Diversity is a really hot topic as organisations seek to create the conditions to get the very best from their employees. Along with inclusion, diversity is one of the main areas of research and practice for CMC Business Psychology.
We’ve worked with many organisations in this field and wanted to take some time out to reflect on a few of the trends we’ve observed in 2019. This post offers shared insights based on our work – mainly with UK and Irish companies – and our own perceptions.
Trend 1 – More Organisations Are Defining Diversity and Inclusion
Despite diversity and inclusion becoming such a big focus for organisations, the two words have often merged together to become one phrase with no difference in meaning between each term.
However, the activities and thoughts for managing diversity and inclusion are distinct.
For many of the organisations we work with, we spend time considering these meanings and understanding how they are being interpreted.
Organisations tend to consider their positive actions around diversity along with their behaviour, cultural and leadership capability for inclusion. The recognition is there that it’s not enough to have the diversity stats, we need inclusive behaviours and cultures to get the real benefit of diverse workforces.
Trend 2 – Enterprises Are Taking a More Strategic View
In the past, diversity and inclusion was something of an add-on activity. A nice to have. Now many organisations are developing a strategic approach to their diversity and inclusion plan. This reflects higher levels of engagement and accountability from senior leadership teams in this area.
Trend 3 – Social Media
With so many viral hashtags and discussions on social media regarding bias in organisations the spotlight on diversity is shining brighter than ever before. Voices on social media are making sure organisations and business leaders are clear about the impact of ignoring a lack of diversity.
Some of the trending topics from 2019 have been #manel (all male panels), #whatadoctorlookslike and #everyonecan – hashtags and posts which aim to challenge perceptions around the jobs men and women carry out.
Trend 4 – Analysing Employee Representation
Organisations have really started to look at the level of representation amongst staff. There’s a saying we use when communicating diversity: “you don’t see what is not there”. This means we have to look at whether our organisation represents our community, and this means looking beyond what we already have.
Trend 5 – Diving into Data
In all areas of organisational behaviour and learning and development, there’s been a growing trend towards an evidence-based approach. This is evident in diversity and inclusion as organisations are using evidence and data to learn what’s working, how they’re progressing and where diversity is making an impact (for example improving engagement and attendance).
At CMC Business Psychology, we’re certainly stepping away from off-the-shelf diversity and inclusion training. And we’re using a company’s own data to design bespoke training interventions with clear ROI and links to organisational needs.
Trend 6 – Shifting Mindsets
Some organisations have been working on diversity and inclusion for a number of years and have asked for support to take their progress further by shifting mind-sets. This is because there is sometimes reluctance among key staff to work on their biases or even show support for diversity in the workplace.
We’ve supported work in this area in a number of ways:
1. Coaching – offering one-to-one support for staff to understand their resistance to or fears in challenging current thought processes
2. Using learning agility theory – we explain that being agile in the way we think and learn is as beneficial as adopting agile business processes
3. Growth mindset theory – helps explore how we can be more open to inclusivity
| Fixed Mindset | Growth Mindset |
| “I’m a good person. I’m not racist.” (denying the existence of implicit bias, and implying that being racist is a binary trait) | “I can learn more about these things with effort and persistence.” |
| “I can’t raise any controversial topics because I might say the wrong thing and I don’t want to be seen as racist.” | “I will try to learn what is needed for me to attempt this and if I mess up, I will learn from that experience.” |
(Growth Mindset and Learning about Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion | Adventures in Teaching)
4. Neuroscience – we help people understand how human beings think and make decisions and that we all use heuristics and biases. For all business leaders, challenging bounded awareness can help them to make more effective decisions.
Trend 8 – Accountability
There has been a lot of talk for the last few years around leaders being held accountable for diversity or the lack thereof. This has certainly started to shift in 2019 for a few reasons. Firstly, because diversity it is now part of a strategic plan for many organisations, so it becomes a performance issue. Secondly, the increased use of data enables more comparison between departments, units and teams resulting in more accountability for business leaders.
Trend 9 – Gender and Language
In 2019, the word of the year is ‘they’ in reference to a gender neutral pronoun. This reflects the importance of language, particularly in relation to people’s identities. Organisations have included a lot of inclusive language modules in their diversity and inclusion training. This training tackles concepts of banter, acceptable language and recognising the impact of words.
Time is also taken to review how inclusive job specs are or how language on a website or in a marketing communication may not represent the organisation’s inclusive values.
Trend 10 – Areas of Focus for Diversity
Each year certain areas of diversity become more of a trend. As mentioned, gender has come into focus in a slightly different way this year despite always being a big discussion area.
Other hot topics this year have been:
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- Age – we see many people working longer and wanting to challenge the concept of traditional retirement. This has resulted in some individuals covering their age at work. We’ve also seen initiatives to encourage more returners which are attracting experienced professionals who have had a career break back into work. And there’s also been a lot of work in the area of supporting women and men with the menopause and andropause in the workplace.
- Transgender – there’s been a lot of great support for transgender employees but there has also been a wider macro debate that has caused some conflict making this a sensitive area to tackle in 2019.
- Race – another influence from a wider macro environment. Due to influences in the UK there has been some debate about race. This has increased conscious bias resulting in organisations taking steps to tackle it.
The fact that there are so many trends we can reference here shows that companies are willing to tackle and be open to discussions regarding wider influences and current events that may be impacting their employees. Being able to respond to political and macro trends and have difficult conversations is a sign of truly inclusive leadership.
What Else Have We Been Doing?
“The most effective strategies focus on changing processes, not changing minds” (David Rock)
For a while now, unconscious bias training has faced some challenge as to whether simply raising awareness of biases is enough to change behaviour. So, a lot of our work this year has included training on nudge theory which allows organisation to create processes and design workplaces for more inclusive cultures.
Great examples of inclusion nudges can be found at this website which includes ideas on process, framing and ‘feel the need nudges’ which I have also written about in this blog.
What Does All This Mean for 2020?
We already have a lot of interest from organisations seeking to conduct research and create evidence-based reports to inform the steps they should be taking.
As organisations realise they need to link diversity and inclusion initiatives to their business and people strategies, we’re seeing a more bespoke approach being taken. With clear leadership and engagement from many organisations with many leaders speaking out, the diversity and inclusion outlook for 2020 is very bright.
To make diversity and inclusion a focus for your organisation next year, contact Clare on +44 7594 946 166 for a friendly chat.
