Driving Diversity & Inclusion Through Digital — A Tweet Chat
Tags: Human Resource Management, Diversity And Inclusion, Workplace Diversity, Tweetchat, Twitter Chat

Guess who made a comeback as the Christmas season started? Youflix! We were back with Episode 4 — and it was all about using digital to drive diversity and inclusion. From diversity coaches, founders, to HR experts, authors and communication pros — well, we had quite a few voices contributing. And what brilliant thoughts they had.

Joined by Paroma Roy Chowdhury, Sarika Gupta Bhattacharya, Jaspreet Bakshi, Natasha Badhwar, Shilpi Singh, Manish Sinha, Ruchi Angrish, and Pallavi Varma.

Don’t miss the next one; because this one was a reminder of how fun-fuelled yet educational these chats are. But for your benefit, here’s a recap of how it went down.

Q1. What role has digital media played in driving D&I at the workplace?

Paroma: Ensured better workplace connect, pushed the intent through multiple channels and resulted in greater acceptance in a shorter period of time.

Manish: Digital Media has made learning faster and better. D&I Best practices are often a click away #DiversityInDigital

Jaspreet: My view from from both perspectives: From #employees stand point,It has helped create better reach & connect, provide opportunities for like-minded people to come together & share, create communities that empower & drive more inclusive culture. #DiversityInDigital. If I change hats & now look from an Org’n stand point, it helps to implement more consistent, less biased & scalable initiatives. It also helps measure/monitor real time & provide channels for free flow of information/feedback to enable flexibility. #DiversityInDigital

Shilpi Singh: The Digital media has allowed organizations to collaborate and engage with each other. Learning and sharing of ideas on Digital platform have created a ripple impact #DiversityinDigital @sarikabhattach @Drsarika005 @beyondiversity

Digital media is a great leveller… it doesn’t have traditional barriers and hierarchies that have kept out people in conventional workplaces… and therefore the entry gates are easier to breach. #DiversityInDigital #YouFlix - Natasha Badhwar

Pallavi: Digital Media has brought a visual and textual presence for diverse faces and voices. Making them visible means they’re harder to ignore, including in workplaces. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Manish: Digital media has accelerated the Accessibility to D&I issues and challenges

Ruchi: Digital media is playing a very important role in driving Diversity & Inclusion at the workplace -the tech is less biased & consistently measuring the outcomes of various D&I programs across the organisations. By matching candidates to the job description reduces biases #YouFlix

Q2. How can organizations leverage digital technology and social media to drive their D&I focus?

Paroma: Choosing the right communication channels , customizing the message and by monitoring response consistently and sometimes, real time.

Paroma: Often spreading messages in person can have greater impact. But it can also result in direct friction when ideas don’t match. Digital provides the platform without the opportunities for direct confrontation, depending in the channel you use.

Manish: http://jopwell.com is a tech enabled minority recruitment & career advancement platform that helps cos. with their diversity recruitment obj. #DiversityInDigital

Digital tools help cos. build inclusive http://cultureAlliebot.com. A chatbot that collects & analyses information about diverse employees’ experiences. Cos. can measure & improve inclusion by pairing surveys &feedback wid targeted content using Alie. #diversityindigital

Jaspreet: In multiple ways. Implementing more consistent, less-biased, & scalable people initiatives, gaining better understating of current state of D & I across Org’n, measuring & monitoring the impact, raising awareness and better reach:there by better adoption. #DiversityinDigital

From a HR practioner perspective,starting with having very progressive TA practices, Customized development/advancement initiatives,driving & having a real time measure on engagement initiatives across diverse groups & using analytics-quantifying the impact of D&I on business

Manish: http://pluto.life is an analytics platform for cos. to a build diverse & inclusive culture. It’s a platform that enables users to anonymously report information on misconduct, harassment and discrimination with full transparency #DiversityInDigital

