The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance is a think tank dedicated to creating work environments centered on inclusion and innovative thought leadership. The Alliance empowers organizations with the tools necessary for advancing women, fostering flexibility, and retaining top talent.
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Action Step – Bias 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 have moved to a hybrid environment since the pandemic. The pandemic enlightened leaders and employees on the many benefits of hybrid work, including productivity, profitability, business continuity, work-life control, and wellness. However, a hybrid work environment requires responsibility, intentionality, and support to succeed. Bias is more likely to creep into a hybrid environment. Specifically, you must watch out for proximity bias, in which leaders favor workers that are in the office more frequently than employees who tend to work virtually. Additionally, a hybrid environment will likely compound other biases, including similarity bias, an affinity to people who have “similar interests, experiences and backgrounds,” and confirmation bias, the tendency to focus on information confirming beliefs and prejudices.1 Organizations, leaders and individuals must work together to interrupt these biases to create a successful 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.
1 Tsipursky, Gleb. “The psychology behind why some leaders are resisting a hybrid work model.” Fortune (June 8, 2021). https://fortune.com/2021/06/08/return-remote-work-hybrid-modelsurveys-covid/
Action Step – Off-Ramping & On-Ramping: Critical Policy Features
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.
Our 2022 Law Firm Flexibility Benchmarking Study discussed trends regarding workplace flexibility, hybrid work, parental leave, and other related policies and infrastructure. While many organizations have expanded their workplace flexibility since the pandemic, organizations should also remember to focus on parental leave as discussed in our action step Parental Leave: Critical Policy Features. In connection with parental leave, organizations should offer off-ramping and on-ramping, such that employees can work a reduced schedule before and after leave to help parents transition…
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.
Action Step – Parental Leave: Critical Policy Features
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.
In our 2022 Law Firm Flexibility Benchmarking Study and Flexibility Benchmarking Summit we discussed trends regarding workplace flexibility, hybrid work, parental leave, and other related policies and infrastructure. From our experience and research, it is clear that employees value holistic workplace flexibility and leave, and assess their organizations on these offerings. While many organizations have expanded their workplace flexibility and hybrid work programs since the pandemic, organizations should also be providing strong parental leave benefits. There is a noticeable discrepancy between organizations that enhanced their parental leave policies since the pandemic compared to those that have not. Make sure that your parental leave policies are up-to-date, so as not to lose out on recruitment and retention…
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.