Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Considerations for Mobility Programs 2 Organizations around the globe are seeking to cultivate workplaces that are diverse and inclusive and provide an equitable environment for all employees. There is a real opportunity to align organizational DE&I initiatives with mobility programs. Following are some of the approaches and should align with your other employee-facing considerations that organizations have taken, policies, such as compensation, medical bene昀椀ts, and areas of impact to consider when aligning etc. One thing to keep in mind is that these updates organizational DE&I goals with mobility programs could have unintended consequences of expanding and policies. policy bene昀椀ts and costs, so there needs to be a We will take a deeper dive into four key areas: clear understanding of program impacts before 1. Policy review policy updates are made. For example, “household member” may legally be de昀椀ned or interpreted to be 2. Processes and procedures review broader than “dependents.” So, while it is important 3. Vendor alignment to ensure policy language is also inclusive, and 4. Analytics companies should consider an expansive view of bene昀椀t application, speci昀椀c terms must be de昀椀ned to Policy Review be consistent with the scope of bene昀椀ts. Consider the following examples: When looking to align DE&I goals with mobility • Make gender invisible when it is not relevant for the initiatives, organizations should review their mobility communication policies as a key means to support these e昀昀orts. • Use multiple references like ‘spouse/partner’ or Several areas to examine are how mobility policies ‘household/dependents’ where appropriate; some are di昀昀erentiated, the language used in the policies, prefer ‘household’ or ‘dependents’ in place of ‘family’ and the bene昀椀ts being o昀昀ered. • Reference parent/legal guardian in place of ‘mother’ Appropriate Mobility Policy Di昀昀erentiation or ‘father’; some prefer ‘household members’ in Organizations should design mobility policies place of ‘dependents’ that di昀昀erentiate by measurable ways to ensure consistency of application for individuals within the same bene昀椀t level, and to avoid unintended discrimination. For example, use: Organizations Lagging in DE&I E昀昀orts • Mobility purpose/driver (strategic leadership, project-based work, developmental, etc.) • Job level • Salary band • Job type 71% • Type of move: short-term assignment, long-term assignment, permanent move Policy Language Organizations may be expanding or changing of respondents somewhat or strongly agree that their de昀椀nitions of family/household/dependents, their organizations are behind where they should and mobility policies should be using the same be in DE&I e昀昀orts. terminology. The language used in mobility policies – SHRM and Harvard Business Review Survey