NFP organisations seek to super-charge their impact and achieve their missions by hiring talented people, yet many capable workers are overlooked because they have autism.
Why is it happening? Largely because autism is poorly understood and managers are ill-informed about how to accommodate affected workers.
Fortunately, research has provided us with many strategies to make workplaces more inclusive.
How is it possible that in a sector so dedicated to social justice and equity, descrimination and unequal outcomes for Indigenous Australians and people of colour persist?
When it comes to influencing our decisions and judgments around people, cognitive or unconscious bias is universally recognised to play a role in unequal outcomes.
So what can your organisation do?
NFP organisations have long focused on trying to make their workforces more diverse. But research shows that simply enhancing the representation of employees from diverse backgrounds is not enough. To fully tap into the positive outcomes of diversity, organisations need to focus on inclusion.
But what’s really meant by inclusion? Here’s how to be an inclusive leader for your team.
More than six years ago the Australian Human Rights Commission launched the “Racism. It Stops with Me” campaign under then Race Discrimination Commissioner Dr Tim Soutphommasane. Since then more than 400 organisations have pledged their commitment to anti-racism.
With benefits ranging from increased productivity and innovation to higher engagement and retention rates, a diverse workforce can have far-reaching positive impacts for organisations.
Transitioning genders isn’t easy. But navigating the process in the workplace can feel even harder.
When it comes to shaping the future of the not-for-profit sector, young people are in a unique position.
Millennials – which covers everyone aged from about 17 to 37 – are empowered by new and emerging technologies, and are driven by a strong sense of social justice.
And that’s a good thing, since they’re the ones who will eventually be running the NFP sector – alongside the rest of our society’s institutions.
So how does your organisation do at recruiting, training and retaining young people as staff and volunteers?
Most people would not consciously decide to hire candidates based on whether they remind them of themselves. But one unconscious bias – affinity bias – may lead people to favour candidates who are like themselves, research shows.
If senior managers and NFP boards are made up of mostly men who unconsciously engage in such bias, it stands to reason that more men than women will continue to be hired and promoted – particularly men who share the same background with current managers. This only serves to perpetuate the cycle of men outnumbering women in leadership positions.
So what can be done?
Up until 1975, employers could take almost anything into consideration when recruiting staff. But the Commonwealth Racial Discrimination Act – passed by the Whitlam Government – started a legislative trend towards protecting a variety of people from employment discrimination. And that means there are now some things you just can’t discuss when you’re making a decision about who to hire.
Australia’s record on women in leadership isn’t a shining one. Despite comprising around 46 percent of the Australian workforce, women make up only a quarter of key management staff.
But what about the NFP sector? Surely for organisations dedicated to a more just and equitable world, the statistics would look a lot better?