Skip to main content
Contact Sales Support Careers
United States (English)
Americas
  • United States (English)
  • Canada (English)
  • Canada (Français)
  • Mexico (Español)
Europe, Middle East & Africa
  • United Kingdom (English)
  • France (Français)
  • Deutschland (Deutsch)
  • Nederland (Nederlands)
  • Other EMEA Locations
Asia/Pacific
  • India (English)
  • Australia (English)
UKG logo UKG logo
Search
Get started Get started
    • Solutions
      Solutions by Need
      People icon
      Human Resources
      Payroll icon
      Payroll
      Talent icon
      Talent
      People connected icon
      HR Service Delivery
      Clock with Person
      Time & Attendance
      Calendar day icon
      Scheduling
      Document check shield icon
      Compliance
      Chart bar statistics icon
      Reporting and Analytics
      Product Suites
      UKG Pro

      A culture-driven HCM suite designed to support your enterprise organization's needs.

      UKG Dimensions

      Workforce Management solution helping you redefine the work experience for your people.

      UKG Ready

      HR solution to help small and mid-size organizations focus on growth and making a difference for your people, every time.

      View all products
      Find the product that best fits your needs.
      Get started Get started
      get started
    • Customer Experience
      The UKG Promise

      With over 70 years of expertise with BOTH people systems and systems of work, no one knows people and how they work better than UKG.

      Our Promise
      Customer Experience

      We think you’re pretty special when you’re a UKG Customer. That’s why we build products designed to inspire your people — and your organization — to grow and thrive.

      Partner for Life
      Implementation
      Support Experience
      UKG Community
      Working Smarter Café
      Customer Stories
      Belle Tire

      UKG Pro streamlines and automates administrative and HR tasks, so that field teams and managers can spend more time with customers, and coach, train, and listen to their people.

      Eventide Senior Living Communities

      Eventide Senior Living Communities uses UKG to drive employee engagement and streamline workforce management and HCM, including cutting PBJ reporting time by 99%.

      See all customer stories
      Collaborate, learn, and get support for your UKG solution!
      Visit UKG Community Visit UKG Community
    • Resources
      • Research & Insights
        Research & Insights
        • By Business Need
        • By Type
        See all
        Growth icon
        Human Capital Management
        People icon
        Human Resources
        People connected icon
        HR Service Delivery
        Payroll icon
        Payroll
        Talent icon
        Talent
        Chart tree people icon
        Workforce Management
        Clock with Person
        Time & Attendance
        Calendar day icon
        Scheduling
        Document check shield icon
        Compliance
        Chart bar statistics icon
        Reporting and Analytics
        Lightbulb icon
        Product Info
        Video player icon
        Product Tour
        Article featured icon
        Analyst Report
        Document icon
        White Paper
        Book icon
        eBook
        Organization icon
        Industry Brief
        Chart bar icon
        Infographic
        News people icon
        Article
        Video player icon
        Webinar Replay
        Interactive
      Research & Insights
      • By Business Need
      • By Type
      See all
      Growth icon
      Human Capital Management
      People icon
      Human Resources
      People connected icon
      HR Service Delivery
      Payroll icon
      Payroll
      Talent icon
      Talent
      Chart tree people icon
      Workforce Management
      Clock with Person
      Time & Attendance
      Calendar day icon
      Scheduling
      Document check shield icon
      Compliance
      Chart bar statistics icon
      Reporting and Analytics
      Lightbulb icon
      Product Info
      Video player icon
      Product Tour
      Article featured icon
      Analyst Report
      Document icon
      White Paper
      Book icon
      eBook
      Organization icon
      Industry Brief
      Chart bar icon
      Infographic
      News people icon
      Article
      Video player icon
      Webinar Replay
      Interactive
      Events
      Tradeshows
      Conferences
      Webinars
      See all events
      Blogs
      The People Purpose Blog

      Your source for the latest life-work trends and ideas from UKG experts and leaders. Stay informed and put people first in all you do.

      Workforce Institute

      Think tank that helps organizations drive performance by addressing HCM and workforce management issues.

