How can HR promote women at work?
Gallagher-Louisy says acknowledging the blind spots or gaps
in knowledge is a great fi rst step to making meaningful D&I
changes within an organization. CCDI has used a diversity
census tool with 50 organizations and found that senior
leadership and HR teams think they're doing well on D&I,
while equity seeking groups within the organization have an
entirely different perspective.
"Most male leaders don't know how their average employees
are experiencing the organization," she said. "HR professionals
need to educate themselves and provide information to leaders
about the value of promoting D&I in their organization. The
conversation should be had on a regular basis. HR has a lot of
infl uence if they choose to use it."
Here are four key ways that Halter believes HR professionals
can help make a demographic shift in the organization:
1. When succession planning, hold leaders accountable for
preparing a diverse talent pool for leadership positions in
the future.
2. Ensure diverse interview panels when hiring
new candidates.
3. Help address the wage gap.
4. Look at the big picture when it comes to
performance reviews.
He says the subtle bias in staff functions live in hard-to-
measure metrics. For example, if a project fails to live up
to projected success and a man is responsible, he might be
given the benefi t of the doubt. If a woman is at the helm, it
may be more likely perceived as a failure.
"You don't notice this in small numbers, but if you run
performance reviews analysis you start to uncover what
bias looks like in meaningful ways," said Halter.
Gallagher-Louisy says awareness is slowly seeping through the
public consciousness, which is the fi rst step toward change.
Halter is also encouraged by the gradually warmer reaction
from leaders. When all else fails, he applies simple math to
a complex problem.
"Women are 50 per cent of the population and the workforce.
[American business magnate Warren Buffett] says, 'You're
trying to fi ght a battle with half your team on the bench.' It
doesn't pass the common sense test."
