D&I Friday Read No. 408

Today we are talking about remote and hybrid working, a Spanish beach body campaign, women empowerment in Ethiopia, and a TED talk about human history and inequality.

Well-being
Another company has just announced that it will go fully remote, as the hybrid set-up wasn’t working out. At the same time, data is also showing the benefits of in-person work – insightful article with a few recent developments and findings.

Inequality
Interesting TED Talk from archaeologist David Wengrow about human social history, challenging long-held assumptions about the origins of inequality.

Women Empowerment
Period poverty, so the lack of access to sanitary products, affects girls and women around the world, and can have a far-reaching impact on their education, health and well-being. Great story about Sara Eklund, who is trying to make a difference in Ethiopia, bringing reusable menstrual cups into the country.

Inclusion
A new campaign from Spain got lots of reactions this week. The Spanish equality ministry shared an “all bodies are beach bodies” message, rejecting stereotypes and encouraging all women to enjoy the beach. Read more here.

D&I Friday Read No. 407

Today we are talking about the benefits of a fair workplace, women’s aspiration to move into leadership roles, Mastercard supporting neurodiversity in the workforce, and the difference between equity and equality.

Fairness
When employees feel they are being treated fair, their performance can improve by up to 26%, and retention by up 27%. So what can organizations do to provide a fair workplace? Good insights in this HBR article.

Women in Leadership
According to research, men are more likely to aspire to move into leadership roles than women – and although companies are trying to actively change this, the gap has remained the same over the past 60 years. So what could be the reasons for this – and what should companies do instead? Read more here.

Neurodiversity
Interesting program from financial services company Mastercard. To employ more neurodiverse people, Mastercard has now launched a pilot program that supports a more inclusive approach, for example during job interviews.

Equity
Good article explaining the difference between equity and equality – and why striving for equality is sometimes not enough.

D&I Friday Read No. 406

Today we are talking about the WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2022, how nudges can improve performance reviews, a new UN Women gender equality study, and how remote working can negatively impact promotions.

Proximity Bias
Hybrid set-ups and remote work might negatively impact promotions – more actual facetime with people can lead to accidental favouritism due to so-called proximity bias. Interesting article with some insights into what companies and employees can do to prevent this.

Gender Equality
UN Women, in partnership with several large multinationals, recently released the latest results of a global bi-annual study, looking at gender equality. “The Levers of Change: Gender Equality Attitudes Study 2022” is a 20-country-wide survey and had some concerning findings, for example about attitudes towards domestic violence. Read more here.

Gender Parity
WEF (the World Economic Forum) just released the Global Gender Gap Report 2022, and unfortunately, very little progress was made. From 2020 to 2021, the gap widened by an entire generation and it was estimated to take over 135 years to close – the 2022 report now says it will take 132 years to reach full parity.

Performance Review Bias
Very insightful HBR article about using behavioural nudges (= interventions that can influence decision making) to improve performance reviews and make them more fair.

D&I Friday Read No. 405

Today we are talking about toxic workplace culture in South Korea, work-life balance and different approaches between generations, an apprenticeship program for formerly incarcerated people, and a new Heineken campaign.

Well-being
In South Korea, “Gapjil” describes a toxic workplace culture and harassment, which impacts almost every third worker. Interesting article sharing more insights and the results of a recent study.

Generation
Insightful view on work-life balance and the different stages of people’s careers. Older generations tended to work hard early on and climb the career ladder, so they could have a better balance later in life. But does this concept still work for younger generations? Read more here.

Inclusion
In 2018, tech company Slack created “Next Chapter”, an apprenticeship program that allows formerly incarcerated people to become engineers. Four years later, 30 people have successfully concluded the program (and found permanent work at various tech companies), and Slack is now expanding the program.

Gender Bias
Brewing company Heineken continues to tackle gender bias in football, and just launched a new campaign “The 12th woman”. Watch the video!

D&I Friday Read No. 404

Today we are talking about menopause awareness, an app making public transport more inclusive, Microsoft measuring how its employees thrive, and a great TEDx talk from Caroline Farberger.

Well-being
Interesting insights from Microsoft’s People Analytics team on how they have moved from measuring employee engagement to measuring employee thriving. Read more here.

Gender
In the past years we have seen an increase in menopause awareness, to support women and their well-being and health, but also to drive more awareness among employers. In the UK, male politicians now went through an experiment wearing vests with heated pads that simulated hot flushes. Watch the video.

Inclusion
This is a great project from Washington D.C., helping visually impaired people navigate public transport. The navigation app company Waymap just concluded a trial, and the app will now be deployed in phases across the entire Metro system.

LGBTQ+
Great TEDx talk worth watching! Caroline Farberger speaks about her journey, and how she came to understand her own identity and started living as her true self.