Culture

ANCHORING D&I INTO THE CULTURE THROUGH BEHAVIORS AND PROCESSES

Fostering an inclusive culture requires intentionality and the aim of this portion of the Toolkit is to enable the development of some core processes and behaviors that will anchor D&I into the culture through three key post-Hire work streams that every start-up will have a need for in one way or another: 1) Onboarding; 2) Performance Management; and 3) ongoing Training and Development.  

First and foremost, words and language matter. Be purposeful in your communication and always strive for conscious inclusion.  Furthermore, with ever changing workplace demographics and societal influences, once you have hired a new team member, ensuring that every aspect of their onboarding acknowledges who they are and what they will bring to their work each day, will substantially impact their sense of belonging and ability to truly hit the ground running. This Society for Human Resources (SHRM) research points out that 69% of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding and organizations who commit to a structured onboarding program experience 50% greater new hire productivity and ultimately contribute to a rich and productive environment because they are being encouraged to bring their best selves to work.​​​​​​

An inclusive culture begins with the words we use in our everyday interactions.

#BIIGideas #BIIGimpact

ONBOARDING

  • See New Hire Checklist

  • The onboarding process sets the tone for a new hire’s inclusion journey so remember to customize where possible and be intentional about communicating everything from offering and soliciting name pronunciation on your new hire checklist, to identification of holidays celebrated that may not be covered by designated holidays and what flexibility may exist for them such as floating holidays to help honor. It’s the collection of these simple actions that help make the workplace more inclusive. One such action is encouraging all employees to include their pronouns in their email signature, video conferencing, name tags, etc.

    A sample new hire welcome greeting could include:

    [Company name] strives to create a workplace that reflects the diversity of _________ [our XYZ patients or partners], and an environment where all feel included. As you join our team, we want to ensure we refer to you in the way you prefer (e.g. given name, nickname, phonemic spelling to ensure correct pronunciation, pronouns, etc.). Please be sure to provide any of the information that is important to you when you return your ___________ [new hire paperwork/form]. We are looking forward to welcoming you to [Company name]!

    See also, on Pronouns:

    What are gender pronouns and why do they matter?

    Example of phonetic spelling guide:

    Phonetic spelling instructions

    Audio phonetic translation:

    https://tophonetics.com

    Additional ways to be inclusive during the welcome process could include:

    • All employees complete a questionnaire that turns into a welcome infographic on their first day which includes a note from their manager, photo, fun facts, etc.

    • A map in a common area that has pins (or photos) for new employees to mark where they (or family) are from

    • Find out their favorite food (or restaurant) and have that catered for company lunch on their first day

    • Launch of employee photo wall – ask each new hire to provide a RECENT photo of themselves of their choosing. They must be prominently featured in photo but can include interests/hobbies/etc.

    • 1:1 meeting with each team member pre-populated on calendar

    • Weekly team lunch or 30-minute non-work-related focused Zoom (if remote)

    • Desk set up/new hire kit sent home with welcome note/card (signed by team or CEO at minimum); company swag waiting; starter office supplies included (pens, paper, hand sanitizer)

  • Develop a 30-60-90 Day Plan:

    • Plan can/should be simple

    • Goal is to be clear about top priorities and facilitate effective integration

    • Should be consistently reviewed during the first 90 days

    A successful assimilation plan will ensure that you create a successful long-term relationship with your new hire.

    The 60 – 90-day window is a critical time to ensure inclusion, belonging and clarity of impact. Keeping focus on 3 key outcomes will keep you and your new employee on track.

    It’s easy to lose track of time and forget to take a step back to help your new employee during this time. Scheduling dedicated time to meet at the 30/60/90-day marks and to get feedback on how they are feeling about 1) their onboarding; 2) their role; and 3) the culture and the team will be time well spent! It’s easiest to leave a job in the first 90 days and these purposeful check-ins will allow any necessary course corrections needed to ensure your new hire is feeling increasingly connected and impactful. Finally, asking the same questions each time (and keeping track of major themes) will allow you to spot where your organization is excelling at inclusion and any areas of improvement. Further, if/when employees depart, you’ll want to ask some of the same questions in order to spot if/where things changed.

  • Collect EEO and other identifying information now

    While you will have some time before you will need to formally report information like race and gender to the government (in the US), you might find that collecting the same categories as the government will eventually require is a good place to start. See generally: EEOC. See also Metrics Tab.

    A Sample request follows:

    Welcome ___________ [new hire name]! In an effort to support and celebrate the rich culture we are trying to create; we hope you will share the following information with us. We will never use this information to identify you individually, and we will keep this in a safe place separate from your employee file. Periodically we will want to review this information in aggregate to see if in practice our organization is evolving in the way we hope that it will. Specifically, we would like to track employee age/generation, race, gender identity, national origin, disability status, and veteran status.

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

  • “A goal without a plan is just a wish.” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    A collaborative and intentional goal setting process is a crucial step in the performance management process, even in the early days when priorities can be continually shifting. Goal setting can also be a great way to reinforce your commitment to building and maintaining an inclusive culture. In addition to ensuring that goals are SMART, people leaders should be encouraged to set at least one inclusive leadership goal and all employees can set at least one inclusive culture goal. These can be aspirational, developmental or tactical in nature, the key is to embed the concept into the process in the early days.

  • Performance reviews can be a powerful tool in the creation of a company culture that embraces diversity and emphasizes inclusion in a tangible and performance-driven way. Just as bias can present itself in the interview process, so too can it play a role in the performance review process. Being mindful of this and ensuring that all reviews are reviewed by an objective third party ahead of delivery is recommended for all managers, regardless of seniority and prior experience. ​​​​​​​

  • No matter how your small start-up decides to assess, compare and compensate relative performance, it is crucial to ensure that the process is bias free. Also see Inclusive Leadership Rating Sheet.​​​​​​​

    See also: Bias Interrupters for Performance Evaluations.

    See also: Identifying Bias in Performance Evaluations Guide

    For more in-depth information, see Performance Management WG Output and Guidance.

  • Equitable Rewards is a common phrase used to describe the concerted efforts of an organization around the wellbeing of an employee in three main buckets: Benefits Equity (physical wellbeing), Career Equity (emotional and social wellbeing) and Pay Equity (financial wellbeing). For our purposes, we want to focus on Career and Pay Equity.

    Attached is a simple tool to calibrate compensation (and ultimately promotion) for underrepresented groups in your organization.

TRAINING

  • Learn about the importance of capturing simple metrics at the earliest stages of your company’s growth and how you can get started!

    Metrics

  • Check out our downloadable and customizable BIIG tools and links to informative external resources.

    Resources

  • Learn about the importance of being intentional about D&I from Day 1, and how to establish stage appropriate goals that will set the stage for current and future growth.

    Values & Norms

  • Learn how to embed D&I into your startup’s hiring process.

    Hiring Process

  • Learn more about our other Working Group Products.

    Our Products