Years ago, the current Chairman of the Executive Board of the University of Twente, Vinod Subramaniam, introduced me to Iris Bohnet’s book, Equality by Design. Bohnet is a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and an expert in gender equality and behavioral sciences. Her book discusses how organizations and systems can be designed to address gender and diversity issues. Bohnet argues that creating awareness about diversity and inclusion is often insufficient and that concrete measures are needed to bring about change: equality by design. By implementing clear agreements and utilizing evidence-based solutions, everyone within an organization can contribute to promoting equality and diversity. Instead of focusing on changing people, the emphasis is placed on improving processes and structures by saying, “This is how we do things from now on.”
In her book, Bohnet provides examples of organizations that have successfully implemented methods such as:
- Always using standardized questionnaires during job interviews to prevent interviewers from being unconsciously biased toward certain candidates.
- Offering flexible working hours to all employees as a means to promote diversity. This allows for better alignment between work and personal life, which is particularly beneficial for employees with caregiving responsibilities, such as parents or caregivers. A report by Deloitte (Women@Work 2023) indicates that in the past year, more female respondents have resigned from their jobs than in 2020 and 2021 combined. Lack of flexibility in working hours is one of the most frequently mentioned reasons. If flexibility becomes an “equality by design” measure, it should be applied uniformly to all employees in the organization, and supervisors who resist this change must justify their stance to their superiors. Deloitte states that when these measures become the standard for everyone in the organization, it can expect increased loyalty and higher productivity from all employees.
- Using inclusive language to create a work environment where everyone feels welcome and valued. This can be achieved, for example, by developing a guide on how to create inclusive job advertisements.
- Promoting diversity through adjustments in the recruitment process, such as posting job vacancies on various platforms to reach a wider range of candidates.
In Dutch organizations, I have discovered similar best practices that may not necessarily be labeled as equality by design but do follow the mindset of “this is how we do things from now on.” Here are a few examples for inspiration:
- An international student at a Dutch university questioned why students’ birthplaces were mentioned on official diplomas. The student, born outside of Europe, was concerned that this information could have a negative impact on job applications in the Netherlands. His concern proved valid. Research by Lancee, Thijssen & Coenders (2019) showed that applicants with a Dutch background had a 30% higher chance of receiving a positive response to their job applications compared to applicants with a foreign background. The university acknowledged that mentioning birthplaces on diplomas was an outdated tradition that had undesired effects. After consultation, it was decided to remove the mention of birthplaces from all official documents. This university is now working to address this inequality throughout the Netherlands.
- An organization had been struggling for years to hire specialized employees. Some job vacancies remained open for up to 18 months, hindering the company’s growth. Furthermore, even when someone was finally hired, they often left quickly. They would frequently be approached with enticing job offers elsewhere and would stay with the organization for less than a year. Exit interviews revealed that the organization used a lot of jargon and abbreviations. While newcomers could be experts in their field, they often struggled to participate in meetings because they didn’t understand the jargon used by long-time employees. When this issue was recognized, efforts were made to make the language more understandable. All employees are committed to minimizing jargon and abbreviations in all aspects of their work. This required significant effort and caused some frustration, but it ultimately resulted in new employees staying much longer and making significant contributions to the company’s innovation.
- Another organization decided to address labor shortages by recruiting internationally, resulting in colleagues from various parts of the world with different cultures and customs. Although the new employees were invited to all social activities of the organization, they often attended only once and then stopped coming. These events were primarily focused on Dutch culture and often involved alcohol. It proved challenging to organize enjoyable events that were suitable for all employees. Eventually, a committee was formed with representatives from all cultures, religions, and traditions. Together, they developed social events that were enjoyable for everyone. While it took some trial and error, this approach worked excellently.
- The last example is intriguing, and I cannot fully explain it yet, but it worked. A company set a strict KPI for hiring new talent within a department: 50% of the new hires had to be women, even though the department primarily consisted of men. Recruiters were at a loss as to how to meet this requirement. By chance, they discovered that when a job vacancy remained open for a longer period, more women applied. Men tended to respond more quickly because women took more time to research whether the company and the job were an improvement compared to their current position. They first evaluated whether the work and expectations aligned with their work-life balance and what requirements the job did and didn’t meet. Many women I spoke with about this example could relate to it. Once recruiters realized that the number of female applicants increased when job vacancies remained open longer, the procedure was adjusted, resulting in excellent outcomes.
What process and structural changes has your organization made to support diversity and inclusion? I would be very interested to know. Please share your insights with me at mollema@dir.nl.