To gauge the impact of diversity and inclusion efforts, companies typically track metrics on the hiring, attrition, promotion, and composition of the current workforce. While such statistics are useful, they don’t provide a fully accurate picture. In reality, diversity and inclusion are not merely the number of nonwhite male employees you have. Rather, a truly inclusive organization contains a diverse cross-section of employees who actually interact with one another. So how do you measure this? A venerable management tool — organizational network analysis (ONA) — can result in powerful visual representations of the way inclusion actually plays out in your organization.
To Understand Whether Your Company Is Inclusive, Map How Your Employees Interact
Creating a diverse company doesn’t stop with hiring.
July 19, 2017
Summary.
The business benefits of a diverse workforce are well-known but it’s important to understand that diversity is not just about workforce composition but about interaction as well. If employees of different genders, races, and ethnicities aren’t working together, the benefits of diversity may be lost. You can measure these interactions by mapping them visually. One professional services company did just this and learned that women were largely shut out of its decision making, idea sharing, and emotional support networks. Fighting conscious and unconscious bias isn’t easy, but having these insights allowed the firm to start to address them.
New!
HBR Learning
Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
How to build a better, more just workplace.
Learn More & See All Courses
New!
HBR Learning
Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
How to build a better, more just workplace.