Tadhg Young, Executive Vice President, Country Head – Ireland, State Street: The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly presented companies across the globe with unprecedented challenges to maintain a diverse and inclusive work environment, but it has also proved beyond any doubt that these values today are more important than ever. The sudden stop to in person, face-to-face interactions in a professional environment which forced all of us to virtual communication has, arguably, proven to be an intense yet in many aspects positive learning curve on how to create an engaging work environment.

One of the most valuable lessons learnt during the pandemic was the crucial role of middle managers in integrating D&I practices in day-to-day operations across the entire organization. They have very strong influence over the employee experience at various stages of the hire-to-retire cycle, including hiring, deployment, career development, promotion, mentoring, rewards, and performance evaluation. At all of these stages middle managers have a unique opportunity to reach individual employees and smaller employee groups to create sense of belonging and promote company values.

The digital format of employee meetings was yet another positive discovery of the pandemic. The ability to dial-in to employee events has increased the overall participation and engagement across the organization. The limitation of physical space, the possibility to listen to the recording of the event as well as different options to engage via digital channels made employees more inclined to actively participate in company events, which was critical to the overall sense of inclusion in those challenging times. The hybrid format of how employees work is definitely here to stay with us in the post-COVID professional set-up.

Last but not least, the COVID-19 crisis made us appreciate the important work that the diversity and inclusion employee network does across the organization. In the moment of crisis, the company D&I ambassadors were the drivers of various engagement initiatives, catalysts of change but also the voice of different employee groups on how we as an organization must prioritize the health and well-being of all employees in difficult times. The ingenuity, passion and the ability for the D&I employee network to come together made it easier for all of us to face the challenges