Your performance management approach sets the tone for what you value as an organization and hence who feels valued and respected as an individual. Here are five ways for HR leaders to ensure that your approach is one that embraces diversity and creates an inclusive environment.<\/p>\n
If expectations are unclear, employees may feel like they\u2019re not evaluated based on their performance. Instead, factors unrelated to their contributions, such as gender or age, seem to creep into their assessment. Of course, a manager could also simply have a bad day and therefore give more critical feedback.<\/p>\n
Defining and assessing performance based on specific objectives<\/a> and clearly articulated behaviors ensures that the focus is on what people actually contribute to the organization. And it limits the tendency to base performance on a gut feeling that\u2019s subject to biases and prejudices.<\/span><\/p>\n Basing performance evaluation on one person\u2019s perception at one point in time makes biased reviews much more likely. Similarity bias makes us devote more attention to people similar to them. As a result, you might have to work harder for recognition in your\u00a0performance review<\/a>\u00a0if your manager is an Ivy League graduate, and you\u2019re not.<\/span><\/p>\n Adding 360-degree reviews to your performance management process ensures you include multiple sources (managers, colleagues, reports) and reduces the likeliness of biased reviews. In addition, a culture of ongoing feedback helps tackle recency bias. The more frequent the feedback and the more diverse the group of people it\u2019s coming from, the more balanced a view you get of someone\u2019s performance. Even with the best intentions, words often convey prejudices, stereotypes, and discrimination. For example, words can suggest expectations or limitations related to their social group. The sentence \u201cI\u2019m surprised you stay on top of all the latest trends in the industry, especially given your age<\/em>\u201d may sound like a compliment. But more importantly, it suggests age-related limitations and has no place in an employee evaluation.<\/p>\n To avoid discrimination of any kind, remind staff to check their language when talking about other people\u2019s job performance. An easy way to embrace diversity and inclusion (D&I) through words is to include a helpful note in all performance review and peer feedback forms.<\/p>\n Feel free to copy and paste this snippet into your feedback forms to remind people about using inclusive language:<\/p>\n [cs_gb id=11752]<\/p>\n Role models are a prerequisite for inclusive behaviors to spread across your organization. Also, employees who don\u2019t associate these desired behaviors with positive responses tend to put in less effort.<\/p>\n So if you want a culture of inclusion, reinforcing inclusive behavior is key. Encourage staff (and especially leadership) to keep their eyes open for inclusive behavior of their co-workers and to recognize it publicly when they see it. For example, someone who actively seeks input from people who don\u2019t usually contribute much in meetings should be reinforced in that behavior. If you use Small Improvements, you can add a custom \u201cIncluder\u201d badge to our\u00a0Praise feature<\/a>\u00a0that people can use to give kudos to inclusive colleagues.<\/span><\/p>\n Based on extensive research, Deloitte has identified six\u00a0signature traits of inclusive leaders<\/a>. We think they apply to people managers and individual contributors alike, so watch out for these traits and related behaviors:<\/p>\n [cs_gb id=12199]<\/p>\n You might think team members feel welcome at work \u2013 perhaps because you do \u2013 but actually, they don’t. The only way to find out if people feel included is to ask them.<\/p>\n Engagement or pulse surveys<\/a> are an effective way to gauge people\u2019s perception of diversity, inclusion, and belonging regularly. Consider using a pulse survey question template<\/a> that <\/span>measures the state of D&I in your organization.<\/p>\n2. Use multiple feedback sources to limit bias<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\n3. Nudge people into using inclusive language<\/span><\/h2>\n
4. Reinforce inclusive behaviors<\/span><\/h2>\n
5. Ask employees how they feel<\/span><\/h2>\n