Letter from the Executive Director

When it comes to DEI, the primary challenge is not the tools, the methods of how to measure or even the strategies to make an impact - it is about managing people. Speak to any DEI practitioner and they will tell you their greatest hurdle is people. This is notably true especially when it comes to changing the minds and hearts of people who come from different backgrounds and cultures. After all, DEI is all about people management. 

In this February issue of our e-news, we have decided to take a stab at illustrating what are the various people management challenges in the DEI space. We are sharing a global perspective on how difficult and yet rewarding it can be if DEI is managed properly, effectively and efficiently when it comes to people management.

We are touching the periphery here especially in terms of recruitment, compensation and benefits, talent management, legality, and training and development, yet, the knowledge we have put together will be of significant value to our readers.

In addition, we also would like to inform our readers that In March, we will be having our Mental Health event. This event will showcase the issues associated Mental Health and DEI from an Asian perspective. This would certainly be an event not to be missed by those who wish to gain a broader and outside view of how things work outside their country or region.

Finally, also in March, The Forum will be having their Conference on Combining Forces 2023 on 27-29 March. Please register for the event, it is an event that has brought in many amazing people across the globe who have their expertise to share on the DEI platform. 

Let us know what you think and share your own thoughts on this piece. Feel free to email me at sudeep.mohandas@centreforglobalinclusion.org

Best,

Dr. Sudeep Mohandas

Executive Director

When done right, diversity, equity and inclusion practices are not mere surface solutions, but are integrated into every facet of an employee’s individual journey, and on an even larger scale, life at the organization. 

Integration, however, is a process, and organizations around the globe are working to translate policies into action. For instance, majority of Singapore firms acknowledge the benefits of DEI, but seven in 10 have yet to introduce DEI policies. Despite being a cultural melting pot, Singapore ranked as the second-worst performing country in terms of workplace diversity and inclusion practices in 2019.

The recent job cuts in tech at the beginning of 2023 have not made things easier, with the layoffs having an impact on diversity and inclusion jobs. “Diversity, equity and inclusion can’t be a thing that you only do when times are good,” says Meta Chief Diversity Officer Maxine Williams. “If it becomes a flavor of the week, then companies will lose out on talent.”

Hiring for Diversity

Breaking the Glass ceiling

The “glass ceiling” is a term that has been around since the 1980s. It is a metaphor to describe the invisible barriers that prevent women and minorities from progressing into management and executive positions. 

The issue of the glass ceiling has persisted for decades. McKinsey & Company published a study in 2022, showing that for every 100 men promoted to manager, only 85 women were promoted. This gap increases for black women (58 for every 100 men) and Latina women (71 for every 100 men).

In the Philippines, gender roles outside of the workplace play a part. Professor Dynah A. Basuil of the Asia Institute of Management writes that “deeply engrained gender roles outside of work” and “traditional work styles” play a role in women’s participation and advancement in

the workplace.

Organizations benefit when women are given the opportunity to advance in their field. “Female employees are more committed to their employer’s business goals when their employer demonstrates that female job candidates and employees…can have at least the same chances as their male counterparts of getting hired, promoted and recommended for training and pay rises,” writes Professor Basuil.

Addressing the existing biases against women in the workplace has taken a new level of importance in an age of digitization. Brigid Trenerry, Gayathri Haridas, and Sun Sun Lim of the Singapore University of Technology and Design stress how important it is to prevent existing biases from being built into our everyday technology. For instance, the innocuous use of a default female voice for digital home assistants like Siri or Alexa might solidify the stereotype of women constantly being helpful and accommodating, and contribute to our gender perceptions.

This becomes especially poignant in the face of artificial intelligence and automation. A multi-country study by the International Monetary Fund shows that overall, female workers are at a higher risk of automation compared to their male counterparts.

Compensation and benefits — more than just pay

For many individuals, the decision to remain at a company for the long haul is affected by a combination of different factors. A study on the Cross Cultural Dimension of Compensation Management emphasizes the role that culture plays in mapping out compensation strategies. Financial reward can be the most important factor in some cultures, whereas in other cultures, compensation should include the meeting of employees’ economic, social and psychological needs. 

Maternity leave for women is one benefit that varies widely across countries, and is a key area where organizations can build inclusive policies. According to the International Labour Organization, the majority of women without adequate maternity protection are in Africa and Asia. In Kenya, the law allows a maternity leave for three months, although this is not often followed. In Brazil, women are legally allowed 120 days of maternity leave, irrespective of job or wages. In Japan, maternity leave spans six weeks before delivery up to eight weeks after giving birth. In addition to this, fathers are also allowed to take up to 30 weeks of parental leave.

