One key tool for inclusion at work

The key to inclusion is understanding who your employees really are, particularly those in underrepresented groups. One of the best practices for this is to segment employee engagement survey results by minority groups.

Many organizations conduct employee engagement surveys, but most neglect to segment the data they collect by criteria such as gender, ethnicity, generation, geography, and role in the organization. By only looking at the total numbers, employers miss out on opportunities to identify issues among smaller groups that could be leading to employee turnover, as the views of the majority overpower those of minorities.

In 2015, 52% of the new associate class at global law firm Baker McKenzie were women, but only 23% of the firm’s 1,510 partners were female. To find out what was keeping women from advancing to senior roles, researchers segmented the results of a firm-wide engagement survey to examine responses from women lawyers. Based on that data, they learned that many of the female associates weren't as motivated as their male counterparts to become partner.

A follow-up survey to get a better understanding revealed four things that would make partnership more attractive to women:

1. more flexibility about face time and working hours,
2. better access to high-profile engagements,
3. greater commitment to the firm’s diversity targets, and
4. more women role models.

Those four things became the basis for an action plan that included, for example, a firm-wide flexible work program that promoted remote working. By 2018, the percentage of women promoted to partner had risen to 40%, up from 26% in 2015.