The Downstream Implications of Unintentional Harm + 12 Actionable Steps to Mitigate it [Part II]

This is #IncreaseDiversity, a weekly newsletter series + Increase Diversity Toolbox sharing best practices for employers who want to learn how to… well, increase diversity. To see previous editions, visit JenniferTardy.com. | IG: @IncreaseDiversity | Increase Diversity - YouTube

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It’s alarming how unintentional harm in diversity recruiting and retention strategies can undermine your efforts to increase diversity. Part I of this newsletter (published last week) unpacked what harm means. Now, onto Part II.

But why does this matter? Why should ‘not doing harm’ be at the forefront of your initiative to increase diversity? Simply put, harm demoralizes both the workplace and its employees. This leads to a negative workplace experience, often manifesting to employees as feelings of imposter syndrome, being gaslighted, or experiencing a severe lack of career dignity. This is not an ideal place to be or work.

Now, let’s dig deeper into how this demoralized atmosphere can detrimentally impact an organization’s journey toward genuinely increasing diversity and retention without harm.

The Effects of a Demoralized Workplace

Navigating the workplace is like navigating a bustling city—so many unique personalities, roles, and surprises around every corner! Just as in any lively ecosystem, there’s a balance to maintain. When something shakes things up, like workplace demoralization, it doesn’t just mean a few ruffled feathers or a bad day at the office. It means much more. Let’s dive into the ripple effect it creates:

Employee Disengagement: A harmful environment does more than just push employees away. It actively disengages them. Employees no longer feel connected to their work or the company’s vision. Instead of passionate professionals, you’re left with workers merely going through the motions.
Distrust in Leadership: When harm is evident, whether overtly or covertly, employees begin to question the authenticity of leadership’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. They start perceiving these initiatives as mere performative actions—actions done for show, for optics, or to avoid potential legal issues rather than stemming from genuine concern.
The Phenomenon of ‘Quiet Quitting’: ‘Quiet quitting’ is a scenario all too common yet rarely seriously discussed. Quiet quitters physically stay at a company, but mentally, they’ve checked out. These employees do the bare minimum, just enough to stay off the radar. They’ve given up on the idea of excelling or going the extra mile. The result? A vast, untapped reservoir of potential that’s just left stagnant.
Increased Turnover: When employees constantly feel undermined or undervalued, they’ll seek greener pastures. The cost of this is twofold: not only does the company lose out on talent, but they also have to spend valuable resources on backfilling these positions, which isn’t cheap. The SHRM benchmarking data suggests that the average cost per hire is $4,683. And for executive positions, it’s a whopping $28,329.
Negative Employer Brand Reputation: Word travels fast. In an age of Glassdoor reviews and social media, negative experiences will inevitably be shared. If a company gains a reputation for having a toxic or unsupportive work environment, it will face challenges in attracting top talent. Potential candidates are likely to think twice before joining, wondering if they, too, will be subjected to such experiences.

Addressing the Harm and Rebuilding Trust: 12 Actionable Steps

Trust is the glue that binds an organization, promoting unity, productivity, and a sense of belonging. However, when harm creeps in, trust can swiftly crumble. Tackling these issues and restoring trust is crucial, and it calls for purposeful and practical measures.

These 12 actionable steps help you avoid harm in your organization while increasing diversity and fostering a more inclusive environment:

Adopting Inclusive Communication Practices: Develop communication guidelines that promote inclusivity, avoiding language that might alienate or ‘other’ any group. For example, use gender-neutral language in job postings and internal communications. Regular training and inclusive language tools can help uphold these standards.
Ensure ALL Employees Feel Included: Make sure that all employees feel like they are a part of the conversation. Create scenarios where employees feel like they are all on one side of the table fighting against the same problem. For example, if underrepresentation is the problem, all employees can work together to collectively find a solution.
Understanding Role Accountability: Emphasize the distinct, yet complementary roles of recruiters and hiring managers in the hiring process. Recruiters are responsible for the level of representation within the candidate pool while hiring managers generally make the final selection decision. A strong partnership between the two is essential to increasing diversity and retention without harm. Learn how to develop effective partnerships with hiring managers in the Team JTC eBook The Art of Calling-in Hiring Managers.
Avoiding Tokenism: To avoid tokenism, it’s essential to go beyond checkboxes, and performative exercises, such as asking people from historically underrepresented communities to be in photos for the website, but then not offering a seat at the table to affect real change within the company. Adopt a holistic mindset by addressing representation in hiring, retention, and promotion, and all other aspects of the organization.
Prioritizing Lived Experience Intelligence™: Prioritize candidates’ diverse life and professional experiences and backgrounds while making hiring decisions. This could mean valuing all career paths, and life experiences that bring unique perspectives to the team, cultural backgrounds, and varied problem-solving approaches.
Transparent Demographic Data Sharing: Regularly publish and discuss demographic data related to hiring and employment in a way that shows that your workplace has identified any key challenges and is working to mitigate them. This transparency can be achieved through annual diversity reports, which highlight areas of success and where you need to increase representation.
Assessing Based on Skill: A skill is the ability to do the work. It is developed through life and work experience. A skill proxy is something that has been given authority to represent a skill (i.e., degrees, licenses, and certifications). When you ask the question ‘Who is Qualified?’, it is important to mitigate biases that can creep in with skill proxies to ensure you hire the most competitive candidate. The key to increasing diversity without harm is straightforward: Ensure a well-represented candidate pool, eliminate all biases, and always choose the most competitive candidate without exception.
Understanding the Balance Between Technology and Human Participation: Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a good tool for minimizing bias, but it should not replace human mitigation. To find the balance between AI and humans in your hiring process, it is crucial to ask yourself these three questions: One, how do you intend to use AI? Two, who programs the AI application, and how do they mitigate bias? And finally, how will your organization audit for impact? Remember, regardless of your AI, at some point, your candidates and employees will have to come into contact with a human. Will they be ready?
Empowering In-House Diversity Recruiting Teams Too: Do not simply outsource diversity recruiting to an external agency. Also, strengthen the role of in-house recruiting teams, interview teams, and hiring managers with upskilling to increase diversity and retention without harm. Provide them with resources and training on inclusive hiring practices.
Acknowledging Personal Inner Resistance: Increasing diversity and retention involves personal work. Acknowledge and identify the inner resistance holding you back from leaning all the way in. This includes taking time to identify biased behaviors, learning new behaviors, and educating yourself.
Acknowledging Employee Experiences: Create a culture where every employee feels their experiences and perceptions are valued. Implement feedback mechanisms like anonymous surveys or town hall meetings where employees can openly share their thoughts and feelings without fear of being dismissed.
Prioritizing Direct Interactions: Encourage a hiring process that values direct, personal interactions over assumptions or stereotypes. This approach involves conducting thorough, unbiased interviews where candidates are assessed based on their knowledge, skills, and experience, rather than preconceived notions or online profiles. Encourage hiring panels to engage deeply with each candidate’s unique perspective and background, ensuring a fair and inclusive evaluation process.

Putting these steps into action can truly work wonders in knitting trust throughout your organization. But remember, building trust isn’t a one-and-done deal—it’s an ongoing journey. Continuous dedication to making sure everyone feels like they’re truly part of the team, listened to, and valued is essential to increasing diversity and retention without harm.

Join us in the comments: Which actionable step resonated the most with you? What would you add to the list? What techniques have you experienced to avoid harm in the workplace?