The goal for many healthcare organizations, especially in the current environment, is to affect real change in diversity and inclusion. Executive-level leaders can tout change, form committees, execute surveys and even enhance training practices, but if the effort stops there, you’ve only created a façade. This is the difference between performative allyship and authentic allyship.
Human resource teams, or people teams, are at the forefront of the effort to achieve authentic allyship, an often daunting process that requires support from top to bottom in the organization.
“For organizations to achieve authentic allyship, you have to take action. You need to look at your processes, analyze the metrics and algorithms you use, and then look at your recruiting practices to see if they align to the outcomes you expect. It’s the only way to achieve sustainable change,” said Yemisi Oloruntola-Coates, chief diversity and inclusion officer at Baystate Health, during a recent discussion. “Remember, real change takes time, and it’s a journey. The key is to start the journey.”
One of the obvious ways to start the journey toward authentic allyship is to diversify the pool of candidates for all positions in the organization, from C-suite to the front lines. But what happens once these candidates have started their jobs?
Many institutions have aimed a greater focus at the onboarding process and beyond. An increase in the percentage of minority candidate hirings can be a slick talking point for executives in a discussion about diversity and inclusion. The next step, however, is making sure those employees are treated equitably. Losing a strong minority employee who feels neglected or simply not part of the team is as detrimental to the quest for authentic allyship as not hiring that employee in the first place.
Enter Laudio. Human resource executives rely on front-line managers to implement change and impact goals. Those managers need the right tools to make that implementation an easier part of their everyday activities. Laudio gives managers easy access to all the information needed to drive the right performance conversations at the right time. They can assign tasks and schedule check-ins, and perform quarterly and annual reviews with the Laudio app for an employee-centric process. They can create benchmarks and track performance for individuals and teams that can easily be shared with the organization’s leadership.
Even in today’s climate, Laudio can help managers execute high-quality, daily conversations that engage employees all year long, including those working remotely. The Laudio Action Index visually displays each team’s target versus actions taken based on industry leading, predictive analytics for turnover risk. Managers can quickly identify individuals at risk, access their entire profile, and take action based on recommendations provided.
Laudio delivers better visibility and insight so leaders can focus on what’s most important and take action. As a result, front-line employees of all backgrounds are less likely to feel neglected and seek other opportunities. When employees are engaged and part of the team, they trust their coworkers and leadership more, which fosters communication and collaboration. Productivity increases, attrition decreases, and the entire organization benefits.
In the quest for authentic allyship, Laudio already is helping managers and leadership stay connected with their entire workforce. The journey is far from complete, but it has started in an exciting way.