Bandwidth (n): The mythical measurement of an employee’s ability to simultaneously juggle an infinite number of tasks, attend endless meetings, and respond to every email within nanoseconds.
It’s no secret that if HR Managers and People Ops pros had unlimited bandwidth to focus on the well-being of their peeps, everyone reading this would likely be working in some sort of workplace utopia where we all felt included and supported (and maybe surrounded by a swarm of potty-trained puppies). The sobering reality of your situation, of course, is that you only have so many hours in the day to get the work that matters to you accomplished.
It’s easy for passion projects like fostering an inclusive workplace to fall by the wayside when you’re saddled with tasks that don’t move the needle while being stuck with outdated tools and processes that feel like you’re moving in quicksand, which despite the name is actually quite slow to move through. So how do you strike that perfect bandwidth balance of getting your teams’ to-dos completed while elevating employee inclusivity?
The key to prioritizing your HR initiatives
Just like that workout routine and diet we’ll be starting tomorrow, organizational results won’t change if the actions don’t. Part of that has to do with being intentional about setting and prioritizing your initiatives, but perhaps what’s more important than that is communicating what your department priorities are with leadership and why you’ve prioritized them this way.
Educating leadership on the importance of employee inclusivity requires clear communication and hard data. Once you make a compelling case that inclusive employee experience is important to the C-suite, you’ll have a simpler time pushing down less impactful initiatives on your priority list.
With nearly 80% of employees stating that working for an inclusive organization is important to them, creating a compelling story around allocating appropriate bandwidth to inclusivity shouldn’t be difficult. If that’s not enough, shed light on the fact that 44% of C-Suites have DEI initiatives as a priority and that if they want to stay competitive with existing employees and potential hires then they need to get on board with your prioritization plan.
Eliminating process inefficiencies is an inclusivity win-win
Getting buy-in from leadership to emphasize inclusivity is only one prong to an effective bandwidth-boosting approach. Clunky processes and antiquated systems not only slow down your workflow and get in the way of meaningful work, they can also create cold and confusing experiences for your employees and increase the likelihood that they feel mistreated or ostracized.
For example, an expecting father might be looking to request a paternity leave of absence, but without a clear and easy path to request and take a leave, he might face pushback from his uninformed boss potentially leading to a discrimination lawsuit. Not only does having an outdated leave of absence management process make your ability to support manual and maddening, it also can lead to serious inclusivity missteps that can have top talent looking for the exit or costly fines.
This is one example where ditching manual processes and spreadsheets not only gives your employees a consistent and inclusive experience, but having a modern solution that manages leaves for you also significantly frees up your bandwidth to focus on other inclusivity initiatives, like developing materials to educate on bias awareness or events that celebrate diversity awareness.
ADA is another example that can be extremely difficult to understand and manage manually and is rife with inclusivity pitfalls. Being inclusive of people with disabilities in providing an accessible environment can be tricky to navigate and facilitate, and getting it wrong can be costly. In fact non-compliance can find your organization facing fines upwards of $150,000, so having one efficient solution to manage leaves is one way to underscore inclusivity while giving your bandwidth and budget some breathing room.
The inclusivity bandwidth bottom line
Leadership support and removing inefficiencies can free up tremendous amounts of bandwidth that will help you create a consistent and inclusive employee experience while removing burdens from your HR and People Ops teams. You can save your organization tremendously by avoiding lawsuits, improving retention, and attracting top talent that will take your organization to the next level.
Automating inefficient processes is a rare win-win that you can take to the bank (yet another thing your C-suite will love you for)
About Tilt
Tilt is leading the charge in all things leave of absence management through easy-to-use tech and human touch. Since 2017, our proprietary platform and Empathy Warriors have been helping customers make leave not suck by eliminating administrative burdens, keeping companies compliant, and providing a truly positive and supportive leave of absence experience for their people.
