It is widely recognised that organisations with diverse teams outperform their competitors. Diverse teams are more likely to come up with creative ideas and innovations. With this in mind, HR teams shouldn’t just be tasked with ensuring diversity and inclusivity, they should also be nurturing it and encouraging connections and conversations between co-workers.
You could have the most diverse workforce in the world, but if those individuals aren’t connecting and collaborating, then the company culture is not being enriched by that diversity. This can affect the bottom line in terms of lack of innovation through the absence of that rich tapestry of people coming together. And it can also impact the talent pipeline as a diverse pool of talented candidates can afford to be picky about where they work. They won’t just be judging your business on how diverse your workforce is but also on what you do to support diversity and ensure inclusivity.
The mass adoption of hybrid working supports diversity and inclusivity on one hand because people who are more at ease working from home are permitted to do so. But on the other hand, a hybrid working strategy that does not give those home-based workers the same opportunities to participate in the culture as those who are working in the office can also harm diversity and inclusivity.
True, meaningful diversity and inclusivity
HR teams can make a common mistake assuming diversity and inclusivity is about ethnicity, gender, or sexual preference. These are certainly important in the vast spectrum of different factors that diversity and inclusion cover, but there are many other aspects that need to be considered. Lifestyle, external responsibilities, physical ability, and personality type should be essential considerations, especially in the age of hybrid and remote work, where employers have a greater say in where and how they work.
Take a single working mother, for example. Being the sole guardian of a child can limit her opportunities to travel to conferences and events. In turn, this prevents her from networking and getting involved in the corporate culture as fully as her co-workers. This could lead to those co-workers receiving more opportunities and moving up the corporate ladder faster.
Now consider a person with a handicap who may not have the easiest time traveling to conferences and events or immersing themselves in the corporate culture. They, too, could miss out on those same opportunities to progress within the organisation. And that’s through no fault of their own – it’s because the corporate culture doesn’t accommodate their needs. While some personality types thrived in traditional event environments, others won’t have felt as comfortable. The face-to-face mingling, the pressure to engage, and the expectation to socialise in scenarios such as post-event drinks can be draining for some and a source of acute anxiety for others.
These are all areas where many organisations can often have blind spots when it comes to promoting diversity and inclusivity. The answer isn’t simply holding meetings virtually so home, and office workers can attend. The answer is to take the wider corporate culture and make that virtual too. From internal and external events to team building sessions, true inclusivity can be enabled by hosting as much of it online as possible and allowing every worker, whether at home or in the office, to participate in a comfortable way.
Technology drives positive change
Virtual event technology is the gateway for HR teams that want to inject more diversity and inclusivity into their events successfully. While event planning can be a fulfilling part of HR, HR people aren’t necessarily event planners or technologists, which can become a barrier.
When it comes to setting up a virtual or hybrid event, it pays to have professional assistance. Working with a partner such as an event platform provider that has the expertise in setting up the technology can be hugely beneficial because it allows the HR team to focus on what they’re great at, such as developing the content or booking speakers and special guests.
A platform that provides a dedicated account manager and round-the-clock support will give the HR team added peace of mind that the event is in safe hands from a technical standpoint and that instant assistance is available whenever they need it. Built-in analytics will also provide vital insights into how the event was received by the workforce, including how engaged each individual was throughout the event. This can be especially beneficial for training events and job fairs where the HR team will understand which participants are most engaged.
Measuring impact
Technology also has the potential to make a meaningful change when it comes to providing training around diversity and inclusivity. Simply providing tick-box training exercises is not enough. People need the opportunity to put what they are being taught into practice. This can be incredibly challenging to do because an individual who hasn’t quite understood the training could easily offend a co-worker when trying to put their learnings into practice, or those that have been through the training may be afraid of getting it wrong and being viewed in a negative light by their peers.
A bot that is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) driven speech analytics can hold those delicate conversations one-on-one with workers who have been through training, analysing their responses in real-time and providing a score out of ten. Not only does this remove the possibility of co-workers misinterpreting what they have learned and causing offense to one another, but it also allows them to understand where they are going wrong and correct their misinterpretation faster.
The future is inclusive
Virtual and hybrid event technology isn’t just driving inclusion and diversity in corporate culture – it’s changing the very nature of events too. As more employers adopt this technology, more people within workforces who would have traditionally been unintentionally excluded from events such as sole guardians, handicapped workers, introverts, and those who suffer from anxiety will get the opportunity to participate in a way that works for them. In turn, this will make events richer, more inclusive, and more diverse. This will lead to greater creative output as well as stronger connections and collaboration. Employers that leverage the right technology to enable this will be all the richer for it.
