Action Steps

 

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Action Step – GREAT RESIGNATION OR GREAT RETENTION: HOW YOUR POLICIES, PRACTICES & INFRASTRUCTURE CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

As we emerge from the pandemic, the Great Resignation has been taking hold and impacting organizations around the globe.  Many employees have faced stress and burn-out over the past year, trying to balance personal, family and work obligations around the clock without necessary support structures in place.  Simultaneously, many employees gained more work-life control than they ever had during the pandemic, experiencing more regular dinners with family, being able to live in new places and have new adventures while working remotely, and spending more time with children and aging parents than ever before.  These seemingly dichotomous experiences, stress/burn-out and increased work-life autonomy, has led many workers to leave their jobs, which has been coined the Great Resignation.  However, every coin has two sides – resignations at one organization will lead to retention/recruiting benefits at another.  To have the upper hand, organizations need to focus now more than ever on talent development, diversity, inclusion and flexibility.  Here are the Alliance’s recommendations:

  1. Offer More Flexibility: Recent research studies during the pandemic have shown that employees have an increased desire for flexibility. A study in Harvard Business Review[1] sheds light on the desire for flexibility and autonomy – 59% indicated that flexibility is more important than salary/benefits and mentioned that they would not work for a company requiring them to be full-time onsite.  Organizations need to revamp workplace flexibility policies and programs in order to recruit and retain the best talent.

[1] Reisinger, Holger and Fetterer, Dane, “Forget Flexibility.  Your Employees Want Autonomy,” Harvard Business Review, 2021.

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Action Step – New Workplace Flexibility Policies Should Include More Employees

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

 

As organizations revamp their workplace flexibility policies, they should include more employees in these policies.  Prior to the pandemic, many organizations offered vastly different flexibility policies to employees based on seniority/tenure, job responsibilities and/or employment status.  For example, law firms commonly provided much better workplace flexibility options to attorneys compared to professional staff prior to the pandemic.  However, during the pandemic, employers needed to provide remote work options to many employees who never had that option in the past.  Many of these employees greatly valued and thrived with this newfound flexibility, autonomy and trust. As organizations redesign their workplace flexibility policies, it is important to make these policies more widely available and equitable amongst a broad range of employees.  Some action steps to consider include:

 

  1. Audit Roles & Responsibilities: The first step when revamping your flexibility policy is to audit all roles to see who can participate. When doing so, it is important to only focus on the job function – i.e. can an employee perform their job function effectively while working flexibly?  Performance issues must be addressed individually so that opportunities for an entire group of employees in that function do not suffer.

 

  1. Think Creatively: Next, think creatively regarding your audit. Which employee roles were deemed unable to perform effectively while working flexibly?  Are there ways you can make structural/organizational changes so that flexibility can be offered?  For example, while some law firms voiced concerns regarding legal secretaries working remotely due to the fact that some tasks are more efficient in the office (i.e. compiling binders; mailing; printing), others have developed creative solutions to allow assistants to partake in remote work policies, including forming secretarial pools/teams. Changes in the way that individuals contribute to their teams may provide new opportunities for growth and professional development. They may also require additional expectation setting, team integration and training for managers and employees to make the most of new ways to collaborate.

 

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Action Step – Creating a Successful Onboarding & Integration Program for Your Hybrid Work Environment

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

 

Many organizations are in the process of designing hybrid work environments. While different organizations will need different hybrid work structures to support their unique needs, all organizations need to consider new ways to effectively onboard new employees and make them feel a part of their new organization. Based on our numerous conversations with leaders and employees, we have heard feedback regarding difficulty with integrating new employees during the pandemic. Therefore, organizations need to make sure to carefully think through their pre-arrival and onboarding processes, as well as modifications and additional infrastructure to support successful onboarding and intentional integration.

 

  1. Pre-Arrival and Orientation – Outreach to new hires prior to their arrival to let them know the timing of orientation and what to expect makes for a more comfortable introduction to the firm. Organizations should provide all new employees with an orientation (in-person, virtual, or a combination) on their first day. At a minimum, this orientation should include a message from the CEO/Chair, messages from group leaders, introduction and contacts from all support departments (i.e. IT; Human Resources; Word Processing; Marketing), and any specific organizational processes/procedures (i.e. billing codes; necessary contacts). Subsequently, each new employee should have a lunch/coffee (in-person or virtual) set up with a department leader/supervisor and peer employee.