      Workplace Resources
      Great Place To Work
      Pay Equity Resources
      Human Insights
      UKG Developer Hub
      UKG Pro Ranks Highest in 2022 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Cloud HCM Suites for the North American Midmarket Use Case
      Get The Report
      Get The Report
      Reference Image
      UKG Ranks Highest in 2022 Gartner Critical Capabilities for Cloud HCM Suites

      Read the Gartner® Critical Capabilities analysis for UKG Pro®.

    • About Us
      About UKG

      Learn more about UKG and how our HR solutions inspire workforces and businesses around the world to drive people-focused results.

      About Us
      Why UKG
      UKG Leadership
      Newsroom
      Awards & Recognition
      UKG Ambassadors
      Culture
      Our ESG Program
      Partners
      UKG Marketplace
      Analyst Reports
      Careers

      Look to your future. If you're interested in working for a company that truly invests in their people to create a culture of belonging and innovation, we want you on our team.

      Careers at UKG
      Early Career & Internships
      Benefits
      Life at UKG
      Featured Locations
      FAQs
      Experience awesome at work.
      Search jobs at UKG Search jobs at UKG
    Contact Sales Support Careers
    United States (English)
    Americas
    • United States (English)
    • Canada (English)
    • Canada (Français)
    • Mexico (Español)
    Europe, Middle East & Africa
    • United Kingdom (English)
    • France (Français)
    • Deutschland (Deutsch)
    • Nederland (Nederlands)
    • Other EMEA Locations
    Asia/Pacific
    • India (English)
    • Australia (English)
    Find the product that best fits your needs.
    Get started Get started
    get started
    Search Get started Get started
    The People Purpose Blog

    Inclusion is More Than Just a Seat at the Table – It's a Voice Too

    April 27, 2021
    • Share
    See all blog stories See all blog stories
    Stay up to date with The People Purpose Blog
    Subscribe via email Subscribe via email
    Subscribe via RSS

    Topics

    Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

    We often hear the common business jargon, “a seat at the table” as a career goal or destination. More recently, many boards and organizations are being confronted with the optics of their table and are keeping themselves accountable with diversity metrics that include requiring a certain percentage of an underrepresented group within their leadership population or adding new members to their board of directors to improve their diversity score. And although I would never be one to critique the effort for progress, I believe organizations who focus solely on the metric of diversity at the table are missing the true opportunity for diverse representation.

    It’s more than a seat at the table, it’s a voice at the table. And it’s more than a voice at the table, it’s a unique voice that’s listened to, respected, and deemed valuable.

    Is the rest of your organization’s culture prepared for more representation at the table? Is the diversity objective one of assimilation or belonging? The honest answers and action resulting from those questions is where we unlock the potential for lasting change and impact.

    The referenced media source is missing and needs to be re-embedded.

    More than a metric

    First, let’s unpack the jargon.

    When we view employees with a positive people philosophy, we can assume that people who are a part of the organization want to utilize their knowledge, skills, and abilities to make an impact. When we say, “a seat at the table,” we mean a place where our voice is both represented and heard by others who have influence—the presence of both is crucial.

    A recent study from McKinsey showed that while overall sentiment on diversity was 52% positive and 31% negative, feelings on inclusion were much worse, at only 29% positive and 61% negative. When it comes to diversity, if we only give someone a seat at the table but have failed to prepare the table as a space where someone leaves that meeting knowing a dissenting perspective is welcome, their voice matters, and other seats are filled by members with a growth mindset for progress, then how valuable is that seat really?

    What is happening now?

    My role provides an opportunity for me to partner with hundreds of organizations, and it’s become clear that diversity is top of mind for every executive right now. This is no longer an HR-owned initiative, but rather an organizational wide priority spanning across all members of the C-Suite. Executives want to know about the numbers, the trends, and the actions they can take to increase diversity. And when we share how our tools can support them in this goal, we emphasize that the technology is only to aid the evolution of the culture, not to be the solution alone.

    We ask the questions, “Why is your organization focused on this diversity metric? What do you plan to do with this data?” The answers often reveal the “why” and journey ahead.

