesting work and promotions are granted to those with informal relationships that have been forged over time, leaving them out in the cold. These relationships often operate outside of the normal chain of command, elevating the importance of interpersonal interactions within the context of work.

Given the COVID-created conditions of the last two years, it makes sense to pause and ask ourselves what this prolonged virtual world, and the hybrid environment many of us will return to, will mean for building and maintaining sustainable inclusive cultures. Will previous efforts wither on the vine?  Are future efforts to hire and retain diverse employees doomed to failure?

We think not. Rather than regressing, this disruption in workplace dynamics may be just the catalyst necessary for a serious rethinking of what we do and how we do it.  In other words, the policies, processes, and practices already have been blown up.  The question now is how to build back better?

The idea of the “workplace” has turned on its head, and this creates a massive opportunity.  What will your workplace look like when things return to “normal,” or whatever passes for normal as we navigate a post-COVID world?

Here’s a thought: what if this new world levels the playing field for diverse employees?  How might that look?

Why not start by doing a retrospective review of what has been learned over the past two years.  For starters, we have learned that being in the office is not required for optimal productivity.  In fact, many studies have shown productivity increased.  In addition, we have been able to shed some outdated ideas about expectations around the faux importance of “face time.” Many of us hired remote workers around the country to compensate for the challenges of low unemployment.  This has meant abandoning the cliques and in-group/out-group dynamics that defined workplaces for as long as there have been workplaces.  All of this is good!

What else did we learn?  And how can we capture these insights and integrate them into a new way of working?  This truly is a once-in-a-lifetime tipping point, as our lives have irrevocably changed.  Let’s take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to create a different future.

 

Authored by  Susan Brooks from T.H. Easter Consulting LLC.

 


 

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