The previous two years have demonstrated that remote work (in some form or another) is here to stay for the global workforce. The transition to a more flexible work environment provides an opportunity to make significant strides in workplace diversity and inclusion.
Employers are recognizing that the ability to work from anywhere is much more than a casual dress code, and are transitioning to video calls for meetings. Remote work can level the playing field for marginalized groups; this can be possible by removing entry barriers for many people and providing previously unheard-of opportunities for leaders to hire and retain diverse teams.
Diversity is vital
Diversity and inclusion are critical to an organization’s long-term health. In a survey of over 1700 businesses; organizations with above-average diversity generated a higher proportion of revenue from innovation (45 percent of total revenue) than companies with below-average diversity (26 percent).
Different perspectives, knowledge, and insights enable diverse teams to more effectively solve problems; resulting in greater internal efficiencies and more innovative product development.
To maximize those benefits, however, leaders must adopt a remote-first mindset; and tailor their leadership approach to create a positive work environment for everyone at the company.
Hence, allowing employees to work from home is not enough to create an inclusive, diverse workplace. It is up to leaders to ensure that remote work meets the specific needs of various marginalized groups.
Working from home makes it easier for women to stay in the workforce
Women are more likely than men to prefer remote work. Approximately 68 percent of women, compared to 57 percent of men, said their preferred post-pandemic workplace would be remote.
Remote work allows women to reclaim the time they would have spent commuting, making it easier to balance their careers with the familial responsibilities that fall disproportionately on them. With families juggling parenting and elder care during the pandemic; millions of women will leave the workforce by 2020 to cover caregiving. And women of color are overrepresented in these statistics.
Even as schools reopen and life returns to normal, women continue to balance caregiving and work. Leaders must listen to their employer of record Dubai to provide the best possible support.
Women perform much of the unseen labor in the workplace. Karin Tsai, Director of Engineering at Duolingo, said at Terminal’s Unlock summit something important. He said that he thinks the first step for leaders is to be aware of that and to provide psychologically safe spaces for women to express what they are doing.
Black workers are more likely than white workers to want to work from home
According to a recent survey, only 3% of Black knowledge workers want to return to full-time in-person work; compared to 21% of white workers. Black people have historically been underrepresented in knowledge worker jobs, which can create an isolating work environment rife with stress and microaggressions.
Despite accounting for 13.4 percent of the general population, black people make up only 2 to 5.3 percent of those employed in the technology industry. And this underrepresentation persists in the ranks of leadership. Only 8% of managers are black, and the Fortune 500 has only four black CEOs.
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Remote work eliminates geographic barriers, making it easier to hire people from diverse backgrounds and demographics. It may also make it easier to hire and retain black knowledge workers; many of whom prefer to work in a hybrid or completely remote structure.
What is critical is that leaders take steps to encourage sponsorship and advance black employees. As employee backgrounds become more diverse, the need for allies grows. Leaders should introduce opportunities for professional development and advancement to employees who might not otherwise be aware of them.
According to a recent study, more than 67 percent of black employees do not have a sponsor at work; even though 87 percent of companies report having sponsorship programs in place. Leaders must remain vigilant to ensure that black employees are not disadvantaged in their organizations, and they must actively seek ways to offer their allyship.
Disabled employees may benefit from remote work
Commuting can be a significant barrier to employment for the 26 percent of American workers who have some form of disability. Remote work allows people with disabilities to join teams and contribute meaningfully. Furthermore, remote work can make some disabilities less visible to coworkers, releasing disabled workers from stigma.
Employers are legally required to provide reasonable accommodations that improve accessibility to disabled employees. However, employees with disabilities may still require other accommodations to perform their essential functions; and regulations do not clearly define all remote workplace equipment.
Leaders must also remember that not all disabilities are reported to management, so businesses should provide home workstation accommodations to everyone. Many remote-first companies provide a stipend to help professional employer organizations in dubai set up home workstations; this is an excellent way to be inclusive and tailor benefits packages to remote work.
Many talented workers are unable to relocate
While 67% of global engineers want to work for a tech company, nearly 40% are unwilling to relocate to do so. Not all job candidates in the UAE are willing or able to relocate. The reasons can be numerous: moving from a large, welcoming city to a city with a different culture can make LGBTQIA+ employees feel unsafe.
Workers may be unable to relocate away from where their spouse works or where their elderly parent resides. Economically disadvantaged workers or those supporting large families may face long commutes from far-flung suburbs if they relocate to expensive job centers.
Leaders seeking to increase diversity and inclusion can greatly benefit from sourcing candidates from new markets. CEOs say that if you want to start a company and build a great team (a truly great, differentiated team) the only way to do it is to be remote.
Remote work provides numerous opportunities to increase diversity and inclusion
Working remotely is not just a nice to have for employee morale. It represents a significant step forward in the creation of more inclusive organizations. Companies that make commuting to headquarters a daily requirement for employment limit hiring and harm marginalized workers.
However, leaders must continue to put in the effort to make remote workplaces a healthy, safe environment for all employees. Everyone needs to truly feel like a first-rank employee. Of course, advancements in workplace diversity and inclusion require sustained, long-term commitment from company leadership.
Managers must proactively check in with their reports and mold flexible policies around how people want to work; not how they think people want to work, to better understand the individual experiences of their employees.
With a renewed emphasis on inclusion for all, the remote work revolution has the potential to help companies hire, develop, and retain talent like never before.
