How does remote working options can promote diversity? – Guide
A surprising increase in productivity is not the only unexpected result of this challenging situation. Some companies are realizing that working remotely can make it easier to attract and hire underrepresented talent that may not be plentiful where your office is located. At the same time, many employees from underrepresented groups are embracing the work of home as a stepping stone to inclusion, helping them to fully engage in their work without facing unnecessary obstacles. Remote work has taken the business world by storm, and many companies have reaped unexpected benefits since adopting remote work strategies in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote work has also brought diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) benefits. If your company is considering the future of the remote work option for your workforce, consider the following points on how remote work advances DEI. Remote work can help marginalized groups feel more secure. While some believe restrictions on casual conversations in the workplace pose a challenge for employees to build relationships, I believe the pressure on employees from marginalized groups to toggle code switches to survive in the office environment is a burden many enjoy. to unload. Also, fewer confrontations in the office with strangers means fewer judgments or even well-meaning comments about appearance or anything else that constitutes microaggression. This, in turn, gives employees from marginalized backgrounds more control over their communities and less pressure to present themselves in a certain way.
Remote work options can help promote diversity
Issues of race, gender and sexual orientation
Every employer would like to think they have a highly educated workforce where discrimination is not an issue, but the fact is that organizations are made up of human beings with prejudices that are both conscious and unconscious. In a remote environment, however, these biases surface less, as what matters most is productivity and effectiveness. Personalities spend less time in conflict and more time to understand each other’s value through work.
The Disabled Workforce
One group that may have issues with commuting, workplace accessibility, and perceived performance are those with disabilities. The remote work environment, however, eliminates some of that friction in their lives and helps them overcome any social stigmas. They can work in environments tailored to their needs and develop relationships with co-workers in an environment where their disability is unlikely to be noticed.
Location based access
Ask the average person if he misses his way. With millions of Americans traveling more than an hour to work before the crisis, most of the time the answer to that question is no. For companies, the talent pool is typically limited to those who live within a reasonable commute distance of the metropolitan areas that attractive employers call home, completely eliminating the value that employees living in rural areas and foreign countries can offer due to their inability to travel. Remote workforces solve both problems, making it possible to broaden the base from which the company can attract candidates and save a lot of time in transit in the process.
salary questions
If you’ve worked long enough, you’ve probably come across an organization where people know what each other’s salaries are. This can be problematic when raising questions about how employees are evaluated. Gains related to geography are part of the problem, as co-workers have a better understanding of how much their colleagues earn and sometimes don’t see themselves as equals. Teleworkers lack context about the scope of a person’s money in a given area. Someone in Florida probably doesn’t understand the value of someone in Taiwan’s salary, which alleviates some of the tension of knowing who earns the most. At the same time, you can assure employees that there is a level playing field by being transparent about how pay is calculated, factoring national averages, cost of living, and seniority into the equation to eliminate subjectivity.
Releasing workers from the agenda
For remote teams, time zone differences can be both a challenge and a blessing. While it’s not always easy to get an immediate answer to a question or feel connected to employees in different time zones, these obstacles can be overcome. Meanwhile, adopting asynchronous workflows and communication allows everyone on the team to fit work into their lives where it makes the most sense. For some, they will work nights in the US and, as a result, connect with colleagues in Asia with whom they may have spoken very little.
How to Support diversity through remote work
Open Up Communication channels
Communication is key in any work environment, but in the world of remote work, it’s interesting to see how chat communication can change the way we perceive each other. For example, on a text-based platform, employees from other countries where English is a second language can express themselves better without fear that their accent will get in the way. Introverts communicate in ways they normally wouldn’t, and extroverts find new ways to express themselves that, in some cases, can be more effective.
The world is at your door
Once you have the tools in place, it makes no sense to limit the talent pool you have to choose from. Employees from different countries bring different perspectives, different experiences and enrich your organization’s cultural norms, making it better prepared to do business along cultural lines. There was no shortage of candidates looking for remote work before COVID-19, with search terms including the word remote seeing a 32% increase year-over-year, according to Indeed. Now, that number is likely to increase rapidly as millions are out of work and interest in remote work has soared. Simply putting the word remote in a job ad will attract candidates from places you would not previously have been interested.
Focus on Work
In a remote environment, you are less likely to get caught up in someone else’s personal affairs or seeing them joking around with co-workers. Instead, their work becomes the focus and judgment of whether or not they are a good cultural fit. In office environments, we sometimes mistake regular meetings and office visits for work done, but it’s actually what you might call “shallow work.” The reputation of remote workers is based more on the quality of their work than on how often they contact you or who they connect with. This type of performance-based approach levels the playing field in the sense that all notions of popularity are eliminated and it all comes down to how effective the person is. The same goes for the remote hiring process, which focuses on the person’s previous work, as opposed to the visual cues of a traditional interview.
Final note
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