Since the 1980s, companies have increasingly adopted diversity policies to improve the representation of women and racial minorities in the workplace.
Today over 95% of companies with at least 1,000 employees have instituted programs to increase diversity and inclusion within their ranks.
Despite this, we know remarkably little about how people feel about these programs, and even less about why they feel the way they do. This is a major knowledge gap. Research shows that diversity programs are more effective when workers support them — and when done correctly, they offer great opportunities to improve workplace equity and, ultimately, firm performance. At their worst, however, they can stimulate resistance and actually create an even more challenging environment for underrepresented workers.
To help companies take full advantage of these programs and close this knowledge gap, we conducted a study guided by the following three research questions:
> Read the full article on the HBR website
By Danny Lambouths III, William Scarborough and Allyson Holbrook
Source: HBR
When someone gives a speech, leads a meeting, or sends us an email, we don’t generally think much about how abstract or concrete their language is. But the authors’ research suggests that this subtle difference in communication style can substantially impact how people are perceived, as more-abstract speech tends to be associated with power and leadership.
The share of prime working-aged disabled individuals with a job is now the highest since at least the Great Recession, marking important progress; the evidence in this analysis suggests that a strong labor market is one important factor and the growth of remote work is another.
While political, economic, and technological shifts can be difficult to predict, demographics data doesn’t lie. Within the next 10 years, more than 60 countries will have a median age over 35, and in 25 of those countries, half the population will be over 45.
