This article originally appeared in the November 2021 issue of Mobility magazine. Interviewee titles and organizations were current at the time of writing but may have since changed.
From recruitment software to videoconferencing tools, technology is a core component of modern life. It’s often touted as a magic solution of sorts, one that will help improve communication, boost productivity, protect confidential information, and—in the talent arena—give everyone a level playing field.
However, while technology can help bridge equity gaps, it’s not the be-all, end-all solution. Technology alone isn’t enough to get people to their destination, be it a role with a new company or a promotion with their existing employer. People can access the same technology, but they may not equally benefit from it because of their different life circumstances.
It’s vital for companies that want to make strides in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to recognize that technology is only one part of the equation.
To provide the most appropriate tools for addressing DEI, we must understand the abilities and limitations of candidates and employees and merge the technical element with the human element.
What Technology Can Do
The last several years have forced the relocation industry to modify face-to-face services with technology. Tools such as Zoom and Google Meet became necessities to continue operating during the early days of the COVID-19 shutdown.
One of the biggest advantages of these tools? They’ve given transferees a way to get acquainted with their soon-to-be new homes; through virtual meetings and screen sharing, mobility professionals can introduce transferees to communities without any travel involved.
Technology can also improve equity in the workforce in several other ways, such as by providing:
- People with work opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise due to location and commute limitations.
- Teams with enhanced means of collaborating, communicating, innovating, and thinking creatively.
- Managers and employees with virtual training and meeting opportunities that enable them to touch base more often.
- Employees with greater engagement opportunities, enabling them to foster a more positive work environment.
- People at all steps of the corporate ladder with the chance to take part in virtual events, such as global conferences, that they previously would have missed due to cost restrictions.
Additionally, technology can improve equity by enhancing human resources efforts. Diversity recruiting software, for example, can help remove unconscious biases at the recruitment stage, leading to more diverse candidate pools.
Another example is online surveys, which can help HR teams get a pulse on the extent to which employees feel as if their needs are being met at work. After analyzing the results, HR can then outline actionable steps to meet the needs of individual employees more effectively.
For example, say more than half of an employer’s workforce reports feeling disconnected from management. One solution an HR department could implement is setting up virtual town hall sessions each month, at which employees across the company have the chance to ask the management team their questions. Or the HR team could set up monthly office hours for each member of management, in which employees can book a 15- or 20-minute meeting with them and voice their thoughts.
Challenges Technology Can Create
While technological solutions can offer distinct advantages across many industries, not all employees will have the same understanding of and access to these tools.
That is one of the biggest misconceptions about technology, and it’s easy to understand why it exists. After all, many people have on-demand access to the internet and various devices. They run errands with a smartphone in their pocket, log on to their laptop for work, and unwind by watching a movie on their tablet.
However, for various reasons, such as income and living location, not everyone has this kind of easy access to technology. For individuals who don’t, working from home might not be an option, and public Wi-Fi might be the only solution—albeit one that isn’t always reliable, secure, or available.
Making matters more difficult is the fact that not everyone owns their own desktop or laptop. People in this situation may need to use shared computers, which makes accomplishing basic personal tasks and work-related activities challenging and less secure.
In the U.S. alone, 43% of adults with household incomes of less than $30,000 don’t have home broadband services, according to a 2021 survey of U.S. adults by the Pew Research Center.
Pew also found that when it comes to adults with household incomes of less than $30,000 a year, 41% don’t own a desktop or laptop computer, 59% don’t own a tablet computer, and 24% don’t own a smartphone.
Even when people do have access to top-notch technology solutions, it may not be enough to close equity gaps. While companies can give their employees the same technology tools and support networks, individuals work differently and may rely on human interaction to thrive.
The pandemic has certainly taught us that employees need or benefit from a wide variety of tools and support. Some additional challenges that candidates and employees might face even with the same baseline access to technology include:
- Little to no training on how to use various digital tools.
- Lack of meaningful and relevant content in their primary language
- Lack of customized technology offerings based on their unique abilities and circumstances.
Additionally, technology solutions that make life easier for one person can make life more difficult for another. For example, engaging in a conversation with 10 different people on a video call several times a week might be taxing for some, who might work more effectively through one-on-one phone conversations. However, others might prefer those video calls; they feel like they can get their questions answered and make their voice heard efficiently and effectively.
Then there’s the issue of perceived availability. Technology can create an assumption that people are more available than ever before. Employers might develop an expectation that employees will respond around the clock. However, not every employee has the same flexibility to strike a work-life balance outside of normal working hours. How individuals spend their time off-hours is personal. They might be a single parent who can’t take calls in the evening or a caretaker of a sick parent who can’t flex their schedule on short notice.
Regardless of the specifics, off-hours time for employees is a sensitive topic and something that, in our opinion, employers shouldn’t question.
Combining Technology With the Human Element
Ultimately, technology is a tool that can help companies close the equity gap. However, for this to happen, companies can’t use it in a vacuum. They must also address people’s unique needs.
Companies would be well served to start by avoiding making assumptions about access, resources, and support. Instead, they should operate from an information-gathering mindset and seek to understand what each candidate and employee truly needs to achieve success. A one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t be effective.
With that understanding, companies can then begin creating tailored experiences for candidates and employees. To provide that level of customization, companies need to consider making significant cultural shifts.
Here are some ways to get started:
- Retrain yourself and your colleagues not to make assumptions and judgments. This is easier said than done. It takes a lot of time and practice to clear one’s mind of preconceptions and replace unconscious biases with awareness. Ideas about how people “ought” to be, based on how they look, act, etc., are learned and, frankly, must be unlearned.
- Create a detailed, user-friendly, and inclusive needs assessment that gives each transferee a safe, secure way to provide information that could impact any step in their upcoming move. Be sure to keep in mind privacy concerns; balance gathering all the necessary information while avoiding requests for details that might disclose sensitive employee information. Update the needs assessment over time, based on employee feedback.
- Regularly collect employee feedback about various practices and processes—and not just about the needs assessment discussed above. Your employees’ needs will change over time, and you’ll have to adapt accordingly to accommodate them best. One approach is to poll employees once or twice a quarter on various factors, such as the use of technology, engagement levels, and work-life balance satisfaction. Once you have those results, analyze them and make changes throughout your organization accordingly.
All in all, if companies properly approach technology and keep it in context, they’ll be able to create a catalyst for incredible growth, change, and innovation—and help their people reach their full potential.