A key piece of inclusion is inviting participation, not just attendance: Martin Shanahan

Martin D. Shanahan is the CEO of IDA (Industrial Development Agency) Ireland, and an Adjunct Full Professor at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business. Martin has been to the forefront of the development of enterprise and innovation policy in Ireland including leading, at official level, the development of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs between 2011 and 2014.

Prior to IDA, Martin was the CEO of Forfás and worked in a number of senior executive roles in the organization. Earlier in his career he held a number of senior management positions in the private sector in tourism and hospitality.

Martin was in the top 5 of the top 30 Leading Public Sector LGBT+ Executives on the Financial Times/ Outstanding 2018 list.

In conversation with People Matters, Martin talks about the role of technology in keeping up with the D&I momentum, the ‘Gender Identity and Expression Policy’ launched during Pride Month 2020, and the need for communication technology in order to enable employees in maintaining the connect.

Every diversity and inclusion initiative has conversations at the core of it, supported by face-to-face connects for a bigger impact. With remote working taking over the world of work overnight, what has been the impact of virtual workplaces on D&I initiatives? How are you maintaining the progress and momentum so far?

During a time where self-isolating and social distancing has been the norm, our primary D&I focus has been on inclusion - helping everyone feel connected and part of the global IDA team as well as their local/department teams, wherever they are in the world.  

We have shifted from in-person to virtual meetings, events and training sessions to talk, share and collaborate; and reinforce our commitment to D&I within the agency.

With this in mind we have -

• Held CEO-led virtual town halls with global colleagues to share the latest updates and hear direct questions and feedback from our 20+ global offices
• Created targeted online content featuring global team members, and how we are all in this together
• Shared supporting online content spanning well-being and mental health, caring for others, remote working/management
• Hosted special events online - IDA Talent Competition, CSR Fundraising/Sports Challenge, and our first LGBT+ Ally Network online event 
• Held all our performance & development reviews with employees virtually, which includes a specific focus on well-being and personal development    
• Ensured all teams meet informally and formally regularly  
• Supported accommodations and additional flexibility to support individual colleagues needs and challenges

What in your experience are the biggest workplace challenges for marginalized communities in the wake of social distancing? Are there any particular benefits that can be provided for employees?

As all economies slowly recover from this crisis, there is a responsibility on everyone (industry, government and citizens) to ensure that all communities benefit from opportunities for work and economic stability. This will require collaboration between industry and other stakeholders to consider the needs and contribution of marginalized groups in the months ahead.

We see in Ireland that a significant number of people have lost their jobs and as an investment promotion agency, IDA Ireland will be at the forefront of trying to attract investments to create new jobs within the economy.

Across the world, this global pandemic and the measures to address it will impact on different groups in different ways and there is a fear that the impact will be greatest on those that are already most vulnerable. Access to technology will be key.

Ireland is fortunate that companies operating here have had a very positive experience in working remotely, Ireland has the infrastructure to allow this to happen.

Before COVID, IDA was already on a journey to address socio-economic disparity. As a first step in our organization IDA is working with the OpenDoors Initiative to open up our organization to diversify and augment our talent pool by bringing in colleagues from marginalized areas of our society.  OpenDoors is an Irish organization which seeks to provide opportunities for marginalized members of society such as refugees, asylum seekers, non-native speakers, young people with educational barriers and people with disabilities.   

What is the one thing that organizations are not doing right today with respect to creating a virtual workplace culture?

From an IDA perspective we have found it incredible to witness how adaptable and resilient companies have been in the face of a situation where they have been forced to move their entire operation to remote working overnight.

We are now also seeing cases where companies looking to establish an EU presence are conducting their evaluation and due diligence, legal and preparatory work and even hiring locally in Ireland, all remotely. It would have been hard to imagine this happening even five months ago.   

Building and maintaining a company culture in a virtual environment does pose a challenge and creating the “watercooler chat” which helps build trust and understanding among colleagues needs to be achieved in a different way.

Companies need to create the space for employees to communicate and collaborate in an informal and social context. This can be achieved via team meetings or fun virtual events. This is essential for building personal relationships which in turn are essential for good working relationships. Of course, every organization, every leader is on a learning path as we have all been thrown into unchartered waters and this is the time to learn fast, to listen to what employees have to say and to share our learning. 

Leaders of organizations have a big role in establishing the company culture and in highlighting the importance of individual roles within the company.  It is even more important now than ever, in this new remote working environment, to ensure that staff remain engaged and motivated and fully aware of how they continue to contribute to key company targets.

What are the roadblocks in achieving inclusion in the current scenario? How can organizations overcome these roadblocks?

I think adopting various forms of communication technology allows employees to communicate in a way that suits them best.

