Blogs about Atlas, Microsoft 365, Teams

An inclusive digital workspace = wider inclusivity in the organisation

Written by ClearPeople | Jul 9, 2020 10:31:56 AM

ClearPeople is built on six distinct values that completely embody our culture, such as “One Family” and “People-First”. We may take this as obvious or common sense, but recent events have shown we still have a long way to go and change is needed. At ClearPeople we believe that everyone has the right to be treated fairly and with respect.

We embody this ethos in our solution, Atlas. We want our platform to do more than just help people with communication, knowledge and collaboration, we are always questioning ourselves as to how we can build tools that promote inclusivity.

We also actively join campaigns where we advocate inclusivity such as:

#BuildFor2030
As part of Microsoft’s #BuildFor2030 campaign, the goal is to promote the benefits of developing accessible solutions as well as contribute to the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals; achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice.

As a Microsoft Partner, we are really pleased to be helping our customers by offering innovative solutions that promote inclusivity and are accessible.

WIT Network
We are a proud member of the WIT Network (Women in Technology). WIT offers the women (and men) in our organisation support by a community of professionals, the chance to connect, grow and expand careers as well as the opportunity to make a difference in the gender equality conversation.

Tech Talent Charter
In 2018, ClearPeople became a signatory of the Tech Talent Charter, a non-profit organisation aimed to drive diversity and inclusion in technology roles. In January 2019, at an event led by TTC, we made public pledges reaffirming our commitment to D&I and our continued fight to raise awareness and highlight challenges and solutions.

Inclusivity is broad for us

inclusivity [noun] - The practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those having physical or mental disabilities or belonging to other minority groups. Oxford Dictionary

For ClearPeople, inclusivity is broad and should apply to everyone regardless of their race, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, neuro diversity or veteran status.

And even if you are normally included, this could change when returning to work from parental leave, a sabbatical or even as a furloughed worker.  

Why organisations need to implement inclusivity

When everyone feels included, morale goes up and employees feel empowered. This improves employee productivity and engagement. When ideas from employees are heard, they are more motivated to come together and outperform most other teams by 35% according to research by McKinsey & Co.

According to The Female CEO Reputation Premium report, companies with higher representation of women in C-suite level positions results in 34% greater returns to shareholders. Also, organisations with above-average gender diversity and levels of employee engagement outperform companies with below-average diversity and engagement by 46% to 58%.

According to a 2015 McKinsey report, companies in the top quarter for racial/ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to surpass peers, while those in the same bracket for gender diversity are 15% more likely to do the same. They also discovered that companies in the top quartile for gender or racial and ethnic diversity are 33% more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians. 

How culture is so important to inclusivity

By creating a diverse & inclusive workplace you are bringing a wealth of knowledge into the room; including those who might otherwise not be a part of the conversation. Fresh new perspectives will allow for an organisation to overcome new challenges and provide innovation.

An inclusive workplace promotes creativity. In homogeneous workplaces, the culture is likely to stay the same, whereas inclusivity drives diverse ways of thinking and knowledge. Including every individual, who might otherwise not be sharing or adding knowledge, allows the organisation to innovate.

“Words are great, but the proof of an organisation’s values and culture is in the actions and decisions of its people. By showing the importance of inclusivity – through hiring and advancement decisions, through investments in tools, resources and development, and through processes that empower all employees – the organisation can truly deliver an inclusive environment that attracts and retains top talent.” Meghan Rogers, Human Resources, ClearPeople

“Inclusivity to me means being understood, respected, and appreciated as a valued member of a community irrespective of differences.” Jummy Champion, Project Management Coordinator, ClearPeople

Atlas vision

What does it feel like to be included, selected, chosen? It feels good, right? It’s quite the opposite if you’re excluded or marginalised. These extremes are important to ClearPeople and they were at the forefront of our minds when we developed Atlas - the people-first digital workplace for Office 365.

Why the focus on people-first? A company is not a company without its people. The digital workspace is all about those people. Bringing them together, bringing out the best in them and making your company shine in the process.

This is not just about the feel-good factor, but it makes business sense.

“Atlas is designed to be used by everyone. Atlas helps to build a culture of inclusivity by ensuring all employees can access their digital workspace from anywhere. By massively simplifying complex processes Atlas enables everybody to contribute information, experiences and knowledge.” Stephen Bedford, Product Director, ClearPeople

“Our goal is to make it much easier and accessible for everyone to contribute their knowledge, and for that knowledge to be made available for everyone, and irrespective of role or location. To us – that is a truly inclusive digital workspace and a superb employee experience.” Gabriel Karawani, Director and Co-Founder, ClearPeople

How Atlas helps promote inclusivity

Atlas Add It
Gone are the days of an outdated intranet or knowledge area where only a handful of people can administrate it. Any user can add any content anywhere without any technical knowledge. "Add It" enables simple contribution (of course with the right permission to do so) with an intuitive step-by-step "wizard".

Atlas Knowledge Centre
In most organisations, only a small set of people contribute and share their knowledge and experience to a wider audience. In other words, only a small fraction of your colleagues contribute knowledge, and they typically represent an even smaller proportion of the organisation’s geographic and demographic spread. Why? Because often only a few understand WHERE and HOW to contribute and more importantly, have the permissions to do so. Learn more about Atlas Knowledge

Atlas ConneX
Saving the best for last, put simply Atlas Connex is an extremely powerful governance and provisioning tool. It lets a non-technical user create sites with the right permissions and structure within minutes and within Atlas. It’s a game-changer by removing barriers for business users to effectively and flexibly create collaboration and knowledge areas. Learn more about Atlas ConneX