5: Leading inclusivity in the workplace

Retention - steps a company takes to keep its employees, measures by how long they stay, how happy or fulfilled they are, and more

Salaries

Pay disparity tied to gender, race, and ability
Equitable compensation with transparency -> article...
Rubrics and ranges can be a start
Talk about money

Suggestions:

Define what factors play into determining pay bands
Audit existing salaries
Spotlight the issue
Train managers on how they are expected to review and apply the new formula
Maintain transparency about salaries

Nontraditional benefits

Family-related and carers leave
Flexible work - “Facilitate the environment that lets them do their best work—on their terms.”
Professional development
Loan matching
Transportation help
Work immigration paperwork fees reimbursement

Leading the way (from any level)

Better meetings - power dynamics, have level of respect and accommodation for all participants, so all voices can be heard
- Respect schedules - start and end on time
- Provide accommodations - notes, captions, transcriptions, recordings
- Don't require cameras on - we didn't have that options when people worked from the office. It is hard to gauge people when you can't see them. People can space out even in a meeting room, or not pay attention, or answer emails. But sometimes, not having the videos on can be liberating or even necessary. So maybe it depends on context?
- Speak up when witnessing interruptions - can be hard with internet lag, or with software keyboard shortcuts
- Give credit where it's due
- Rotate admin housekeeping - we try this at book club, different MCs every week, but notes taking is more flaky and incomplete. But is it important enough to insist?
Leadership audits - representation at leadership level. We usually say audits and measuring is needed in many aspects of management - measure first, sometimes pay attention to trends, draw insights, and decide what action is needed. And then monitor and audit and measure again. And the cycle continues.
Ask questions - good basic guiding questions that bring up more questions that should be asked...
Do your research
- Gather demographic data
- Discuss improvements with colleagues
- Ask others in your network
- Seek DEI consultants
Start conversations
DEI initiatives
- ERPs
- Diversity councils

“Many in leadership roles assume that this kind of work will cost them their current position, but I’m not suggesting we remove specific people from leadership. I’m simply highlighting the importance of understanding how leadership teams come to be. What leads people to these roles? What are the requirements they meet, and what potential oversight might they have in these roles? The more we know, the more space we make for future leaders.”

Diversity initiatives at Culture Amp seems to be promoting women that can play well with the other men in the company. Do women need to fit in?

It is good to define a bar and what we are looking for in a leader. Women that behave in a more masculine way get promoted but get named ice queens, where as women that follow the predetermined notion of how women should act (empathy, nurturing) do not usually get promoted.

Inclusive leadership

Book ref : The Inclusion Dividend

Being better managers
- Self-awareness, understanding others, and understanding the impact of status and privilege
- Standardise performance reviews
- Don't promote in silo
- Stop asking: where do you see yourself in x years? instead ask: what are you excited about? what's one thing you'd love to teach others? What's missing in your role? What do you enjoy about your role? what does growth looks like to you?
- Invest time in your team: check ins, one:ones...
- Choose proactive, not performative action (least effort)
When issues arise
When employees leave

Chapter 5 gives inspiration on questions to ask during job interviews

6: Broadening the community

Intentionality in efforts rather than not - we need to decide to do something about what we care.

Never consider asking organisers for talks I am interested in seeing more off.

People should dedicate themselves to the communities they care about and continue to address issues.

Discussions in the book might be better at scale. They might be expensive and not suitable for small businesses. During the pandemic, we didn't know what work life will look like after the pandemic.

People go to events for content or networking and connecting. And people that go for content, can do so from the comfort of their home. And the other people do not care as much about the content. So after the pandemic, event organisers lost about 40% of their attendees.

Blackmill / book-club