Considering equity in your return to the workplace plan
An equitable return to the workplace is inclusive of all identity groups and can lead to a more diverse and engaged workforce.
By WP Creative Group
July 28, 2023
The federal government must not only meet the needs of the people it serves, but must also ensure the fair and just treatment of the people it employs. As such, equity must be a central focus in post-pandemic return-to-work planning. An equitable return to the workplace is inclusive of all identity groups and can lead to a more diverse and engaged workforce.
Government leaders must ensure equal access to opportunities for all employees regardless of individual work modality, create an environment that fosters psychological safety and accounts for personal circumstances resulting from the pandemic and adjust the workplace to accommodate the changing needs of employees.
In a recent article, Guidehouse explored the below key considerations, strategies and recommendations for returning to the workplace and addressing barriers.
Proximity bias
Biases are not necessarily good or bad. Biases are mental shortcuts that allow us to make quicker decisions. They become problematic, however, when those shortcuts lead to prejudice—as in the case of proximity bias. Proximity bias is the tendency for people in positions of power to show favoritism or give preferential treatment to employees who are closest to them physically—for example, those who are in the office. This type of bias can be driven by the assumption that employees are more productive in the office than they are at home.Proximity bias can lead to poor resource management, in which assignments are not given to remote employees because of favoritism toward those in the office.
Workplace microaggressions
Microaggressions are everywhere, including the workplace. Remote work has given employees of marginalized identities a break from microaggressions they might have experienced in face-to-face interactions with coworkers.Experiencing psychological harm of this type leads to increased pressure to adapt one’s speech and behavior to the audience—often called code-switching—limitations on participating as one’s authentic self and hesitancy to speak out about personal experiences.
Accessibility
The term “accessibility” means the design, development and maintenance of facilities, information and communication technology, programs and services so that all people—including persons with disabilities (PWDs)—can fully and independently use them. During the pandemic, many government agencies operated under temporary exceptions to workplace accessibility policies to enable mass telework. As the federal government normalizes the return to the office, it will be important to place accessibility front and center to address barriers impacting differently abled federal workers.
Child care
Covid-19 has dramatically impacted the child-care industry, as 88,000 child-care workers have left the workforce since the beginning of the pandemic. Many families must make difficult decisions with limited access to affordable child-care options. Employment has been on the rise, nearing pre-pandemic levels, but as of April 2022 there were still approximately one million fewer women in the workforce than pre-pandemic, and nearly 60 percent of parents cite lack of child care as their reason for leaving the workforce. Some corporations in the private sector have elected to offer increased child-care benefits for employees to mitigate this burden.
The workplace is continuing to evolve and adjust as a result of the pandemic. As federal agencies consider a return to the workplace and the broader future of work, it’s key to address issues like proximity bias, microaggressions, accessibility and the needs of working parents.
Strategies to improve these issues include embracing flexible work options like adjusted hours or hybrid work, hiring staff—such as a chief diversity officer—to oversee equity initiatives, considering child-care subsidies and normalizing asking for accommodations. If agencies do not consider the impact of their return-to-work plans, specific groups may be left behind, leading to a less diverse workforce. As agencies move forward, they should consider how to intentionally embrace a more equitable return to the workplace.
For additional insights from Guidehouse on ways to improve equity in your return to workplace, the full article can be found here:
The content is paid for and supplied by advertiser. The Washington Post newsroom was not involved in the creation of this content.
Content From GUIDEHOUSE
