Category: Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) is an important and ongoing strategy of any HR plan. Ensuring that your company supports hiring, engaging, and retaining diverse workers with varied backgrounds will set your company up for long-term success and an increased bottom line. This topic offers the latest strategies for talent management, key insights from diversity leaders, case studies on D&I in the workplace, and more.

EEOC Announces Settlement with Winston-Salem Company

When an employer is sued for discrimination and decides to settle the case, the details are confidential. When the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sues an employer, however, the settlement is very public and includes a press release giving details about the resolution. Recently, the EEOC announced a settlement with a Winston-Salem company in a […]

Shameka Young: A Difference Maker in the D&I Space

A key element of diversity, equity, and inclusion is finding ways to not only hire more diverse workers but also elevate them within their organization. For Shameka Young, VP and Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) at Cognizant, leveraging the company’s focus on affinity groups, targeted hiring, and other practices have been key factors […]

How Leadership’s Understanding of “Psychological Safety” is More Important than Ever

Whether you’ve been leading a remote workforce for decades, recently ventured into this space, are dabbling with hybrid models or fully returning your staff to in-house status, one thing is certain: The concept of “workplace” has changed forever. The pandemic effectively recast it. And the hard, sacred work of nurturing company culture has gotten even […]

How Employers Can Prevent Misconduct Within a Remote Workforce

With an estimated 36.2 million Americans working remotely by 2025, working from home has become the new norm. Although remote work has its benefits, it also diminishes open lines of communication between employers and employees, leading to issues in the workplace that go unacknowledged as a consequence of a dispersed workforce. Cyberbullying, harassment, and discrimination […]

Failing to Communicate Policy Changes Can Undo Harassment Lawsuit Defense

Employers often make policy changes to address potentially discriminatory conditions. If you hope to use the changes as a defense to future bias claims based on the former policy, however, you must communicate them to your employees. A ruling from the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals (which covers Arkansas employers) recently reinforced the lesson.

Leveraging the Strengths of a Multicultural Team During an Ongoing Pandemic

Research consistently shows that global teams are much more creative and, therefore, have a competitive advantage in how they approach markets and understand their customers. This gave birth to the useful “global” concept, which reinforces the value of diversity in our work. However, it also shows that multicultural teams are much slower than monocultural teams […]

Pronouns and Misgendering: Answers to Common Questions from Employers

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bostock decision in June 2020, which found discrimination because of someone’s transgender status is prohibited under the umbrella of sex discrimination, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidance expanding on the practical implications. The guidance highlights one form of harassment that can contribute to creating a hostile work environment […]

Personal Life Experiences Drive Passion for DEI

The banking and finance sector has long had a reputation as an industry sorely lacking in diversity and inclusion. For many, the very mention of banking conjures up images of stuffy, older white men in suits. With an increasingly diversified American workforce, the banking industry can’t afford to maintain a lack of diversity based on […]

$136.9M Judgment vs. Tesla Underscores Rising Costs of Joint Employer Relationships

After less than four hours of deliberation, a jury in a California federal court recently awarded $136.9 million to a former Tesla subcontractor after finding he had been subjected to a racially hostile work environment at the company’s factory in the northern part of the state. The huge damages award demonstrates the potential dangers underlying […]

How Can Companies Throw Safe, Inclusive Holiday Parties?

Around the world, life is settling into the new normal. Many people are returning to the office, and hybrid work is now standard. Many remote team members haven’t seen each other in person in over a year, and they’re losing their sense of team spirit. Those of us who feel comfortable can finally get together […]