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

 

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Action Step – Building Your Training Program to Support Your Post-Pandemic Hybrid Workplace

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

 

Many organizations are rethinking their work environment post-pandemic. We learned a great deal during the pandemic regarding workplace flexibility and business continuity, leading many firms and companies to consider hybrid workplaces after the pandemic. While organizations will structure these hybrid work environments differently based upon their unique needs, all organizations will need to carefully think through different support structures and systems that will be needed for the new way of working. The Recommit stage of our Flex Recalibrated Framework discusses these additional support structures that will be needed to make your hybrid work environment succeed, including training. Organizations will need to train employees in order to arm them with new skills to make sure they can succeed in a hybrid world:

 

  1. Individual Strategies for Remote Work Success. Employees who will be working remotely, even part of the time, will need to learn best practices and strategies for being successful in a hybrid/remote work environment. These trainings should include real life examples to make the training more impactful. Teach employees effective ways to maintain connection and receive training in this new environment (i.e. intentionally reaching our/scheduling time with supervisors/colleagues; coming into the office when supervisors/clients come in; proactively asking to debrief after client meetings; maintaining visibility when coming into the office). Trainings should also discuss effective ways to handle challenges, such as communication/responsiveness difficulties, workload allocation challenges, maintaining and building connections, and creating effective boundaries.

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

 

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Action Step – Strategically Overcoming Flex Stigma

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

The pandemic has changed how we can work – individuals are rethinking how and where they want to work and organizations are looking at ways to change their flexibility policies and practices to attract, retain and engage top talent. However, in order to reap the many benefits of a more flexible work environment, including improved productivity, satisfaction, work-life control, business continuity and recruiting/retention, organizations need to ensure that controls are in place to identify and overcome stigma associated with flex. These biases, both conscious and unconscious, can derail an organization’s flexible work policies and practices if measures are not instituted to recognize and address them. As organizations revamp their flexible work policies using our Flex Recalibrated Framework, it is important to implement systems and processes to combat stigma (see the Reinforce stage of the framework.) Some measures that we recommend incorporating include:

 

  1. Training. When rolling out a flexible work policy, every organization should incorporate an ongoing training component to its implementation, consisting of best practices for flexible work success, effectively managing flexible teams, and addressing unconscious bias. This unconscious bias training should address the common stigma associated with flexible work, how to make your workforce aware of these biases, as well as effective ways to interrupt biases on your own behalf or on behalf of others.

 

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

 

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Action Step – Maintaining Mentoring & Connection in a Hybrid Environment

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

Many organizations are reimagining their work environment after the pandemic, with flexible work at the heart of the discussion. A number of organizations are planning on instituting a hybrid work environment post-pandemic, based on positive productivity during the pandemic, employee feedback and desire to scale back real estate. A hybrid work environment involves employees working some of the time in the office and some of the time remotely. Organizations considering hybrid work models reap many benefits, but must make sure mentoring and connectivity are embedded in their culture and continuously fostered in order to thrive. To ensure that mentoring and connectivity are preserved within a hybrid workforce, organization should focus on these eight strategies:

 

  1. Training. Organizations should offer trainings on ways to develop mentoring relationships and maintain connections in a hybrid work environment. These skills are not always innate and organizations that provide such trainings will help foster these necessary relationships. Employee trainings should focus on effective ways to proactively build relationships, the need to be prepared and share specific goals, the importance of showing appreciation, and the benefits of developing relationships with many senior professionals. Supervisor trainings should cover the need to be receptive, ways to guide meetings/relationships with junior professionals, guidance on effectively helping with career development, and ways to be creative with mentoring in a hybrid environment.

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

 

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Action Step – OVERCOME THE MYTH OF THE LOSS OF 5 Cs BY BUILDING THE RIGHT FLEX INFRASTRUCTURE

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

 

There is little doubt that flex is here to stay post-pandemic, given employees’ strong desire for it to continue, along with the business benefits of flex, including employee productivity/engagement, business continuity and retention/recruiting which became even more apparent during COVID-19. Our Pulse Poll: Future of Work shows that more than two-thirds of respondents plan on creating/updating their remote work policies post-pandemic.

