Both men and women need a workplace where they are encouraged to be authentic and express themselves, says Laura Quigley, senior vice president of sales for Asia-Pacific at IAS. She explains that the leader must ensure that the quietest person in the room is encouraged to speak their mind.
It’s hard to argue against the benefits of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), given decades of studies showing that a diverse workforce measurably improves decision-making, problem solving, creativity, innovation and flexibility.
Singapore grabbed headlines last month after posting the highest percentage of companies with women as CEOs, according to a Deloitte global study. The record number? 13.1%. While progress is worth appreciating, we still have a long way to go.
Despite leading the list in the CEO category, Singapore ranked 28th out of 51 ranked countries in terms of the percentage of board seats held by women at 17.6%. The city-state also ranks lower than some of its Southeast Asian neighbors, namely Malaysia (24%) and the Philippines (17.7%), which rank 18th and 27th respectively. The first place was held by France.
Companies spend millions on anti-bias training every year. The goal is to create a more inclusive, and therefore more innovative and efficient, workforce. Studies show that well-managed diverse groups outperform homogeneous groups and are more engaged, have higher collective intelligence, and are better at making decisions and solving problems.
Drawing on some of the best practices from IAS and other companies and leaders I’ve met, I’m sharing some actionable tips and acting on them will serve you well.
You can’t be here if you can’t see her
It is extremely important that women leaders come out in numbers and open up about their backgrounds, setbacks, goals, challenges, support networks, etc. who brought them to where they are now. Stories shape social narratives. The more stories of successful women we share, the more their voices and representation gain and reach women across the world and create a ripple effect to inspire more women to seek the same opportunities and network of support.
Representation of diverse talents
This remains a key driver of inclusion. Companies should focus on fostering diverse talent in leadership, management, technical, and board roles. They need to ensure that a strong, tailored business case for DEI exists and is well accepted while considering which forms of multivariate diversity to prioritize (eg, going beyond gender and ethnicity). They also need to set the right data-driven goals for representing diverse talent.
Strengthen leadership accountability and capacity for DCI
Companies should place their key business leaders and managers at the heart of the DEI effort, beyond their HR functions or employee resource group leaders. They also need to build the inclusive leadership capacities of their managers as well as their executives, and hold all leaders more categorically accountable for the progress of the DEI.
Enabling Equal Opportunity Through Fairness and Transparency
Companies must ensure that conditions for advancement and opportunity are fair, in pursuit of true meritocracy. Companies should deploy analytics tools to build visibility into the extent to which promotions and compensation processes and criteria are transparent and fair. They should remove bias from these processes and strive to achieve diversity goals as part of long-term workforce plans.
Promote openness and fight against micro-aggressions
Companies should maintain a zero-tolerance policy for discriminatory behavior such as bullying and harassment, and actively build the capacity of managers and staff to identify and address microaggressions. They should also set standards for what constitutes open and welcoming behavior, and ask leaders and employees to rate each other on how well they are respecting this behavior.
Variety of voices
Men and women need a workplace where they are encouraged to be authentic and express themselves. The leader must ensure that the quietest person in the room is encouraged to speak their mind and not just for the sake of inclusivity, but because study after study has established how good they are. for business to have diversity and inclusiveness in decision-making. Having participated in many industry panels, I would personally like to encourage women to join panels, express their views, be seen and heard and become active agents of change in the workplace. and in industry.
Finally, change starts from within and leaders need to start coaching and empowering their teams. It can help employees balance productivity, well-being, and a sense of connection in the changing future of work. Companies need to treat DEI initiatives as an essential and dynamic part of their business, and ongoing workforce review and response to changing needs is required. The employer should establish procedures for periodic review of DEI initiatives and objectives.
Laura Quigley is Senior Vice President of Asia Pacific Sales at IAS
