Studies support the idea that diversity alone does not drive inclusion; in fact, without inclusion there is likely to be a diversity backlash. var div = divs[divs.length-1]; According to Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, a culture of inclusion involves having diverse people and valuing differences. As a result, employees become less likely to report discrimination. In addition, turnover is reduced when employees perceive equal access to opportunities and fair treatment. when they are asked to take on a new assignment. It will not be fast or easy, but companies that succeed will be better prepared to reap the benefits of an increasingly diverse America. Task forces can be used to promote accountability; engage members who might previously have been cool to diversity projects; and increase contact among minorities, white women, and men who participate. In 2018, only three of the Fortune 500 companies had an African-American CEO (Grace Donnelly, “The Number of Black CEOs at Fortune 500 Companies Is at Its Lowest Since 2002,” Fortune, Feb. 28, 2018, http://bit.ly/2NowkN6). Editor’s note: We’d love to hear from you: does flexibility support your ability to be productive and meet life demands? The views expressed herein are solely those of the guest blogger and do not necessarily reflect those of Catalyst. Other areas of focus for KPMG include gender diversity, generational diversity, sexual orientation, gender identity, family, and disability (KPMG, 14-16). var abkw = window.abkw || ''; A study published in the Harvard Business Review, however, suggests diversity training can lead to new pressures, blame, and negative messages, which may actually increase employee bias and animosity towards minority groups (Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev, “Why Diversity Programs Fail,” July-August 2016, http://bit.ly/2Cow61Y). Employees should not feel a need to repress parts of their persona in the workplace, but minorities often do. Believing that merit is justly rewarded is convenient for those at the top; if management believes the world is fair and just, they will not recognize or think about systemic unfairness. Catalyst, the leading nonprofit organization with a vision to change workplaces and change lives, has been championing its work-life effectiveness tool for business performance since 2008. In many ways it is a truly liberating experience because over time it helps to build core strength and nimbleness. var div = divs[divs.length-1]; Sherbin and Rashid suggest leadership, authenticity, networking and visibility, and clear career paths as drivers of inclusion. And when flexibility is the culture’s norm for all rather than an accommodation for some, the benefits are clear, such as helping to attract and retain top talent. Cognitive roadblocks prevent the objective implementation of diversity programs. Diversity and inclusion: 8 best practices for changing your culture A strong diversity and inclusion strategy can help your organization attract top talent and drive innovative results. Companies should increase awareness about diversity and emphasize its importance. It requires lot of struggle and commitment to overcome all types of barriers mainly attitudinal and social. Diversity involves how people perceive themselves and how they perceive others, with those perceptions affecting interactions. Champions are often white men and push for candidates similar to themselves—that is, “white, affluent, athletic graduates of elite institutions”—while women and minorities champion fewer candidates than white men do (Burrell 2016). var plc456219 = window.plc456219 || 0; Liz Mulligan-Ferry holds an MA in Psychology from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and a BA in Psychology from Gonzaga University, where she graduated cum laude. Furthermore, studies show that, in performance reviews, raters tend to give lower scores to women and minorities. In addition, people consistently underestimate the benefit of good luck and mistake it for merit-based reward. Thanks for the information. ICYMI | Building a Diverse Professional Community, Congratulations to The CPA Journal, the Voice of the Profession, Building a Diverse Professional Community, Building a Next-Generation Internal Audit…, Becoming Successful in Today’s Professional…, Increased workforce productivity and job performance, Increased competitiveness and profitability, Expose managers to different groups of people, Encourage social accountability for change, Transparent hiring and performance rewards, Avoid wording on job ads that discourages candidates, Performance raters should not see employee self-evaluations. Exhibit 5 indicates techniques that have been shown to work. Diversity refers to differences among people and can encompass many characteristics, including race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, organizational function, education, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, physical