Diversity in Remote Work— Moving Towards More Inclusive Teams and Organisations

“Diversity” is a value you will find in many corporate mission documents and policy statements, and includes aspects of equal opportunity mandated by law in many parts of the world, as well as commitments to inclusive behaviour extending well beyond legal obligation in many cases. Beyond the sometimes flowery and formulaic wordings of organisational intent, most employers have long since realised the benefits that a diverse workforce brings to the success of their organisation — alongside the remote working policies which have a complex and interesting relationship to this area of leadership practice.

Better recruitment

The immediate diversity gains of an office-optional working policy are obvious. Being able to hire in a location-independent world means a greater chance of diversity-by-default, decreasing the likelihood of hiring in one’s own image simply due to coincidence. Looking at a hiring need from a global perspective immediately requires an objectification, around skills and aptitudes, rather than a ‘who do we know that…’ approach, and means we are likely to learn about a candidate from their application than recommendation. So we are more likely to initially communicate and judge them, perhaps even assess them, over the work itself — before invoking biases we…