Almost three-quarters of employees (74%) believe their company is committed to improving diversity and inclusion (D&I) despite COVID-19, according to new data from Clutch, a B2B ratings and reviews firm. That’s good news because it reveals that workplace diversity remains an important objective for organisations, despite the pandemic.
HR professionals appear to share staff opinion on the topic. More than three-quarters of HR professionals (79%) believe their company is diverse. Experts attribute this to a more diverse workforce overall and an increase in companies employing international workers in the US.
In fact, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 57% of employees say their company has become more diverse in the past year. Only 1 in 5 (19%) aren’t sure if their company is committed to diversity in 2020, and just 8% believe their company isn’t committed to creating a more diverse workplace this year. Experts, however, warn that employees sometimes mistake their company having ‘some diversity’ with having ‘strong diversity’. “It is easy for people to overestimate their workplace’s diversity because people may think one employee of a different background represents the entire company,” pointed out Faizan Fahim, Content Marketing Lead for IT firm, ServerGuy.
PRIORITISING DIVERSITY
D&I initiatives can and still should be prioritised during the pandemic, while staff work remotely, according to experts. Diversity plans can continue during the pandemic, despite challenges created by the COVID-19 business environment. Jessica Lambrecht, Founder of recruiting consultancy The Rise Journey emphasises that growth and hiring can decrease while overall diversity goals remain the same. “Our growth goals have been slowed due to the pandemic, so our hiring has slowed,” Lambrecht said. “But our [recruiting] plans remain the same: Continue to create an inclusive environment and find diverse candidates for the projects we have currently planned.”
New flexible work schedules allow for increased geographic and gender diversity. New mothers might work reduced or altered hours, and Lambrecht believes that the pandemic may provide businesses opportunities to improve remote work policies to hire and retain more diverse teams. Although employees value a diverse workplace and believe their companies are committed to hiring a distinct range of worker, the survey reveals that few employees actually value specific D&I initiatives.
STAFF ATTITUDES TOWARDS DIVERSITY
Surprisingly, female leadership and LGBTQ+ inclusion ‘aren’t top priorities for employees’, reveals the Clutch survey. When pressed about specific goals for their workplace, employees don’t prioritise improving their company’s diversity. Just 1 in 5 workers value hiring more women into leadership positions, and just 17% value increased recruiting of underrepresented groups. Only 14% of employees value heightening LGBTQ+ awareness and sensitivity at their company.
The survey reveals that HR professionals want companies to invest in diversity initiatives, from employee training to recruiting of more underrepresented groups, as well as more LGBTQ+ awareness and sensitivity (see chart below). The most popular diversity initiative is training, with 24% of HR saying they would like employee diversity training and discussions at their workplace.
Firms such as Accenture, for example, advertise their D&I programmes, in order to educate employees across their business about how to approach a diverse workplace, according to Clutch. Accenture’s D&I workplace programmes, for example, help to educate employees about diversity’s benefits, assist management with remote teams, and bolster the skills of traditionally underrepresented groups.
Check out the full report here.
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