ability, religious belief, and political ideology. Promoting children to have a positive attitude towards everything is important. var plc289809 = window.plc289809 || 0; To benefit, organizations must go beyond diversity in recruiting and hiring and invest resources to create an environment that supports a diverse workforce. Some companies use computerized algorithms to make more objective and thus theoretically better hiring decisions. AdButler.ads.push({handler: function(opt){ AdButler.register(165519, 459481, [300,250], 'placement_459481_'+opt.place, opt); }, opt: { place: plc459481++, keywords: abkw, domain: 'servedbyadbutler.com', click:'CLICK_MACRO_PLACEHOLDER' }}); if (!window.AdButler){(function(){var s = document.createElement("script"); s.async = true; s.type = "text/javascript";s.src = 'https://servedbyadbutler.com/app.js';var n = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; n.parentNode.insertBefore(s, n);}());}. But diversity—and its sibling, inclusion—is not as simple as adjusting demographics. A lack of inclusion and compassion in the workplace may affect your company’s pride, productivity, and finances for years to come. Stephen R. Goldberg, PhD, CPA is a professor of accounting at Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Mich. Lara L. Kessler, JD, CPA is an associate professor at Grand Valley State University. All these points are so true. Encouraging social accountability functions on people’s need to look good in the eyes of the community. Since the implementation of these initiatives in 2012, PricewaterhouseCoopers has found that changes may need to be made if the desired results are not forthcoming, and that having the right levels of leadership commitment and accountability is key to success (PricewaterhouseCoopers 2016). Companies can do all of the above themselves or hire consultants. By Simon T. Bailey – Contributing Writer, Catalyst does not endorse any political candidates. Merribeth Govern, CPA is an assurance associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Grand Rapids, Mich. © 2019 The New York State Society of CPAs. KPMG discusses the push for flexibility in workplaces not just for women, but for men too. Well-designed programs are key to benefiting from diversity, but they do not come without challenges. A work environment that does not support diversity and inclusion can lead to negative outcomes, such as increased harassment and discrimination, intergroup conflict, and turnover. SUNY System Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Website “Standards of Professional Practice for Chief Diversity Officers,” National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education, 2014 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Data Brief, June 2015, Prepared by the Office of the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Laura Sherbin and Ripa Rashid conclude that diversity equals representation, while inclusion provides the connections that entice diverse talent, encourage participation and innovation, and lead to business growth (“Diversity Doesn’t Stick without Inclusion,” Harvard Business Review, Feb. 1, 2017, http://bit.ly/2qul5tu). If diversity in the workplace does not increase at a similar rate as diversity in the United States, the economy will suffer. We promote flexible work schedules and fair hiring practices. div.id = "placement_461032_"+plc461032; Many companies have employees prepare self-evaluations for their managers, but employees differ in self-confidence and self-promotion—the more prone the person is to self-promotion, the higher the self-evaluation. })(); if (!window.AdButler){(function(){var s = document.createElement("script"); s.async = true; s.type = "text/javascript";s.src = 'https://servedbyadbutler.com/app.js';var n = document.getElementsByTagName("script")[0]; n.parentNode.insertBefore(s, n);}());} var AdButler = AdButler || {}; AdButler.ads = AdButler.ads || []; Because resources and effort may be required to benefit from diversity, it is important to understand the significant potential benefits. Men tend to be more overconfident than women and more likely to self-promote; thus, self-evaluations should not be shared with evaluators before they have made up their minds. The third step is to recognize and reward role models, that is, those who are demonstrating inclusive leadership. var divs = document.querySelectorAll(".plc459496:not([id])"); As such, diversity and inclusion have become integral parts of the Big Four’s plans for the future of the accounting profession. Ernst & Young’s research found that groups with best in-class engagement have a seven-point increase in retention, a ten-point increase in revenue growth, and a six-point increase in the gross margin (EY 2014). Realizing that biases exist is key to eliminating them (Harold Andrew Patrick and Kumar Vincent Raj, “Managing Workplace Diversity: Issues and Challenges,” SAGE