Audeliss brings you the latest insights and trends surrounding executive search and diversity, equity, and inclusion in business across the world every month.
In DEI news,
In DEI news, more women are paying the ‘motherhood penalty’ as remote working is enforcing gender stereotypes. Although research by TUC discovered that remote work is beneficial for working mothers due to its flexible benefits, it is actually enforcing gender norms where women are still considered primary caregivers. When it comes to flexible working, women are having to choose between working from home and coming into the office, and unfortunately proximity bias is still prevalent in the workplace; with leaders assuming that employees who are in the office are more committed.
Overlooking women in the workplace can not only affect your diversity goals but it can also impact your ESG commitments. A research paper by Hannes Wagner from Bocconi University in Milan and colleagues from the universities of Utah, Alberta, Arizona and Toronto found that more women on boards increases an organization’s environmental performance. The research discovered that investors are worried about the lack of action that organizations and directors are taking towards environmental sustainability, and found that boards that have introduced women board members to the company experienced an 8% rise in environmental performance in the following three years compared to the previous three years.
Talking about ESG, recent analysis from Connected Impact’s Transparency Index report 2023 found which UK companies on the FTSE 100 are more transparent than others on their ESG commitments, as well as a transparency gap concerning diversity and gender disclosure. The report discovered that 64% of FTSE 100 organizations do not disclose the ethnic diversity in the workforce and 47% have not met the FCA requirement for 40% representation of women at board level.
This trend is prevalent not just in the UK, but also the rest of the world. According to The 2023 Kelly Global Re:work Report, most companies across 11 countries are not meeting workplace DEI and engagement issues, with a growing divide between employees and senior leaders. The research, which surveyed 4,200 people, found that many workers have said that their workplace is not inclusive, with 62% of respondents saying that they plan to leave their job due to non-inclusive workplace behavior and 37% stating that they work in a ‘psychologically unsafe environment’.
In Executive Search news, new research from the CIPD discovered that around 4 million employees in the UK have changed jobs due to a lack of flexible work. Employees with disability or long-term health conditions are more likely to have left their job or have made career changes due to lack of flexible working. With the incoming Government legislation that will allow workers will to request flexible working from day one of their employment as flexible working becomes the default, organizations will have to quickly change their policies to adapt.
With the rise of flexible working, job seekers in the U.S. are less likely to relocate for work according to research by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. In the first quarter of the year, workers relocating for jobs were down by 3% compared to the same quarter of 2022. The rising interest rates for purchasing homes may also be another factor that are putting off those looking for jobs.
Younger workers are expecting more of their workplace benefits. A survey of 2,000 UK Gen Z working adults found that 32% of respondents said menstrual or menopause leave was one of the key benefits that would attract them to a job. 23% also said that they would be attracted to a company that offered enhanced parental leave.
Gen Z are also setting trends in the working world. While we’ve now heard of quiet quitting, the latest trend that are unnerving employers is ‘loud quitting’, where workers are utilizing social media to loudly announce why they have quit, often citing disapproval of how companies are run. Employees are using this method as a way to hold companies accountable for workplace culture, DEI and a healthy working environment.