Bring Yourself to Work Day

Unlocking innovation through an empathetic and diverse workplace

The modern workplace is never going back to “normal” . The global pandemic has caused more and more people to start working remotely, and they’re enjoying it. On the other side of the coin, companies are realizing what millennials have known for years. The typical 9–5, 40-hour work week in an open-office or cubicle set-up isn’t necessary for productivity. Employees have remained productive with different working hours, different work environments, and different (often four-legged) interruptions. Many large organizations, like Twitter and Slack have announced major shifts in remote working policy, showing that remote work, in some capacity, is here to stay. This is one of the biggest changes COVID-19 has caused in the workplace, but there’s no reason for this to be where the changes end. In a time where we are rethinking the structures that make up the corporate workplace, like the confines of a cubicle, we should continue to question the mainstays of corporate America, by building work environments that are empathetic, diverse, and equitable.

Bringing equity into all spheres of American life has been a goal America has struggled towards since before America began. But when it comes to equity in the workplace, behavioral science may have the beginnings of a solution. This weekend, I listened to Ideo’s Creative Confidence podcast and the guest, Lazlo Bock, talked about how ‘nudges’ can be used to create organizational changes that foster empathy and equity. In addition to the benefits to individual employees that come from these types of transformations, there are business performance advantages as well. Work environments that are more psychologically safe and diverse create innovation and lead to a 20% increase in work performance, according to Bock. So, how can we build this workplace of the future? There are 2 key factors.

Factor #1: Creating an environment of empathy that encourages psychological safety

To create a culture of empathy, lead by example. If you’re a manager, ask your team how you can best support them during this time. If you’re working with someone and a task or work product isn’t up to your expectations, give them the benefit of the doubt and try to understand what else they have going on. On my own team at work, my manager’s empathetic mindset and management approach has inspired me to seek empathy as my initial reaction when things don’t go as planned. Creating an environment where it’s ok to ask questions, make mistakes, and disagree with the consensus makes our team better. We find it easier to give feedback, take feedback, and build on each other’s work. Our team culture means that we can truly do more together than we can apart.

Factor #2: Creating an environment that acts with diversity and inclusion in mind

The second factor, fostering diversity, is more complex but can be addressed with the concept of nudges. Based in behavioral science and economics, nudges are small or indirect interventions that are designed to influence behaviors and ultimately lead to larger, more systemic changes. Designing nudges looks at the structure of how people make decisions, and targets specific elements. For nudges to be effective in an organization, they must address real challenges in an organization and they should target changing a group — not just one individual. In terms of diversity, it’s not enough to give a woman or person of color a seat at the proverbial table and hope that creates a new culture. The larger, more important cultural shift requires a fundamental change in the behaviors and rituals of the entire organization. It requires making a shift in recruitment, team norms, training, promotion processes, work assignments, managerial relationships, and more.

Given the laundry list of initiatives to revamp, how do we move forward? How do we change who’s sitting at the table and what’s being discussed over dinner?

First, take the time to deeply understand the experiences of your employees to identify your organization’s unique challenges. Find sponsors in the organization that will champion the ideals of diversity and inclusion. Be transparent about what your organization needs to change and why. Then, begin your nudges. Shift leaders away from making decisions purely based on intuition, which often reveals their biases. For example, some organizations highlight the homogeneous nature of internal professional networks before promotion cycles, to drive leaders towards making fair decisions that promote diversity. Use nudges like these to help well-intentioned leaders move beyond their intuition and make decisions that promote equity and diversity.

The ability to work from your couch instead of a cubicle shouldn’t be the only new feature of the modern workplace. It’s time to focus on building supportive work environments and leadership teams that make space and create opportunities for all people. Developing an environment that allows employees to bring their whole selves to work, enables them to bring their best selves to work — and that should be a hallmark of the future workplace.

My postings reflect my own views and do not represent the views of my employer.