Pallavi: We’ve seen brands bite their tongue/rescind comms that were offensive. From experience, chances are diverse voices in the team (if any) flagged the idea, were ignored, and then blamed for not calling it. When your communications team talks, LISTEN. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Have multiple checks for bias. Complaint teams in HR need to have diversity to see through human bias. As do review and interview panels. Even the company board needs to be diverse to support leader-led initiatives. - Pallavi Varma

Pallavi: Walking the talk. If you support diverse initiatives, tie up with ethical companies owned by minorities. Support causes that uplift minorities on a company level. Get rid of practices that make your minority work force uncomfortable. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Sarika: Building in every business language — hiring diverse talent, communicating with diverse customer base, community impact, business impact driving innovation.

Shilpi: Strong brand presence on digital media platform with the right communication strategy would help organizations attract good talent #DiversityinDigital #Inclusionmatters @beyondiversity

Q3. Will increasing digital interactions help build more inclusive cultures or will it end up polarising the workforce?

Shilpi: A robust policy on digital interactions will be important for organizations to ensure that polarization does not happen because of increased and frequent interactions that are just a keypad away. #DiversityinDigital #Inclusionmatters.

The medium does not polarize people. Fake news does. #divsersityindigital - Shilpi Singh

Sarika: Any authentic communication — digital or physical helps to bridge gap: the key is authenticity! It also allows many minority groups (including introverts and quiet ones) have a voice in a more open way. #DiversityinDigital #YouFlix

Jaspreet: That depends on how it is designed & being intended to be used. Better connect, open channels & wider reach creates more participation. It can result in higher engagement but also rake up sensitive issues. How mature is the Org’n ? Structure will be key,not just control!!

Manish: The Right Leadership commitment & the Right processes Can ensure that Digital Interactions Foster more Inclusion Rather than highlight the differences! #DiversityinDigital

Manish: The public Social Media spaces point to the platforms being hijacked and polarised — be it fb or twitter But inside companies it’s STILL a more controlled environment #DiversityInDigital

Pallavi: Fear of polarisation is one of the biggest obstacles in inclusivity initiatives. Polarisation happens when there is unfounded fear, lack of knowledge, and elusivity. We need more digital interactions to eradicate that. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Celebrating differences is not a bad thing — not giving them seats at the table is. Digital interactions help people relearn that and unlearn what they know from before. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Q4. What could be some unconscious digital bias?

Paroma: Ahh! Like all unconscious biases :) Choosing homogenous groups to land or spread your messages for instance.

Jaspreet: Very similar to the biases we see in day to day: Halo effect gender, Background, Skill set & judging based on that,Similarity, Confirmation etc.Key is how does Digital helps reduce that. Even a FB/LinkedIn only show basis your preference. Imagine that at play in Org’n context

Sarika: There are no unconscious digital bias — only human bias reflected digitally #YouFlex #DiversityinDigital

Shilpi: #AI-powered systems use historical data to make judgments just like our brains do. AI has reduced unconscious bias but at the same time is subject to data input #DiversityinDigital #inclusionmatters @LatelyAIKately

Manish: Who we follow, which groups we belong to Whose Voices we Listen to , whose we reject — on digital media All carry our Unconscious Bias #DiversityInDigital

Manish: Social media works by rewarding extreme views over moderate views With more likes, shares and comments. The SM algorithm actually feeds on our unconscious bias #diversityindigital #youflix

Pallavi: Accessibility. A lot of digital media voice & practice is defined by accessibility to internet, apps, filters, even language (not to mention disability access). Apple came under fire for not recognising non-white faces in their AI #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital +

Self learning AI is unfortunately not going to be v diverse if it doesn’t have a chance to learn from all sources, or be created by diverse inputs. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Pallavi: Echo chambers. In an attempt to filter out trolls people often accidentally create echo chambers of discourse, where people just play a game of confirmation bias. Diversifying your news input is necessary. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Q5. How important is it for business leaders to have a digital voice to drive D&I?

