What are the best practices for promoting inclusion in promotion practices?

The promotion process must reflect equity, fairness and transparency. Line managers must be aware of their role in the process and how they might encourage/discourage a potential applicant even without saying a word. Support everyone's ambition by encouraging them to engage with the process and provide actionable feedback to facilitate their development and readiness for the next round of promotion. Analyse data from previous promotion rounds to identify trends in which groups are not represented and develop an action plan. Actively encourage individuals from those underrepresented groups to put themselves forward and support them through the process by sharing examples of successful applications and having someone mentor them.

One powerful question to ask yourself and your leadership team is, "Who isn't at the table?" By asking this you prompt a deeper examination of representation, ensuring the workforce's evolving diversity is acknowledged and embraced. Incorporating this question into the dialogue also sends a powerful message to employees about the organisation's commitment to inclusivity.

I think its important when assessing the current situation to be clear on a few things. (1) Who are key decision makers? Are those key decision makers inclusive of managers with direct oversight? If so how will the key decision maker field their input. (2) What data do we need and how far should we look back? Its important to look at the full picture, especially to maintain equity. Consider, last promotion, last merit, last bonus. (3) Timing is everything Not all promotions need to process at the same time, you can stagger them over each quarter in a fiscal year to be sure it fits within your financial strategy (4) Plan for communications Promotions should be communicated and celebrated. Otherwise, it can be a missed opportunity

One thing I have found helpful is mobilising support of leaders at the departmental level during promotion rounds. This would involve engaging minority groups who otherwise may not engage with the process or who may not have been hitherto successful. Equally important is continuously messaging which improves employees confidence in the promotion process. Excellent performance should be rewarded and promotion is one of the ways to reward good employees contribution to organisational performance.

Asking your employees, "Who's not at the table?" also helps you cultivate a culture of openness and transparency. Inviting others to be heard also demonstrates that the organisation and its leaders value all voices and is proactively seeking ways to broaden representation.

Companies often stumble in achieving equality and equity in access to promotional opportunities by making decisions that impact others, by NOT including them in that very conversation. Assumptions, often subjective and untested... are made well before opportunities are presented to employees. "She/he/they are not ready" is an common assumption that shifts goalposts for employees, and leaves them in a cloud of confusion and frustration. The impact on retention is worth considering.

Promoting inclusion in promotions is vital. Ensure everyone gets a fair shot based on skills and achievements, not identity. Eliminate biases and support diverse career paths. Let's build a workplace where merit matters most.

Be self-aware. Everyone has in built biases and assumptions - it is how we navigate the world. Recognise your individual brilliance but accept that brilliance takes different forms and that by focusing on one type of brilliance you are limiting yourself and others. Do not think that the work is done just because you have a diverse hire or promotion. We all have a duty to hear our colleagues and give them space. The recent example of Diane Abbott in the UK parliament, where she wasn't enabled to voice her opinions when they were discussing her, demonstrates this perfectly. Diverse organisations provide space for all people once they are in role. Space is where everyone is given time and space and is listened to.

Allow me to make this abundantly clear. Embracing diversity doesn't equate to burdening the 'diversity hire' with the sole responsibility of educating others and being the epitome of diversity. Unfortunately, this is a common approach taken by many companies, and the weight of the diversity burden is undeniable. Often, companies opt for the easy route, neglecting self-education and relying excessively on the lived experiences of marginalised individuals.

A good way of monitoring and evaluating your promotion processes for inclusion is using your EDI action plan to keep on track with your targets and also check for unintended outcomes which may be affecting some groups of employees. Conducting an equality impact assessment after the promotion process will be invaluable.

Success depends on keeping inclusion and belonging at the forefront of priorities. Inclusion doesn't happen accidentally. It involves the culture we create and the relationships that our leaders orchestrate. Diversity is more than just hiring and promoting diverse talent. It involves connecting diversity to our work and intentionally promoting inclusion in practices. This requires creating a culture of engagement and fostering positive relationships. Prioritize professional development, encourage networking, and establish mentorship relationships to make it happen.

Train all managers and leaders on inclusive decision making process by consistently asking these three questions: Am I doing this because of my own preference? Am I doing this because it is tradition? Am I doing this because it is a requirement for the promotion process? Finally, is any group (s) impacted negatively by this process and how can we mitigate against it? Fairness, transparency and equity should be the drivers of the promotion process.

Motivate people to care about addressing their biases - it takes time but without motivation it’s very tricky to change the affinity bias etc etc - it’s a lot easier to de bias systems than people

Define and publish a comprehensive career progression map which includes criteria and demonstrable skill levels. This would enable employees to plan and work for their progression as well as serve as a consistent scale. The career progression map to be reviewed periodically to ensure it aligns with the fair employment policies of the organization

?Have a diverse panel of interviewers ?Remind them why DEI is so important and the organisational values supporting it ?Train them how to conduct the process so that their conscious and unconscious biases don’t influence the process and/or their decision making. ?Interviewing practice with actors is really effective to help people build confidence and self awareness. ?Create psychological safety throughout the organisation to foster a culture of speaking up, so people can (with kindness) call out the bias and blind spots they notice in their fellow interviewers (and colleagues generally).