The unintended benefits of EDI business practices.
How to use the law of unintended consequences to promote EDI policies.
In this example we are going use the points discussed when we outlined “The Law of Unintended Consequences” in a previous post, and how we can use these to drive change when it comes to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)* policies
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*Small note I use EDI over DEI because if equity is increased then theoretically the other two should be increased too. Making equity the first point highlights this fact.
The increasing importance of EDI policies
It is easy to suggest that the increase in EDI policies has been due in no small part to the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021, and this is fundamentally a good thing for businesses. It is recognised that these policies can help increase employee satisfaction and reduce attrition rates.
As the workforce ages, and Younger Millennials/Gen Z groups occupy the hallways of power, we will see inclusive policies play a more important role. However, they aren’t there yet; and EDI policies have become heavily politicised in some circles [1].
Whilst some may view these as the “right” thing to do, businesses don’t/won’t want to always do what is “right”; especially when politics enters the fray.
How to encourage adoption of EDI policies
Unfortunately EDI policies have become ideological issues, and purely engaging on an ideological basis leaves no room for negotiation or flex.
So how do we get around the “woke” problem surrounding EDI policies?
One powerful change management technique is to reframe the benefits depending upon your audience. This approach works in many circumstances, but can be of particular benefit in cases such as these.
So, in the case of EDI policies, highlight the unintended benefits that arise from the policy; use the law of unintended consequences to your benefit.
This won’t get around ideological entrenchment, however by putting forward a more rounded business case it makes it easier to frame this as a sensible business decision, rather than solely the “right” thing to do as “right” is a subjective point. Through using this approach is makes it easier to win over merely sceptical people, whilst giving people with ideological stakeholders something to use as a shield when challenged.
The unintended benefits of EDI policies
The law of unintended consequences has three aspects to it [2]:
Unintended benefit: A positive unexpected benefit
Unintended drawback: An unexpected detriment occurring in addition to the desired effect.
Perverse result: When an intended solution makes a problem worse.
We dive into the law of unintended consequences and how we can use it to drive change in businesses in another post which you can read here.
For now let’s go through several business policies/practices and highlight: why this policy might have been adopted in the first place from an EDI point of view; and what unintended benefits they may have for your business.
Remote Working: To increase representation in the workforce.
Why does it help from an EDI perspective?
Remote working helps increase representation in the workforce by enabling those with family commitments to more easily fulfil those commitments whilst maintaining a job.
Unintended Benefits:
Reduced Business Overheads
By having a predominantly remote/hybrid workforce the company can reduce the amount of money that it spends on office space and associated expenses. Also dependent upon the location of potential hires they may not be demanding as high a salary as their transport costs have been reduced.
Increased Talent Pool
Through a hybrid/remote policy we can gain access to talent that might not have previously been able to commute to the office location.
Improved Work/Life Balance
As a result of a hybrid/remote policy we are increasing the employees work/life balance as they are not losing time to commuting. This will also lead to more effectiveness in mornings as they may well be better rested depending upon the length of time of their commute.
Anonymous Hiring
Why does it help from an EDI perspective?
Anonymous hiring helps increase the EDI of the interview process by ensuring that cultural cues, or biases from previous employment, does not affect the hiring process. Theoretically this creates a shortlist of candidates who are qualified based upon their skills rather than any cultural or societal benefits or biases.
Unintended Benefits:
Improve Business Effectiveness
Through a more diverse workforce the business is in a better position to respond to queries that may not be readily or best answered by the current workforce.
Increased Potential Audience
Having a diverse workforce may open the business up to opportunities about which we were previously unaware due to societal norms or an extended network not present in our current workforce.
Flexible Hours with 10-3 Meeting Hours
Why does it help from an EDI perspective?
By having flexible hours with a set of core hours, this makes it easier for employees with familial commitments to remain in the workforce. The 10-3 core meeting hours means that they will not be excluded from key business decisions as a result of their familial commitments. When meeting outside 10-3 these should be extraordinary circumstances with enough notice for alternative arrangements to be made for those who need it and therefore not excluded from the meeting.
Unintended Benefits:
Improve Business Effectiveness through Reduced Meetings
By reducing the number of hours in a week where you can have scheduled meetings to 16 hours (when you include 1 hour for lunch in the period) you are ensuring up to 60% of the week is delivery focused.
Improve Meeting Efficiency
With reduced meeting hours available, this means that there is an impetus on organisers to ensure the meetings are well run as time is of the essence. This may involve sending agendas and materials ahead of time for people to review, meaning the meeting is incentivised to more productive due to time constraints.
Improve Communication Effectiveness
Any communication outside of these hours will most likely be either written through e-mail or tools like Slack or Teams; meaning there are notes by default for people to refer to. This will result in improved communication effectiveness as there is an expectation that outside the core meeting hours that they will be productive time rather than meetings.
Multicultural Holiday Celebration
Why does it help from an EDI perspective?
Through celebrating multicultural holidays you encourage a sense of community and connectedness with all employees. Additionally you show employees that you value who they are as a person, not just as an employee by giving them specified holiday time for their celebrations. This holiday time is given to all employees in lieu of traditional “festive closures”
Unintended Benefits:
Improve Business Effectiveness
By giving employees additional “celebratory” holiday, in addition to their standard holiday allowance, it means with a diverse workforce there is no down time during festive or religious celebratory periods; thereby increasing business efficiency.
These are just some examples of how you can reframe EDI policies as wider benefits to businesses to promote adoption.
EDI policies are going to play an ever increasing role in businesses as the workforce evolves, and I would wager that there are more unintended benefits than we know as EDI adoption is still in its relative infancy.
Cultural Change is Hard
Changing culture or policies is a difficult process. You will undoubtedly face opposition from some people, however it is important not to demonise your opposition. Instead look at alternative ways of framing the discussion and benefits that support the entire business rather than just focusing on the benefits for a subset of the business.
I can guarantee one thing: if you get into an ideological mud slinging contest you will damage your cause, as you inevitably reinforce the other sides point of view by confirming all their assumptions and fears. What’s worse is neutral bystanders to the debate will have negative views on both sides of the argument potentially setting your side back even more. Unfair? Yes, but its like playing chess with a pigeon:
Never play chess with a pigeon. They’ll knock the pieces over, crap over the board, strut like its won, then fly off leaving you to clean up the mess.
Even if you can’t sway an ideologue, which is nearly impossible in the first place, by remaining calm, keeping your composure, and displaying a reasoned logic you will be more likely to sway undecided minds than any other means - remember ideological arguments only work on fellow ideologues.
One point to be aware of is that whilst we have used the law of unintended consequences to highlight unintended benefits; you must be ready for opponents to change to highlight the other two aspects in order to counter your point of view. You don’t have to state these from the outset but, as we discussed in the main post about this topic, you should spend time thinking of all aspects and be prepared with counter arguments to these points.
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Grand. Thanks for your time.