BIG IDEAs Initiative: Creating fairer and more productive workplaces

Discrimination and social inequalities continue to pervade the workplace. Despite investing “diversity-improving solutions” (e.g. diversity or unconscious bias trainings), most organisations have made little progress towards actually improving diversity and inclusion (D&I), including senior leadership representation or closing gender and ethnicity gaps in promotions, hiring or pay. Although recognition of these problems is growing, businesses struggle to find solutions to level the playing field. At the same time, tough economic conditions and stagnant economic growth have put additional pressure on organisations, which likely hinder (rather than help) the creation of inclusive working environments. Shareholders are demanding ever greater investment returns, leading to more intense—sometimes toxic—working conditions, resulting in an underperforming workforce. While most organisations realise that pressure rarely inspires more productivity, few new ideas have been found to improve conditions and productivity. In a world full of complex societal and economic issues, how can organisations address both social inequality and productivity challenges? It is time we use a systematic, scientific approach to find out what actually works. Not only do these challenges call for new creative ideas individually: there is good reason to believe that organisations with a more diverse, inclusive workforce may be well-placed for improved profitability. Organisations displaying more corporate responsibility are more likely to attract and retain top talent, and well-led diverse teams can outperform homogeneous teams; but, conversely, poorly-managed diversity measures can reveal fault-lines and lead to conflict. However, little is known about how to actually improve D&I and productivity outcomes in real organisations. This is where my project comes in. Through the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, my vision is to create more diverse, inclusive and productive workplaces. To achieve this vision, building on the success of the first four years of my FLF project, I will work in partnership with organisations to identify problems and co-create interventions aimed at improving D&I and productivity. This project leverages the latest insights from economics, psychology and management to inform the design and co-creation process of new interventions that will be tested in large-scale randomised controlled trials in UK and multinational organisations. Randomised controlled trials are a powerful way to measure the causal effect of what works. In an RCT, some employees are randomly assigned to receive the new intervention (treatment), while others continue to operate under the status quo (control). At the end of the study, the difference in outcomes between treatment and control groups reveals whether the intervention made a difference. This type of research goes beyond the study of surveys which have looked at correlations: instead, the interventions are directly implemented in the organisation, which allows me to study real-world, longer-term outcomes, including hiring, promotion, and productivity of disadvantaged groups. Successful interventions will be shared with the organisation and publicly, leading to a better working knowledge of how we create more fairness and productivity in the workplace. This kind of research thrives through collaboration and co-creation with pioneering organisations. I have been working with large firms and governments, including Unilever, Ericsson, Phoenix Group and the New South Wales Government, as well as social-purpose companies, start-ups and consultancies, including MoreThanNow, Nesta, and the Behavioural Insights Team. In sum, my research rigorously tests co-created interventions in organisations to improve outcomes of disadvantaged groups and promote more productivity across organisations, contributing to fairer and more productive workplaces.