Sarika: In today’s times, It is like asking how important is oxygen to breathe! Leaders need to be accessible, visible and authentic in their messaging followed up with actions! #YouFlix #DiversityinDigital

Shilpi: A strong Digital voice for leaders is extremely critical. Our employees, customers are present on the digital medium and that’s where they can easily access the leaders. #DiversityinDigital #Inclusionmatters

Leaders Lead. FullStop. It is extremely critical @sarikabhattach @Paromadiva @BakshiJaspreet #diversityindigital

Ruchi: It is very important for business leaders to have a digital voice to drive D&I . Leaders give direction — they can build a culture promoting conversation — a culture where everyone is asking , evolving & working to make things better #YouFlix

Manish: CRITICAL The leadership can help drive inclusiveness and belongingness in organisations. There is a lot of work to be done by leaders #DiversityInDigital

Paroma: A digital voice is probably the most important voice today. It is a driving necessity, not a choice,

Jaspreet: With virtual & New Ways of working, Digital presence & visibility is what creates the right reach. We all know that right D & I practice shape Culture of Org’n & for that visibility of leadership believing, displaying & reinforcing same is key. #DiversityinDigital

Manish: Having a Digital Voice for leaders was like 2010 Leaders today must have a firm Digital Presence So that they can nudge, sway and lead their orgs. @morallygreydesi #diversityindigital #youflix

Pallavi: Crucial. Leaders not only bring trust to a team but they’re also the voice that stands up for those who might not have the privilege to speak up without harm to self. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Pallavi: It’s important to have a leader who creates a diverse team but the leader must know that they are strong AS their team. So acting like a mouth piece for performative diversity isn’t the key. Letting others speak is. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Q6. Suggest three digital strategies for D&I initiatives

Sarika: Implement, Communicate & Engage #YouFlix #DiversityinDigital

Ruchi: Empathetic leadership is the key — every leader has to put themselves in the shoes of people who were excluded or interrupted & take learnings. It’s an ongoing process #Youflix

Shilpi: Digital content strategy to share company’s view and initiatives on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion #diversityindigital

Paroma: Enlist the help of experts to craft your objectives, stragies and tactics; please ensure that the D&I narrative is built and spead to optimize connect and the messages need to mesh with business objectives to drive maximum impact.

Shilpi: As @Paromadiva just said..[the internet is a necessity] #divsersityindigital @sarikabhattach

Manish: The 3Cs are important Right ‘Communication’ — of the D&I goals, roadmap & process Agile ‘Collaboration’ — between all stakeholders using tech platforms, apps and chatbots Fair ‘Computation’ — measuring progress , results & sharing the same #diversityindigital #youflix

Pallavi: Digital Takeovers. Letting diverse voices from your team take over comms (Insta takeovers, YouTube Videos, LinkedIn webinars, Chatbot Coding) to discuss D&I can have a deeper impact on potential talent and clientele than a single-view founders’ voice. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Pallavi: Patience. To learn. To listen. To know that somethings might disturb your comfort or what you’ve known your whole life. To understand microaggressions and how they can play a bigger role in someone else’s life. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Pallavi: Sensitivity Reader Team. Hire minorities in your HR to contribute to fair practices. In your media team to see if your communications are as unbiased as you want them to be. And listen to them when they make a point you may have missed. #YouFlix #DiversityInDigital

Manish: One big intervention of digital tech is in using it to track & measure the effectiveness of D&I efforts. This technology simply did not exist in the past Measurement Matters! #diversityindigital #youflix

Shilpi: Talent Acquisition — Leverage AI to assess interviewers’ potential biases through speech and body movements during interviews with candidates Speaking Up — Build Digital Conversation Café which allows people to share in a safe space

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Isn’t that just amazing? Not only did we share ideas and opinions, but also concrete action points to make diversity and inclusivity a tangible part of any leader and team’s processes. We ended on a good note, everyone feeling quite worked up (in the best way possible!). Keep up with our future Twitter chats and Youflix episodes by following us on our handle! Jump in and join the talk!