Diversity and Inclusion Opportunities in the Workplace - Post-Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has delivered an exciting opportunity to employers to access a vastly increased talent pool. It has showed us that remote working is not only an acceptable alternative to working in the office, but can be a highly productive strategy for business success.

Many HR professionals and business leaders are now considering ‘people to work, or work to people’ scenarios.

With the right technology in place, the physical office is no longer the only place to engage with and inspire employees, immersing them in corporate culture and providing them with the tools to work effectively and efficiently. Organisations that were already using Cloud-based business management systems and investing in other technologies that supported remote learning were well-prepared when almost overnight, the pandemic changed the way we access our work.

Others, stuck with premise-based systems and culture , were left behind, struggling to adapt to the challenge of employees working from home without the appropriate tools to support them and enable them to perform their daily tasks.

Diversity and Inclusion is at the top of the agenda for many HR professionals, sometimes viewed only as a challenge or as a separate issue. This may be the first time for some organisations that D&I fits seamlessly into its normal recruitment processes.

New Opportunities

After months of working from home, sharing data on Cloud-based systems, following workflows and catching up in virtual meetings, we can now fully appreciate the potential of working with people who were out of reach before.

People who for geographical, social or physical reasons couldn’t have been part of the old office team can now be fully integrated into it. Those living in other cities or countries; parents with young children at home; people with mobility-limiting issues, physical or otherwise; and many more. The rapid uptake of digital solutions has enabled and empowered a rich talent pool with experiences and skills that will make valuable contributions to their employers.

Organisations that can identify the individuals producing quality output will be the ones creating the our leaders of tomorrow. Promoting diversity and inclusion within the workplace is not just the right, caring and human thing to do, but it is also at last being widely recognised as a strategy that makes sound, long-term business sense.

Get in touch with us to find out more about how we can support you to integrate strong D&I opportunities into your overall recruitment and retention strategy.