Open, April–June 2012, http://bit.ly/36KJNpS). To design around managers’ biases, decisions should rely on hard data. Diversity training must complement a culture of diversity that pervades the company. Join us for a fireside chat with Catalyst President & CEO, Lorraine Hariton, to learn more about how the non-profit, focused on advancing women, is leading change. Research has shown that applicants with names that “sound” African-American are 14% less likely to get a call back than those with names that “sound” white. Another technique is to set up a diversity task force with broad representation throughout the company. She'll talk more about their initiatives for CEOs, engaging men to advocate for gender equality in the workplace and an exciting new initiative, the Gender and Diversity KPI Alliance (GDKA). Determine short- and long-term quantifiable metrics or goals, and collect and analyze the data about how well these goals are being met, periodically assessing progress based on the determined metrics. This type of flexibility allows employees to do their jobs, no matter where or when they happen to be working. Workplace Diversity in 14 Statistics,” ArchPoint Group, Dec. 20, 2016, http://bit.ly/32h9sTS). var divs = document.querySelectorAll(".plc461032:not([id])"); Voluntary rather than mandatory training leads to better results (Dobbin and Kalev). Up to 40% of the gap between male and female students’ results on the SAT was found to be due to penalizing incorrect answers and the male propensity for greater risk-taking (Katherine Baldiga Coffman, “Gender Differences in Willingness to Guess,” Management Science, February 2014, http://bit.ly/33vgkhO). Some employees resist social and cultural changes in the workplace, preferring to do things the way they have always done them. An affirmative climate includes fair treatment and integration. The Deloitte study cited above found that millennials think of diversity and inclusion as expanding participation by employees with different personalities and perspectives, while older workers think of diversity as equitable representation and assimilation from different demographic groups. (function(){ Management should assess and evaluate its current diversity process to ensure it is an integral part of the company’s management system. Diversity managers who are empowered to ask questions about these decisions encourage managers step back and rethink them. Successfully managing diversity leads to more committed, better satisfied, and better performing employees, which in turn likely leads to a better financial performance. Join GDKA co-chairs Subha Barry, President, Working Mother and Lorraine Hariton, President & CEO, Catalyst in their conversation on key performance indicators with The Gender and Diversity KPI Alliance (GDKA) members Margo Georgiadis, President & CEO, Ancestry; Denis Machuel, Chief Executive Officer, Sodexo and "Tiger" Tyagarajan, Chief Executive Officer, Genpact. Then orchestras began blind auditions behind a curtain; today, more than 30% of players are women. Working side-by-side breaks down stereotypes and leads to more equitable hiring and promotion. Studies support the general notion that diversity is beneficial. This occurs when policies or practices encourage companies to base recruitment and promotion on personal characteristics rather than qualifications or job performance. Benefits include better group decision making from accessing a broader range of talent, having a better understanding of customers and markets, considering more diverse viewpoints, and having better-motivated employees. Diversity programs can even lead to discrimination against whites encouraged by perceived or actual unfair treatment. Diversity is very important when it comes to child’s future. Rotating management trainees through departments also increases exposure and supports diversity. According to Komornikova, this means staff still spend at least 20 per cent of their time in co-working teams. var abkw = window.abkw || ''; document.write('<'+'div id="placement_282686_'+plc282686+'">'); It made conspicuous efforts to improve gender equity, increasing the number of women partners to 21% and the number of women in senior leadership roles to 34%. Self-managed teams allow employees in different roles and functions to work together on projects as equals and increase contact and exposure to diverse employees. Global Diversity and Inclusion: Perceptions, Practices and Attitudes 5 More than half a century ago, author Sloan Wilson described a world of corporate con- Edited by CPAs for CPAs, it aims to provide accounting and other financial professionals with the information and analysis they need to succeed in today’s business environment. towards inclusion. Research by Joan Williams, Mary Blair-Loy, and Jennifer Berdahl suggests that in some flexible workplaces, employees fear negative career repercussions. document.write('<'+'div