Four data points to boost your organization’s D&I intelligence

Looking for data to help support your D&I initiatives? At LifeLabs Learning we’re continually on the look-out for quick and easy research articles that make a case. Here is a collection of 4 easy data points — and related actions — you can share at your org:

1. When announcing positions:

Data point:

• The way a job description is written can heavily influence who applies to it. For example, Hewlett-Packard found women will often only apply to jobs when they meet 100% of the listed qualifications. Men generally apply if they meet only 60%. The word choices themselves also matter. Harvard researchers found that women apply to fewer jobs with male-oriented language (e.g., Ninja and Rockstar).

Action to take:

• After writing a job description, double check it. Ask self: will the wording of this write up differentially impact application rates? Use a tool like Textio or the free Gender Decoder to identify potential problem areas in your word choices. For example: “Analyze” and “determine” are often associated with male traits, while “collaborate” and “support” are considered female. Use tools to track your gender-based score and/or float job descriptions in front of a diverse group of folks for feedback as well.

2. When reviewing resumes:

Data Point:

• Often the best talent is not found and equitable hiring practices are not set up because companies haven’t realized the impact of bias in their hiring process. For example, one study found that White sounding names receive 50% more callbacks for interviews than ethnic-sounding names. Similar results have been found for gender, sexuality, and maternity bias.

Action to take:

• Create criteria and a ‘point system‘ for reviewing resumes and conducting interviews, have multiple raters (ideally a diverse group of raters), and train all team members in how to conduct standardized ‘behavior based‘ interviews. At LifeLabs Learning we recommend a ‘double loop learning‘ system, where interviewers can also pause to rate their own score for how well they used the standardized system. This awareness increases objectivity and effectiveness in the hiring process.

3. When creating feedback systems:

Data Point:

• Feedback matters to both growth and promotions, but not all people get the same quality of feedback. For example, Women are 1.4 times more likely than men receive ’subjective‘ feedback (as opposed to ’objective‘ feedback).

Action to take:

• Tweak your performance review form to make sure objective criteria are named. Train feedback givers and receivers in how to identify, optimize, and convert subjective feedback statements. At Lifelabs we call this skill ‘deblurring’. It means that instead of saying statements like ‘be more proactive’, data points are given.

4. When optimizing team dynamics:

Data Point:

• Team meetings matter. Research shows that three people get the least airtime in team meetings: women, introverts, and remote workers. Yet, having diverse opinions shared can have a direct impact on the bottom line of a company.

Action to take:

• Focus on improving meeting quality as an easy step toward creating inclusivity. Ensure all voices are heard by training teams to include more round robins (where each person gets to share ideas), and to have a ‘tracker’ (someone who notices interruptions and when virtual participants are not able to be heard or aren’t being included). (For more ideas on making meetings more inclusive, check out this LifeLabs blog post.)

Want to learn about LifeLabs’ D&I programming? Visit www.LifeLabsLearning.com