Advancing equity in the workplace is an urgent priority for employers. But it’s hard to know what strategies actually work and are worth investing in.
This practical guide summarises actions that have been shown to improve workplace outcomes (and those that haven’t) for members of designated groups under Canada’s Employment Equity Act – women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities (Black people and people of colour).
Developed in partnership with Employment and Social Development Canada and Dr. Sonia Kang, Canada Research Chair in Identity, Diversity, and Inclusion, this guide builds on BIT’s prior research on gender equity, offering a massive update in an area where insights are rapidly changing.
Twenty-eight evidence-based actions are outlined in the report, organised by whether they are effective, promising, or to be avoided for certain groups, including:
- Removing biassed language from job ads—shown effective for women
- Improving workplace flexibility for everyone—promising for Indigenous peoples
- Providing diversity or unconscious bias training—take caution for women and members of visible minority groups (Black people and people of colour)
How can BIT help?
The Behavioural Insights Team can help your organization achieve real progress towards your EDI goals, through a combination of:
- Data-based insights – using your organization’s data, we examine the full range of processes across the employee lifecycle (e.g., hiring, pay and reward, promotion, retention) that may be impacting equality.
- Policy and process reviews – we can review your existing systems and processes to understand whether they are aligned with the latest evidence, and where they might lead to unintentional bias.
- Evidence-based solutions – we can design new interventions to pilot in the near-term (e.g., reducing bias when reviewing CVs, reducing bullying and harassment in the workplace).
- Evaluation – we can evaluate these interventions using rigorous and practical methods.
We also offer rapid advice, workshops and end-to-end consultancy projects. For more information, get in touch:
- Shoshana Davidson, Principal Advisor at shoshana.davidson@bi.team
- Brianne Kirkpatrick, Principal Advisor at brianne.kirkpatrick@bi.team.
