The World Economic Forum (WEF) has launched a toolkit to help leaders of organisations improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) and create fair, equitable and diverse workplaces post-Covid-19.
With current technology no longer “neutral” about DE&I, companies must “leverage new technologies to create safe, open and inclusive work environments”, according to WEF. The WEF’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 Toolkit published today, outlines new technologies that are capable of establishing best practices that were previously out of reach. For example, new systems capable of reviewing job applications at scale in far greater detail than a typically resourced people and culture department.
“These systems can identify and reduce bias, introduce greater transparency and visibility, and provide timely analytics,” notes WEF. “New methods of analysing employee interactions, such as organisational network analysis and tools for immersive learning using augmented and virtual reality, can all play a role in improving outcomes, while cloud-based communication and visualisation platforms will be fundamental to most tools”.
LEVERAGING DE&I
However, WEF’s research also points out that technology alone “cannot create fair, equitable and diverse workplaces”. It requires an “integrated strategy that blends new technological tools with human-centric approaches to workforce management that focus on employee experience, purpose and belonging”. To succeed, businesses need to leverage DE&I as core organisational strengths. In examining the potential of these technologies, the WEF’s toolkit cautions against adopting unproven solutions, which can result in a range of unintended consequences and contain biases that deepen rather than counteract exclusion.
Aside from it simply being the right thing to do, much research in recent years has proven that increasing DE&I brings a host of benefits to businesses. The toolkit cites research to suggest that well-managed diverse teams significantly outperform homogenous ones over time, across profitability, innovation, decision-making and employee engagement. Conversely, companies that fall behind their peers in DE&I are less likely to achieve above-average profitability.
POWERED BY DIVERSE OPINIONS
“Successful organisations are powered by the diverse opinions, skill sets and life experiences of their employees. Ensuring racial justice, gender parity, disability inclusion, LGBTI equality and inclusion of all forms of human diversity needs to be the “new normal” in the workplace set to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis and it is clear that technology can be leveraged to help rapidly make this a reality,” stated WEF’s Managing Director Saadia Zahidi.
As outlined in the toolkit’s sister publication HR4.0: Shaping People Strategies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, achieving DE&I begins with senior management. Leaders need to focus their organisations’ efforts around three main areas of action, from talent sourcing and selection, to organisational analysis and monitoring, to employee experience, reward and development.
The toolkit has been developed in collaboration with leading experts and practitioners from the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on the New Equality and Inclusion Agenda. The Forum has also recently established a unique high-level community of Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officers from top global companies to drive action in this space by exchanging best practices and exploring emerging trends, opportunities and risks.
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