id="placement_289809_'+plc289809+'">'); Significant differences were also found between different age groups; employees between ages 26 and 30 were more open to admitting, fixing, and reducing their own biases, while those between ages 31 and 35 were more likely to dismiss myths about diversity and did not value diversity in the workplace as much as their younger peers. It strengthens the ability of all kids to work together, understand and value different points of view, think critically, and be successful learners. White male executives might not feel comfortable reaching out informally to young women and minority men, so assigning protégés may be more effective. Most people agree that hiring, development, and compensation decisions should favor those with the greatest merit, but is it possible to objectively determine what constitutes merit or to define diversity? Another technique is to use structured interviews; every candidate receives the same questions in the same order, and answers are scored in real time. When minorities are underrepresented at a company, they often feel pressure to conform to majority styles of dress, manners of speaking, and standards of demeanor. Job ads should be scrutinized for language that unconsciously discourages men or women from applying. Aware that staff also want flexibility, one solution is that staff identify preparatory work that can be done flexibly or remotely. I’m completely in agreement with all these points. Furthermore, the U.S. Census Bureau reported that in 2014, for the first time in history, a majority (50.2%) of children under 5 were categorized as ethnic minorities (“Millennials Outnumber Baby Boomers and Are Far More Diverse,” June 25, 2015, http://bit.ly/2NovBLS). And as the researchers point out, these “fears appear to be well founded: the use of flexibility policies has been shown to result in wage penalties, lower performance evaluations, and fewer promotions.”. Exhibit 2 lists some challenges to becoming a more diverse organization. But Catalyst also “walks the talk” to offer its own employees flexible work schedules. ... and one of the other great benefits is how much it improves your range of motion and ultimately your physical flexibility. Offer diversity and inclusion training. var plc461033 = window.plc461033 || 0; Another common bias is the assumption that diversity will spark an interpersonal conflict; subjects in experiments tended to assume that all-black or all-white groups are more harmonious than those with a combination of both blacks and whites (Shankar Vedantam, “Despite Improving Job Markets, Blacks Still Face Tougher Prospects,” NPR, Oct. 1, 2015, https://n.pr/2p0kdfM). (function(){ When inclusion is done well, everyone in the class benefits. Almost one-half of the organization’s workforce is virtual, and all full-time employees work a compressed workweek with half-day, work-from-home Fridays. Despite growing diversity, however, minority workers are more likely than whites to be unemployed and less likely to be promoted to executive or senior management positions. To reduce biased decisions, replace gut instincts with objective criteria. The term was first coined by the social democratic Prime Minister of Denmark Poul Nyrup Rasmussen in the 1990s.. Diversity management is a process that leads to a positive work environment where the similarities and differences among employees and all persons are valued. Often “diversity” and “inclusion” are assumed to be the same, but that is not the case. For example, one company had been giving whites higher pay increases for the same performance rating. All rights reserved. In another example of gender favoritism, until recently, only pictures of men hung on the walls of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. The workforce should reflect the community it serves; employees are not likely to consider long-term careers at an organization if they do not see people like them in management. This disconnect is causing businesses hardship, according to Deloitte, which believes that if businesses do not expand their diversity and inclusion initiatives, they may lose their millennial employees and have an even harder time retaining Generation Z employees. Many companies conduct diversity training programs without measuring whether or not they work. Leaders need to ensure that team members speak up, take advice, provide feedback, and share credit for team success. A 2012 Harvard Business Review report concluded that 40% of African-Americans feel like outsiders at work, and 35% of people of color report that they feel the need to project a work-place identity that differs from their authentic selves. Researcher synthesized the information from 468 studies, taking into consideration the themselves. Are between genders ; thus, poorly constructed diversity policies are not merely checking boxes towards inclusion vary the. 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