Recording Available: “Building Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Workplace”

Kiwi Partners recently held a webinar “Building Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Workplace,” presented by Solana Cederboim Wax, MSHR, SPHR and Frankie Tin in partnership with the Education and Research Foundation of the BBB® of Metropolitan New York. It was a well-attended event with a lot of engagement and questions from the attendees. See below for three of the most asked questions from the webinar. To see the entire recording, visit here. A PDF copy of the slide deck from the webinar is available for download here.

How do you get better diversity in job candidates?

Job Posting sites: LinkedIn, Idealist, or Indeed may or may not be the solution. Depending on your organization's needs, research specific job boards to widen the candidate pool and target a particular skill set.

When deciding which job sites to post, base your decision on existing data such as:

• click rates

• past performance & successes of your previous postings

• sites that your candidates used to find your job post

Track data. Ask candidates during pre-screening or use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to track the details mentioned above.

Determine your recruitment strategy before starting your candidate search. However, be agile and adjust as needed. Responses may differ from time to time or from search to search.

How do you incorporate diversity in learning and development?

Leaders should encourage their team to own their development and growth and use available training funds. Pay attention to team members who rarely take advantage of training opportunities. Look for trends within teams, demographics, and employee groups and communicate training program benefits to those groups. Finally, ensure alignment between individual goals and organizational goals, mission, and values.

Review policy details that limit or make it challenging for training programs to be equitable. Some questions to consider:

Do these programs use legacy vendors that may not reflect the current team?

Do they require employees to pay expenses up front?

Do staff have time to participate in training and growth opportunities within their work hours?

Consider the 70-20-10 rule, which is a proportional breakdown of how people learn effectively. This concept brings a diversified approach to learning, acknowledging that everyone learns differently and suggesting an equitable approach to time management.

70% learn via on-the-job experience

20% learn via mentoring, coaching, or from others (e.g., feedback or networking) 10% learn via traditional formal education (e.g., courses, seminars, workshops, or reading).

Who conducts the exit interview, and when is the best time to conduct it?

Offboarding is one of the final opportunities to demonstrate an organization’s culture and communicate a clear message about how leadership treats their team. A positive exit interview experience is part of the brand experience for the employee, who will ideally become a future advocate for your organization. The best time to conduct the interview is as close to the employee’s last day as possible. Holding the discussion too early, such as weeks before their last day, may affect working relationships, especially if there is any negative feedback.

The exit interview is also an important way to collect data and receive constructive feedback. An individual who is not the direct supervisor (such as a dedicated HR professional or Board member) should be designated to lead the meeting and capture this information. You want to create an environment where the employee can feel comfortable and safe providing feedback about the organization and their leadership during the interview.

Some questions to ask during the exit interview:

Do you feel your supervisor provided the tools for you to succeed in your role?

Do you think your job has changed from the start of your job?

What feedback would you like to give to leadership?

Make sure the questions are consistent from person to person in order to track trends and to improve the organization.

Please contact Kiwi Partners' HR Services if you need assistance with building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.