    If the primary reason your organization is prioritizing diversity as a key initiative is due to social pressures, or even the data correlation between diversity and profitability, you’re missing a tremendous opportunity to humanize your workforce. What’s more important is the desire from those within your organization to understand the greater value that exists in investing in other humans and listening to the unique stories of people who are not like us.

    Diversity metrics may lead to a shift in awareness and accountability; however, the key is that a cultural shift continues to take place throughout all people and all levels within the organization. Change and equity requires more than a metric. What is needed is an assessment of cultural norms and behaviors. The rest of the business culture must shift alongside a growing table of decision makers. It is not just that we have diversity alone, it is what we do with it and how do the benefits gained from a diverse group of people working together influence and impact change and progress. Is your organization assessing your recruiting processes, performance reviews, and mentoring programs to be more inclusive, widen the candidate pool, and foster belonging? How would you currently rate your company on how they prioritize learning and development, welcome new ideas and ways of thinking? How are the decisions made for the people the decisions impact? How is their voice regularly heard and represented?

    What can we do about it?

    Set the Table

    If you currently consider yourself in a position where you can offer a seat at the table, I’d encourage you to challenge yourself and your team of peers to look around your table and assess by asking yourself these questions:

    • What stands out?
    • What can be called out and changed?
    • Where can you create opportunity for those who are not represented?

    “Setting the table” simply means creating an environment where new voices will be welcomed and heard. And this level of inclusivity isn’t limited to meetings at the top of the organizational ladder—it’s vitally important for every table in every meeting. Even virtual meetings can benefit from inclusive practices.

    Keep Learning

    Fostering a learning culture toward diversity, inclusion and belonging requires that individuals draw on their own unique experiences, as members of groups they identify with, to share based on their unique gifts and perspectives. It has been reinforced this past year especially, that one of the most powerful ways to learn is to listen. What is the sentiment of your culture? What are your employees experiencing by being a part of your organization?

    Stay Engaged

    Join or create a community that harnesses the power of belonging in service to your people, your company, and the community at large. UKG offers its people the opportunity to engage in Diversity Networks, which are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to foster a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with our organization. When you bring passionate people together in the name of progress (and offer the bonus of full support from executive leadership), magic happens.

    Your role within building a culture of belonging can be an active member, participant, executive sponsor, mentor, learner, or active ally. Regardless of how you opt to get involved, know you have a role to play.

    As more seats are created for women at the table will they be welcomed to be authentic, challenge the current thinking, and share their unique perspective? Will a new voice be welcomed or silenced?

    When you create environments, of mattering and engaged voices at every level, it will benefit the entire organization. You will not have to engage in campaigns to hire more diversity—diversity will come to you. I work at UKG because I know that our leaders and people are invested in getting to know, understand, and build up the whole person and that our leaders are continuously developed and expected to grow in our awareness of the responsibility we all have to foster a culture of belonging.

    We cannot let the roaring call of equity fade to the background as merely a metric accomplished by filling more seats. Rather, we should focus on how each of us and our organizations are creating a more equitable table today and better preparing a table of belonging for people of current and future generations.

    • The People Purpose Blog
    • Inclusion is More Than Just a Seat at the Table – It's a Voice Too
    UKG logo

    Footer menu

    • Human Capital Management
      • Human Resources
      • Payroll
      • Talent
      • Reporting and Analytics
    • Workforce Management
      • Time & Attendance
      • Scheduling
      • Compliance
    • Product Suites
      • UKG Pro
      • UKG Dimensions
      • UKG Ready
    • Customer Experience
      • Implementation
      • Support Experience
      • UKG Community
      • Customer Stories
    • About Us
      • Why UKG
      • Culture
      • Our ESG Program
      • Leadership
      • Newsroom
      • Careers
      • Privacy and Security

    Sub Footer

    • Modern Slavery Statement
    • Accessibility
    • Cookie Choices
    • Cookie Notice
    • Terms of Use
    • Trademarks
    • CCPA Notice
    • Licenses
    • Privacy Notice
    © 2023 UKG Inc. All rights reserved.

    Kronos SaaShr, Inc., a UKG Company (NMLS ID#1698726) provides money transmission services on behalf of UKG Inc. customers and in connection with certain UKG products.