Diversity & Inclusion Resources
1. Seek to understand racial bias and discrimination in the workplace.
Women in the Workplace 2023: The Full Report
LeanIn.Org and McKinsey & Company have published this report annually since 2015 to provide companies with the information needed to support the career advancement of women. The 2023 report provides an intersectional look at specific biases and barriers faced by women of colour and other marginalized identities. One of the findings is women of color continue to lose the most ground in middle management, and microaggressions have a significant and enduring effect on their progress.
Beginning Tough Conversations on Race
In this Coaching for Leaders podcast, Kwame Christian discusses strategies, including his 3-step framework, to support people in having difficult, constructive conversations on race. These conversations for leaders could, for example, include discussing concerns about microaggressions or addressing racially inappropriate remarks. Kwame is also the author of How to Have Difficult Conversations About Race: Practical Tools for Necessary Change in the Workplace and Beyond.
How to Intervene When You Witness a Microaggression
Employees who are Black or persons of colour commonly experience microaggressions in the workplace. This article by the Harvard Business Review provides a description of microaggressions and explains the reasons for their prevalence in the workforce. In addition, 3 steps are presented to guide the efforts of allies and leaders in addressing microaggressions.
2. Support diversity in the hiring process.
How Behavioral Science Can Help Advance Diversity and Minimize Bias in Hiring
The International Public Management Association for Human Resources shares evidence-based, practical approaches that organizations can adopt to minimize unconscious racial bias in the hiring process, reduce barriers to workforce diversity and help build teams that reflect the diversity of communities.
How to Create Inclusive Hiring Practices
In this Coaching for Leaders podcast, Ruchika Tulshyan shares how leaders can adapt hiring practices to increase diversity among candidates, including tips on job postings and interview practices. Ruchika has also published a book: Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work.
Cultural fit is being replaced by culture add: Find out why
This blog by BetterUp discusses the emerging trend of hiring for “culture add”. The blog explains what makes this approach different from culture fit. It also provides helpful interview question suggestions that support our understanding of how to hire for culture add.
3. Mitigate race and cultural bias in performance evaluations.
How to Make Performance Appraisals More Equitable
This blog by Lattice explains how performance assessments can become biased, describes common types of bias, and offers 3 practical suggestions for adding more rigorous, care and fairness to the process.
The SPACE2 Model of Mindful Inclusion
The resource by Include-Empower.com provides a collection of six evidence-based strategies for detecting and overriding unconscious bias. These strategies can be applied by supervisors to help grow awareness of personal biases and shift perspectives to improve fairness in the performance assessment process.
3. Encourage and enable inclusive workplace behaviours.
Building inclusion at scale, one nudge at a time
McKinsey & Company highlights how their company supports workplace inclusion. They have introduced ‘nudges’ that encourage the development of micro-habits, which are easy for employees to demonstrate without having to learn new skills. For example, in a nudge called, “Be somebody’s best advocate,” employees are encouraged to amplify the work, ideas, and leadership of others, even if (or especially when) they’re not present.
The Inclusion Nudges Guidebook
This how-to guidebook from Tinna C. Nielsen and Lisa Kepinski provides more than 100 behavioural designs called inclusion nudges. These nudges are practical techniques that can be used to reduce bias and increase inclusive behaviour, culture and systems in organizations.
In this Harvard Business Review podcast Anne Chow, CEO of AT&T Business, discusses unconscious bias in the workplace and how leaders like herself can create a safe workplace for employees of color by leading discussions on race, equity and inclusion at work. Ann has also co-authored a book called The Leader's Guide to Unconscious Bias: How To Reframe Bias, Cultivate Connection, and Create High-Performing Teams.