There is also an ongoing conversation on gender-neutral parental leave, and the importance of including same-sex parents, or families formed through surrogacy, in parental leave policies.

An inclusive policy on working arrangements can help parents ease back into full-time work after parental leave. The creation of flexible working arrangements has garnered much attention since the 2020 lockdown; working from home (typically a temporary option for employees who work in traditional office settings) and remote work (typically a permanent arrangement for employees working completely outside a traditional office setting) can provide unique advantages, adding talent and skillsets to the organization regardless of location and increasing employee productivity. 

Religious accommodation is another factor that contributes to an employee’s experience of the workplace. Companies typically observe national religious holidays, ranging from Eid al Fitr to Christmas to the Chinese Lunar New Year. The period between September and January, particularly, is sometimes called the “December dilemma” due to the many religious and secular holidays that occur. 

An inclusive religious accommodation policy extends well beyond days off for specific times of the year, but also includes allowances for facial hair and hairstyles, wearing of religious symbols, and creating space and time for prayer breaks in the workplace. Aside from complying with the law on religious observances, companies would do well to

listen to their employees.

Organization structure and governance

A well-crafted diversity statement can be a good starting point for organizations, but to make a real and lasting impact, any vision statement needs to be translated into tangible action. “Leaders must have the guts to insist on organization-wide performance on agreed diversity goals and objectives,” writes Tobias de Coning of the International School of Management. A lack of traction is one of many barriers to organizational diversity. The barriers range from having the wrong conversations about diversity to tokenism.

This is especially important when organizational DEI practices can vary greatly among cultural contexts. A 2015 study in the India Institute of Management Bangalore explores how an organizationally mandated language can have an effect on team dynamics. In South Korea, an honorifics system is an ingrained part of daily life, and translates into the way colleagues are addressed in the workplace. In Latin America, job titles and benefits are closely tied to

social status.

Access to new learning opportunities

Training and development are key aspects of workplace life, especially as individuals progress and begin to take on more responsibility. International events are excellent opportunities for gaining new learning and skills, and to hear from varied perspectives. However, access to learning opportunities can be largely dictated by where these training events, conferences, and workshops are held.

For instance, the recent International AIDS Conference in Montreal saw numerous delegates get their visas denied, and who were then unable to attend the conference in person. Many of the delegates who were denied visas lived in low- and middle-income countries, despite playing key roles in their respective fields. The climate conferences held in Europe have also posed visa challenges for young people from the global south, making it difficult to attend and contribute their perspectives.

The visa issue is not a new one, and has often meant extra roadblocks for individuals coming from the global south. The pandemic in its early days also added vaccination status as a travel requirement, making it more difficult to travel for those from countries with late access to

the vaccine.

Shifting from the top

While it can be daunting to shift into an organization that integrates DEI into every facet, the benefits are worth it. Organizational leadership plays a crucial role in combatting tokenism and virtue-signaling, and working to authentically advocate DEI initiatives. While employees are encouraged to integrate DEI into their daily lives, leaders also need to embrace an understanding of diversity beyond visible factors such as language and dress code, and model that understanding.

Reasonable Accommodation



A reasonable accommodation is any change to the application or hiring process, to the job, to the way the job is done, or the work environment that allows a person with a disability who is qualified for the job to perform the essential functions of that job and enjoy equal employment opportunities. Accommodations are considered “reasonable” if they do not create an undue hardship or a direct threat.

Book:

Managing Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Perspective

Listen in on a panel discussion about diversity recruitment between diversity specialists, Jin Yoo, Director of Global TA at OpenTable and Kayak, Doug Melville, Chief Diversity Officer at TBWA, and Ohad Zaslavsky, VP of Global TA

at Intel.

22 March 2023 11am EST, 3pm London, 7pm Dubai

The Forum on Workplace Inclusion will also be having their Conference on Combining Forces 2023 on March 27-29, 2023. This event brings together many amazing people from across the globe to share their expertise on DEI. Join us for this exciting exchange of ideas. Several of our Expert Panellists will be presenting at this years Forum on Workplace Inclusion. Take a look at:

Dr. Joel Brown, Global Inclusion Partners

Tanya Cruz Teller, Spaciousness Works

Bernado Ferdman, Ferdman Consulting

Dr. Karen Francis, American Institute for Research (AIR)

Dr. Alan Richter, QED Consulting

Riikka Salonen, BCT Partners

Mary-Francis Winters, Winters Group

Register for The Forum on Workplace Inclusion 35th annual conference – Combining Forces(x): Fueling Our Collective Capacity for Change, March 27-29, 2023 #WorkplaceForum2023

Facebook page: @WorkplaceForum

LinkedIn page: @WorkplaceForum

Twitter page: @WorkplaceForum

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