Despite the fact that more organizations will be expanding flexible work, we have heard resistance to flex from a number of leaders through our conversations, insight interviews and focus groups with many organizations. Interestingly, the opposition to flex can be summed up as the fear of the loss of 5 Cs – loss of control, culture, collaboration, contribution and connection. While the loss of the 5 Cs can most certainly occur without proper flex infrastructure and support, organizations can prevent the loss of the 5Cs and also counter arguments against flex by building proper structures and processes. For flex to be successful, we need to gain leadership support, and we can win leaders over by pointing to infrastructure that prevents the loss of the 5 Cs.

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

 

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Action Step – LEVERAGE ALLIANCE FLEX RECALIBRATED FRAMEWORK TO REVAMP POST-PANDEMIC FLEX POLICY

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

 

The pandemic has forever changed how we can work, want to work, and will work. At the forefront of this is workplace flexibility. The pandemic inadvertently highlighted many benefits of flex, including productivity boosts, improved satisfaction, and business continuity gains. Now is the time for each organization to think through what type of flex is needed and can successfully be implemented. Use the Alliance’s Flex Recalibrated Framework to revamp your flex policy and lean on us each step of the way:

  1. Reflect. The first step is to Reflect on what worked, what were the challenges and how to structure flex to most effectively drive advancement, retention, diversity, recruitment, profitability, productivity, engagement and innovation. Organizations need to do this to establish a compelling purpose for flex that is unique to your organization. What were some of your successes with flex during the pandemic? What were some of your challenges? What are some ways to mitigate these challenges going forward? How has flex helped talent development, profitability and productivity? Now is the time to collect data to see what worked, what didn’t and why. Conduct employee surveys, check-in interviews and focus groups to gather data in order to build your unique flex business case and establish/communicate a clear purpose for flex….

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Action Step – Recommendations for Revising Your Flexible Working Initiative Post-Pandemic

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

 

The pandemic has changed the perception of flexibility from “a nice to have” to a business imperative. Prior to March 2020, some organizational leaders did not buy into workplace flexibility. Fast forward to 2021 and the conversations around flex are very different. Rather than asking why we need flex, more leaders are now focusing on how we can make flex as effective as possible. Organizations across all industries must think strategically about workplace flexibility in order to reap recruiting, retention, and business productivity benefits. To help you reboot your workplace flexibility policy, the Alliance has the following recommendations:

  1. Reflect, Reassess & Reimagine. We urge all organizations to look back and carefully reflect on the past year. How has your mission, values, products/services and/or business operations changed? In what ways can flexibility help with these changes? What were the positive impacts of flexibility in terms of productivity, satisfaction/engagement and recruiting/retention? We recommend that organizations create a task force of diverse leaders on the future of work, and collect data on employee productivity/satisfaction now to understand what worked and what didn’t. This will help revamp your flex policy post-pandemic, implement it effectively and create necessary infrastructure support. See our action step, Paving the Way for Flexible Work After the Pandemic Now, for ideas on how to monitor/measure employee experiences.

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.

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Action Step – Future of Work: Post-Pandemic Flexible Work Policies

The Alliance’s Action Steps are designed to assist organizations with implementing practical strategies and policies related to diversity and flexibility. Members can access full versions of all of the Alliance’s Action Steps in the Member Resource Center. 

The pandemic has forever broadened the scope of flexible work. Many employees have learned to effectively work flexibly and/or remotely during the COVID-19 crisis and have experienced the benefits of flexible work. Organizational leaders are now considering how/what types of flexible work to offer after the pandemic. The Alliance has a number of recommendations for flexible work policies post-pandemic, so these initiatives can reap the greatest benefits in terms of work productivity, and recruitment/retention of top talent:

  1. Holistic Flexible Work – We strongly recommend implementing holistic flexible work policies, including reduced hours, telecommuting, flextime, compressed work week, asynchronous hours and job sharing options, as employees have individual flex needs. Additionally, by providing holistic flexible work options, employees who may not be able to utilize certain forms of flex due to their job function can still use other types of flex (i.e. a receptionist may not be able to telecommute due to his/her function but may be able to work reduced hours, flextime or compressed work week).

Members: continue reading this Action Step in the Member Resource Center

To read this entire Action Step become a member of the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance. To learn more contact Manar Morales.