check
A practical guide for managers - Ensuring diversity & inclusion in employment during the Coronavirus crisis | aChord Center

A practical guide for managers - Ensuring diversity & inclusion in employment during the Coronavirus crisis

Many executives and managers now face personal and professional uncertainty, including a dramatic decline in organizational activity, falling revenues, critical budgetary challenges, and even reduction in manpower due to lay-offs or furloughed staff. The response to the Coronavirus crisis requires managers to make complex decisions in a short period of time, to rapidly implement them in the field, and to communicate them effectively to employees.

The aChord team has developed a practical guide to keeping diversity & inclusion at the forefront of managerial decision-making, including clear and applicable tools for implementing policies and practices that maintain a diverse and inclusive work environment. The guide is based on social-psychological knowledge and expertise in inter-group relations. These practices and tools can be integrated into the manager’s toolbox and build on management skills that are critical both in time of crisis and in the daily operations of the company.

The guide covers four main areas of action for preserving and strengthening organizational diversity and inclusion: (1) The process of laying-off staff or putting them on un-paid leave; (2) The process of re-hiring workers; (3) Managing remote employees; and (4) Encouraging organizational discourse that promotes belonging and tolerance.

In the guide, we also address the needs of the employees. It is important to remember that many of them face job insecurity and economic anxiety, which add to the existing health threat and societal challenges. Particular attention should be paid to women, Arabs, ultra-Orthodox, Ethiopian immigrants, workers aged 45 and over, those with disabilities, and others who may experience additional difficulties related to the inequalities inherent in the structure of society.

Each organization faces these challenges in its own unique way. Now, as we face the additional challenges brought on by Coronavirus, it is important that the ramifications of the pandemic are not detrimental to organizational achievements and efforts toward diversity and inclusion.

For the short guide (in English), click here

In addition, we have developed a specific guide for conducting online interviews with diverse applicants, which offers ways to conduct remote interviews that are fairer to candidates belonging to diverse groups. Click here for this guide (in Hebrew)