Your company policies don’t work. Here are some ways to fix them.

Welcome to Simply Diversity. This bimonthly letter breaks down key diversity concepts and explains how you can apply them... simply. There are plenty of terms heard ‘round the Internet as we prioritize diversity, inclusion and belonging in everything we do. This newsletter explains what these concepts are, why they’re important, and how to practice them. 

In my last Simply Diversity, I wrote about going back to the office and how it exposes ignorance about diversity, equity and inclusion. I also offered suggestions to individuals stuck between the rock and hard place of needing a job but wanting better options.

Today I’m turning it around: what can companies do from a policies and procedures standpoint to make returning to the office more inclusive?

Break it down:

Many (most?) company policies and procedures are outdated or overcomplicated, not to mention poorly (and inequitably) enforced. In other words: they don’t work.

Unsurprisingly, this leaves employees frustrated and confused. It also means your employees don’t trust the policies you have — and why should they? Take these examples:

• Harassment: Employees may know how to report sexual harassment, but past reports have resulted in little or no change. So they stop reporting. The procedure exists, but it doesn’t work.
• Safety: Warehouses and retail employees may know how to report safety issues, but past reports have been ignored or glossed over, or the person who reported them was retaliated against. The procedure exists, but it doesn’t work.
• Promotions: There’s a clear path to promotion that involves doing A, B, and C. But... men never actually have to do C, and people of color sometimes have to do D. (Hint: if you have a higher rate of men or white people getting promoted, that’s a clear indicator that there’s something amiss in your promotion process!) The policy exists, but it doesn’t work.

While bad policies are a problem for all employees, I hope it’s clear how this is a diversity, equity and inclusion issue. But if not, let me spell it out: If existing company policies and procedures are old, complex and poorly enforced, you can be CERTAIN that people with marginalized identities are keeping their challenges — from microaggressions to harassment to their human needs — to themselves. 

People come to work because they have to. Nothing about an untrustworthy environment helps your employees and company thrive. Is that the kind of company culture you want to contribute to?

Do Something Different:

There are countless ways to make your policies and procedures better, and therefore more inclusive, welcoming and safe for people of all identities. For example:

• Structure and reporting: What is the structure of reporting? If your employee has a question, do they know where to get an answer? Are the channels they must go through clearly spelled out? And are all the steps actually effective? In many workplaces there’s an unspoken rule that you have to take ideas to your boss — and that taking them to your boss’s boss is “overstepping.” Why? Is that silent rule helping your employees and companies do their best work?
• Information and decisions: Outdated or overcomplicated policies cut down on efficiency. What if you empowered your employees with access to information and clear decision filters? Granting agency to your employees makes them feel trusted and improves efficiency and productivity by removing bottlenecks. 
• Reporting issues: Find out if harassment or safety issues are going unreported (it’s so common!). Go back to the last report you received, and follow its trail. What happened? How was it resolved? Is the person who reported it in a better place? Do they even still work for the company? Why not? Do some digging to find out if your processes really work. 
• Professional development: Is there a clear and fairly enforced policy for professional development opportunities like trainings and conferences? What if someone’s boss unfairly refuses them an opportunity — is there a recourse?
• Health Insurance: I’m participating as a panelist in a MyHealthMath webinar about equitable benefits, and something they said stood out to me: we think of health insurance benefits as being equitable across the board, costing all employees the same whether their salary is $30K or $300K. But $250-$350 per month for health insurance is a TON if you make $30K, and practically nothing if you make $300K! What’s equitable about that?
• “Flex” time and work-from-home: this should not only apply to mothers or people with disabilities. In fact, we shouldn’t even call it “flex time” but simply “how we work.” Your employees are adults, hired to do a job. Shouldn’t you trust them to decide where they’re best able to do that job? Yes, there need to be parameters, and your lawyers will have some ideas about that. But if I’m doing a good job, why should it matter if I’m in the office in California or my mom’s house in North Carolina?
• Caregiving leave: similar to flex time, all employees should be given caregiving leave.
• Pay your interns: I understand the idea that an intern is being “paid” in knowledge and experience. But they’re doing a job and making your company better — it’s not like you’re doing them a one-sided favor. All employees should be gaining knowledge and experience… and a paycheck for the value they are delivering your company. Always pay your interns. Not only because unpaid internships exclude anyone who doesn’t have the financial cushion to “work for free,” but because all work, no matter who does it, should be properly compensated. 

My final “Do Something Different” isn’t about company policies and procedures, but it’s important: as we go fully or partially back to the office, be sensitive. Understand that you have employees who experienced a lot of trauma in 2020, and are wary of going back. Understand that others (like retailers, health care workers, warehouse workers) never had the chance to leave “the office.” Acknowledge these facts and compensate people appropriately: at the very least thank them, and at most provide them with perks if you can. 

I hope this brainstorm list gets your wheels turning. I hope it makes you think critically about how your office could be set up to better accommodate your employees’ full, human needs. 

What ideas do you have? I’d love to hear from you in the comments, and I may use your suggestions in a future issue of Simply Diversity! 

About Stacey Gordon and Rework Work:

Stacey Gordon is Executive Advisor and Diversity Strategist of Rework Work where she and her team coach and counsel executive leaders on DEI strategies for the business, while offering a no-nonsense approach to unconscious bias education for the broader employee population. Stacey’s unconscious bias course has consistently been the second-highest viewed course on the LinkedIn Learning platform and has also been translated into multiple languages. You can find Stacey’s book, UNBIAS: Addressing Unconscious Bias at Work, at Amazon, Barnes & Nobles, and wherever books are sold.