Insights
Go hybrid with your inclusion policies. Digital tools can work across all charity operations to solve working challenges
Do you know how your hybrid working plans are promoting diversity and inclusion?
Social movements have a disproportionate impact on how we promote inclusivity. In the charity sector, Show the Salary and Charity So White focus our attention on how we treat people in and outside of the workplace. They have shown that we can all do more to ensure our workplaces embrace inclusive and diversity.
In this article, we take a look at how to make inclusion an integral part of hybrid working arrangements, and how to promote it across your charity.
Promoting inclusion means making time for everyone on the team. Hays acknowledges that creating an inclusive hybrid environment is largely the responsibility of managers. It’s their job to make sure that the policies around work and communication are implemented fairly.
To start, flexibility in the work day is key. Managers carrying out hybrid working styles need to take the time to design meetings which include those working from elsewhere and in the office. They should also create opportunities for every staff member to have their own voice regardless of where they are based.
For meetings, managers should offer people alternative ways to participate. Videoconferencing, phone dial-ins, and recordings are digital ways to keep staff engaged. The key is to touch base with everyone regardless of where they are. Managers should also encourage ways that staff can catch-up when meetings are missed.
Buzzing around hybrid working is the term asynchronous working. It’s the idea that people work at different times during the night and day. Asynchronous working poses challenges. Scheduling and communication can be difficult when team members are separated by time and distance.
Making sure that hybrid working is productive means using digital communication tools to bridge the gaps.
Inclusive team members make sure to let others know where and when they will be available. Office management software helps to create a seamless environment for hybrid collaboration.
Desk booking apps come in handy. HotDesk+ and Wiggle Desk organise digital spaces from physical offices.
Desk scheduling, contact tracing, cleaning schedules, and digital mapping are a few of the platforms’ features. Both offer free trials to charities.
Hybrid working communication tools are essential to designing inclusive digital and physical spaces. Most tools also manage asynchronous working styles by keeping records and organising messages.
Two platforms stand out among software providers. Microsoft Teams and Slack are popular because of features that enable hybrid working.
Teams offers chat, videoconferencing and ‘channels’ for charities. The platform has also recently integrated telephony, making more options for charities to get in touch.
Slack has similar features to Teams, and recently launched its video conferencing services.
Both have cloud hosting, screen sharing, app integrations, and permission tools. For many charities, Teams and Slack go beyond communication and are operational platforms.
Hiring practices give the outside world a chance to peer into how you treat those with different needs and backgrounds. Hybrid working empowers those candidates at home and coming into your office to interview. When recruiting, ensure that the process includes options for both in-person and online attendance.
Rolling out digital recruitment tools make sense from both from a hiring and job-seeking perspective.
Using equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) language widens the hiring pool. For hybrid workers, the augmented writing platform Textio eliminates language biases. The editor uses gender-neutral language and detects unfriendly phrases. A shift in the job description can attract more women and minorities to apply.
Our top tip for hybrid workers is to do away with interview note-taking. Track your interviewees’ progress using inclusive online recruitment platforms. BeApplied digitises blind hiring by anonymising candidates. Skills-based hiring is also emphasised.
From the manager’s perspective, the platform handles all of the steps between the application and joining. BeApplied’s cloud-hosting makes information accessible to workers based anywhere.
Hybrid working reveals how some workers may be disadvantaged when it comes to training and promotions. Forbes Magazine points out that younger workers face advancement challenges. Junior workers tend to get less in-person training because they prefer to work from home.
Informal touch points with managers also matter when it comes to performance evaluations. These in-person elements are often missed out on, and consequently are borne out during performance evaluations.
EDI digital training and advancement tools help charities overcome potential hybrid working inequalities.
Virtual training platforms take the stress out of on-the-job content learning. The Charity Learning Consortium, an e-learning platform, offers charities a chance to manage training and development. The platform distributes content modules and tracks both in-person and digital sessions.
Digital tools like The Learning Consortium give charity staff opportunities for on-demand learning and reduces the reliance on in-person training.
Our courses aim, in just three hours, to enhance soft skills and hard skills, boost your knowledge of finance and artificial intelligence, and supercharge your digital capabilities. Check out some of the incredible options by clicking here.