The entire organization will not adapt within the same time-frame to using a given new technology and we need to be flexible in how colleagues choose to communicate with each other to get the work done.

Leadership needs to ensure that the entire team remains engaged to avoid the emergence of in-groups and out-groups in the remote working environment.

With face to face meetings and travel currently not possible, it does open up the possibility for collaboration across geographies. With no additional cost to people joining virtual meetings it can help to include more people in meetings where important information is communicated and important decisions are made. People tend to establish close working relationships with colleagues in the same geographic location or department.  In a remote world, we are seeing these constraints being lifted and this has the effect of bringing the entire organization closer together.

IDA Ireland launched the "Gender Identity and Expression Policy" during Pride Month 2020. Can you tell us about this policy and how will it benefit the LGBTQ+ employees?

IDA Ireland, as part of its Diversity & Inclusion Strategy, is committed to enabling a workplace that integrates, benefits from, and achieves equality for our diverse employees, as well as promoting an inclusive workplace that celebrates and supports diversity. The Gender Identity and Expression Policy is a core component of IDA’s commitment to Diversity & Inclusion. The policy provides a framework for individual employees and managers to best support colleagues that are transitioning.

The purpose of this policy is to provide information and guidance to staff and managers and to ensure transgender and transitioning staff feel supported in IDA and that transphobia is prevented, while ensuring IDA remains compliant with legislation.

This policy sets forth guidelines to address the needs of transgender and gender non-conforming employees and clarifies how the law should be implemented in situations where questions may arise about how to protect the legal rights or safety of such employees. 

What pockets do you see as focus areas to foster and enhance inclusion as organizations transition towards work-life integration? 

One of our four core values at IDA is our People. For the first time we are seeing new facets of our people because they are working from home. On occasion we are meeting children, partners, pets and even parents in some cases. We are seeing what photos and art people have on their walls, it’s a rare opportunity to get to know my team that bit more and for them to get to know me. Our full lives have arrived at the workplace and we are embracing that. 

We are also seeing the anxiety or fear caused by the pandemic.  We have made a conscious effort to normalize questions like “How are you keeping?”, “How are you adjusting to working from home?”, “How is the family doing?”  If conversations don’t start that way, they end that way. We have focused on interacting with the entire person, not just the “worker” or the business agenda. Inclusion means our teams bring their full selves to work and we acknowledge and appreciate that.

Recent reports highlight an impending mental health crisis that the world will soon walk into. What are your thoughts about it? What are your suggestions for leaders and the workforce at large to be prepared for what's being called a 'global psychological pandemic'?

The 7 leadership traits identified for the post COVID Workplace by Dana Brownlee writing in Forbes is something that inspires me.

• Candour - being honest
• Consistent Reliable Fact-based communication - we have seen the importance of this in the fight against COVID 19
• Empathy
• Managing Hybrid teams
• Flexibility and adaptability
• Humility - not being afraid to say that you don’t have all the answers - there is no monopoly on knowledge
• Active Listening - understanding where your teams minds are at, where your customers are at

We circulated throughout the lockdown supports to help our teams cope, and to normalize the mental health aspect of this “new normal”.  It’s a scary time both in and outside of work for many people, and the only way we can assist is if they say something. There’s no stigma attached to “I’m not doing well today” or “I’m struggling”. We look to rally around anyone who needs it - we are very reactive in this sense.

We have also taken many proactive steps for mental health conversations. In our Performance and Development Process, we introduced a well-being discussion, giving everyone the opportunity to express challenges. We have continually championed our Employee Assistance Programme (which is available to the immediate family of our staff as well) and also developed online resources to support the wide range of challenges COVID-19 and the lockdown have presented. 

A key piece of inclusion is inviting participation, not just attendance. We are participating with the entirety of our teams, whether that be in struggle or success.

We are focused on being as flexible as possible to allow for breakfast time with the kids or running to the chemist for a cocooning parent. We trust our people to get the work done.

In this sense, we work to have our teams trust that the organization will support them in challenging times as much as possible.  It’s a two-way street. 

What is the one practice you hope to start, top and continue as we prepare for the new normal?

It is never a good idea to start something only to stop it. Much is being said about allegedly D&I being a victim of the current crisis the business world finds itself in, given the strain on company balance sheets. I have never considered the focus on D&I in my organization as a ‘nice-to-have’, for me it is a ‘must-have’ and it will always remain so. There will not be a shift in focus away from D&I in IDA Ireland in times of the new normal.  As I have alluded to earlier, many events that we would usually host in-person have now changed shape and adapted to be delivered online. This is a format we will continue going forward and we will hold more virtual events involving participation by colleagues based across the globe.