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How Human Resources Continuously Prevents DE&I Progress
HR’s outdated policies, practices, and systems are hurting ED&I strategies. But it can be easily fixed!
You’ve heard me say this before, but if we really want to make progress on the ED&I front, we really need to tear many of our current processes, systems, and practices apart. And HR is not an exception.
In most companies, the Human Resources Department is responsible for creating, writing, enforcing, and reviewing policies. Sure, some policies have to adhere to local legal standards and don’t allow for much flexibility, but many other systems are created by HR for that specific organization.
… and that’s exactly where we need to start our de-constructing and re-constructing process!
Most company policies enforced by Human Resources departments were created decades ago under a completely outdated, biased, and discriminatory idea of “professionalism” and “work ethics.”
We’ll need a whole separate post (or many!) to tackle why those workspace foundations are inequitable, inclusive, inaccessible, and discriminatory by design. So, instead, I’d like to get the conversation started and focus on five Human Resources practices we should deconstruct and build anew with a more equitable eye.
