New Report: Traditional Bias Training Doesn’t Work – Bias Interrupters Do
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BIAS INTERRUPTERS TOOLKIT

Flexibility

Incremental steps that improve diversity in your organization can yield large gains. Diverse work groups perform better and are more committed, innovative, and loyal.

It’s time to go beyond just talking about the problem of workplace bias. Bias Interrupters is an evidence-based model that provides solutions. By taking small steps, Bias Interrupters can yield big changes.

We’ve distilled the huge literature on bias into simple steps that help you and your company perform better.

Audio of Bias Interrupters Flexibility Toolkit

THE CHALLENGE

Surveys show time and time again that employees want more flexibility at work, with one finding that 96% of white-collar professionals say they need flexibility.1 Workers value workplaces that value them. In one study, attrition was cut in half when workers went remote, and telecommuting employees took fewer sick days and less time off.2

When workplaces rely on an outdated model of a breadwinner who is always available for work, not only do they exclude most people working today, they also hurt the company’s bottom line. According to Cisco, their mobile or remote employees have a voluntary attrition rate a third the size of their office-based employees.3 Cisco credits this lower attrition rate with $75 million in annual savings for recruiting, hiring, and training replacements. Other studies have found sharp gains in productivity when workplaces move to telework or build-your-own schedules.4

Building a flexible workplace enables employers to promote people based on their talent instead of their schedule.

THE SOLUTION

Recognize the difference between crisis work and full-time/part-time telework. Working remotely in the midst of a crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic, is not the same as telework during normal times. The first steps to successful telework are childcare and a place to work. Organizations designing a permanent telework scheme typically will balance the productivity gains of telework with the innovation gains of in-office work. For tips on creating a telework policy that works for your organization visit: https://trello.com/remote-work-guide5 and read the drop-down menu below for more ways to create a successful flexible workplace.

Equality Action Center. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Footnotes

  1. A. Dean & A. Auerbach, “96% of U.S. Professionals Say They Need Flexibility, but Only 47% Have It,” June 2018. Harvard Business Review, https://hbr.org/2018/06/96-of-u-s-professionals-say-they-need-flexibility-but-only-47-have-it
  2. S. Mautz, “A 2-Year Stanford Study Shows the Astonishing Productivity Boost of Working From Home,” April 2018. Inc., https://www.inc.com/scott-mautz/a-2-year-stanford-study-shows-astonishing-productivity-boost-of-working-from-home.html
  3. P. Leet, “How Telework Helps Cisco Recruit and Retain Employees,” June 2013. Cisco Blogs, https://blogs.cisco.com/ciscoit/how-telework-helps-cisco-recruit-and-retain-employees.
  4. Shana Lynch, “Why Working from Home is a ‘Future-Looking Technology,’” June 2017. Stanford Graduate School of Business, https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/why-working-home-future-looking-technology.
  5. For additional remote work tools: https://blog.trello.com/topic/remote-work.
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