One in six who earns a Ph.D. in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) pursues a career outside the field, with women and blacks most likely to do so, finds a new American Institutes for Research (AIR) analysis of what general career paths and work these Ph.D. holders take up once leaving their discipline.
“The STEM community is losing contributions to scientific and technological discovery,” lead author and AIR senior researcher Lori Turk-Bicakci said. “This brain drain restricts potential advantages gained from diverse perspectives and the availability of role models for underrepresented groups.”
Diversity and inclusion in the workplace have proven to create positive impacts on organizations. An expanded 2017 study by McKinsey & Company confirmed that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 21% more likely to have above-average profitability. Organizations that are ethnically and culturally diverse gain a 33% chance of outperformance.
This is why companies are encouraged to develop policies that will cater to all genders and races, especially Black, Indigenous and Latinx women. Some employers are aware that creating diverse teams and increasing employee engagement will enable them to make smarter decisions for their businesses.
However, creating a diverse and inclusive organization remains to be challenging for most companies. Black, Indigenous and Latinx women usually find themselves underserved, insecure, overlooked, ignored and unwelcomed.
Post the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter social justice movement, more and more companies have vowed to diversify their employee base. Too often, organizations tend to focus on attracting and hiring diverse talent, but they fail to deliver when it comes to retaining them.
One aspect that is often overlooked is the onboarding process. In fact, in a study involving 31 million employees from 1000 Fortune companies, only 12% of the respondents strongly agree that their companies perform well in onboarding new hires.
As employee turnover is relatively high during the first 18 months of employment, it is important for companies to step up their game and create a more inclusive onboarding process with employee retention as their goal. In addition, employers must show their cultural competency when it comes to their employees.
How can this be done? Here, we talk about some of the best onboarding practices that can help retain Black, Indigenous and Latinx women in the workplace.
Customization of Content in Your Onboarding Process
Why focus so much on your onboarding process? Onboarding is your first chance to develop a healthy relationship with your employees. They are excited, nervous and expecting a lot of changes as they enter a new organization. This is the best time to introduce your company and let the onboardees know what is expected of them.
When sharing expectations, you’ll be displaying your organization’s cultural competence. As we are discussing Black, Indigenous and Latinx women, it’s important to understand their values, beliefs, practices and other aspects of them and their cultures.
Companies usually have their own tested ways of tailor-fitting their onboarding process. Personalization creates an emotional attachment while it sparks interest. This is why understanding strengths and setting goals early on is critical to keep employees intact. But to elevate this practice, organizations should also start looking into the factors of race and gender when customizing the onboarding process for Black, Indigenous and Latinx women.
Creating personalized content targeted towards underrepresented or marginalized women can make a huge impact during onboarding. Take for example, receiving a welcome message from a prominent woman leader in the company whom she may identify can prove to encourage her to look at your organization as a long term place to grow and advance her career. It may also bridge the confidence gap.
Customized learning resources like FAQs or modules will also help Black, Indigenous and Latinx women navigate through their first days at your organization. Instead of generic, marketing and technical documents, digital materials like how-tos, company guides, and instructional videos can help answer most of their questions about your organizational policies, company culture, and diversity and inclusion goals.
The last thing that you’d want to put out there is that diversity and inclusion is not merely a marketing stunt for your company. Laying the foundation of an inclusive experience and sending a strong message of diversity through tailored content will help marginalize women understand how the company values their presence and future roles in the company.
INTRODUCTIONS & FOLLOW-UP
Have onboarding teams do formal introductions with the new hires. The first part of this session should be the diverse employee introducing himself or herself. A formal, professional introduction will make it clear that they got the job because of talent and experience. The introduction with the other team members will also help them know everyone else they are going to be working daily with better.
Moreover, make sure that your new hire knows who they can go to in case they need help or certain guidance. Be clear on if the candidate has any problem with their team or manager to who they should reach out. Schedule check-ins, follow-ups, and introduce mentoring programs for them along the way. It will add a nice personal touch to the experience.
Build An Inclusive Mentorship Program
Creating a sense of community is always helpful when building an inclusive workplace. Aside from having someone to guide new hires during their first days, it also helps foster a more stable social setting for all employees.
Usually, organizations pair up new hires with existing employees and follow buddy systems to help reduce new employees’ learning curve. However, not all pairings are created equal. To ensure that new hirers are properly introduced to the ins and outs of your organization’s operation, assigning senior leaders or subordinates with management potential will improve the onboarding buddy system.
As for Black, Indigenous and Latinx women, mentorship programs led by the company will help them not only perform their roles but also express their identities in the workplace. Finding a mentor isn’t an easy task for Black, Indigenous and Latinx women, especially when only few minority women rise to leadership positions. When companies take initiative in this part of the onboarding process, they help create safer spaces for Black, Indigenous and Latinx women to gain feedback, develop their leadership skills, and advance professionally.
When building a mentor-mentee relationship, compatibility is key. Most importantly, helping Black, Indigenous and Latinx women find mentors with skills that complement their own will help them perform better and eventually advance from their current roles. Mentorship should also be well-structured and monitored by the company. As much as the free flow of ideas and culture of feedback are encouraged, it is important to keep track of the results and study how mentors truly impact the careers of their mentees.
Utilize Employee Resource Groups
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) play an essential role in driving impact on diversity and inclusion. They aid in recruitment by identifying target populations to tap on. They are valuable in creating policies for retaining employees from minority groups. They have unique perspectives and insights on policies that will help individuals from minority groups to advance professionally.
Aside from serving as a platform for Black, Indigenous and Latinx women to voice out their opinions, ERGs also contribute to increasing representation in leadership. One great example is the Community NETwork at AT&T, a group that pursues inclusive opportunities for African-American employees. By partnering with the company’s Executive Advocate Program, they were able to participate in identifying and cultivating potential leaders. This resulted in pinpointing more than 30 individuals for VP positions.
This shows how vital it is to set aside time for onboardees to get to know the ERGs in the company. Understanding their history, vision, and the opportunities they create will empower Black, Indigenous and Latinx women to participate and push for policies that will benefit them.
ERG leaders or representatives can actively join the onboarding process, where they can define how the company perceives diversity and inclusion. They can also talk about the policies being implemented and answer questions that Black, Indigenous and Latinx women might not be comfortable to ask from other departments. This time also opens the opportunity to gain insightful feedback. By letting onboardees know that their opinions are valuable, they are more encouraged to cooperate and ideate progressive ways to create an inclusive workforce.
Cultivating diversity
The first 45 days of new hires are crucial to retaining them in the company. At this time, organizations should be well-prepared in providing relevant information, gaining feedback, and opening the conversation for career advancement. As the face of the American workforce continues to diversify, certain adjustments on the onboarding process will benefit the company as well as its employees.
By giving attention to the earliest phase of your employees’ life cycles, they are nurtured into more productive individuals. With regard to diversity and inclusion, retaining Black, Indigenous and Latinx women in the workplace will improve leadership diversity and decision-making. By creating inclusive work environments early on, organizations can be certain that the foundation of their business is strong and primed for growth.
