Inclusion in a remote working world.

Inclusion is about the way people feel at work with particular reference to equality and diversity. Remote working is where people are not required to attend the workplace, rather they work elsewhere (typically from home).

Remote working has sky rocketed during and following the pandemic. Companies have adopted the approach for a variety of reasons, perhaps sparked from health and safety concerns and now to remain competitive in the labour market.

But how has remote working impacted inclusion? Particularly for those with protected characteristics?

Please note, this article uses statistics from this source.

Class disparity

One statistic is that those who earn under 20k have less than a 5% chance of being able to work remotely. This is a great deal lower than the 30% of the UK workforce currently working remotely at least once a week. Also, those with a uni degree are twice as likely to obtain remote work than non-graduates.

This disparity is logical, as many lower earners work within manual jobs, for example in hospitality or retail. Higher paid jobs can be completed from the comfort of a laptop.

The knock-on effect will be an increasing gap between these groups and less and less representation and diversity across sectors.

Introvert/extrovert

One cited positive impact on inclusion, has been the freedom for less outgoing people to feel more confident when working in their home environment. People can feel more like themselves when they don't feel the pressure to conform to certain societal norms sometimes felt in workplaces - such as wearing make up or a suit and tie.

Providing more space for people to be themselves is a positive step towards inclusion.

Work/life balance

The world of remote work gives people the time, energy and money wasted on a commute to dedicate to anything they wish. Whether it's a hobby, a family member or simply relaxing. This increase in resource will hopefully lead to people focusing on what makes them unique and in turn will positively impact diversity and inclusion.

Similarly there is less of a pressure to be working at the same time as everyone else. This gives people the freedom to work when they have the energy to, again enabling people to be more in tune with themselves as opposed to contorting to a dictated structure.

Geographical

Remote working widens the job market. This is great on the one hand because people from different parts of the country (or globe) can feel included in something they'd otherwise be excluded from. The only watch-out with this point is that the labour pool in the local area may suffer, and the class disparity can be ever increased.

New demands

Remote managing requires a completely new set of skills for managers and organisations to get to grips with. With these new pressures, people may not have the time it takes, or the know-how to really ensure team members are ok and feeling included.

Similarly, remote working requires people to self manage their time. Those people who struggle to switch off, could find it even harder to take the rest they need.

Let's also not forget the people who see work as a needed break from home life, whether it's caring responsibilities or domestic violence, the workplace can offer a refuge to many.

The ever increasing enmeshment of work life and home life could lead to a reduction of people's freedom to express themselves outside of work.

Physical factors

For people with a physical disability, remote working has opened up the market in some ways, because they may be able to avoid discrimination from others who might not notice any diability when they are working from home.

However with the workforce potentially geographically spread out, how can organisations be sure their less-able people are not suffering? How can physical equity be ensured? It's hard to know about the conditions of someone's workplace when they're working from home.

The echo chamber

Remote working demands an increase in video calls and more structured ways of working. Collaboration needs to be consciously thought of in order to be a part of the culture. With this in mind, it may be tricky for the leaders to have input from more junior members of staff or from a more diverse group of people by osmosis within the office. If care isn't taken, it could end up with the CEO barking their orders on emails or calls, without much input from others.

On the other hand, with more of a focus on setting up defined practices to collaboate, there's the potential for more diverse voices to be heard and listened to.

Final thoughts

Remote working is new territory for many and it's important for organisations to take care when choosing and implementing new policies that will significantly change the way their people work, with specific reference to how inclusion and diversity may be impacted.

Where possible it's wise to let employees decide how they work and provide explicit opportunities for the set-up to be reviewed. This should help people feel empowered and ultimately can be a positive step in the journey towards inclusion.

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