Category: News & Knowledge

What drives employee engagement?

Recently a Symmetra post commented on “The Great Resignation” – a flood of employees leaving to seek greener pastures as the pandemic starts to ease. So how can organisations counteract this outflow which is clearly a result of long built-up dissatisfaction and disillusionment? What is it about an organisation which makes employees engaged, committed, loyal and …

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Better results and better decisions: How sound anti-bias training can help

Can we rely on scientific training to eliminate or at least reduce poor decisions resulting from unconscious bias? Apparently not. As our understanding of unconscious bias increases and deepens, we are learning two important things: firstly, that these biases intrude into areas that we might imagine as being insulated; secondly, we are understanding which sorts …

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Abortion rights under threat in America

The right of women to abortion in the USA is under threat. The Supreme Court has declined, for the time being, to interfere with a Texas law which effectively prohibits abortion when a heartbeat can be detected. Astonishingly it gives any private individual the right to institute legal action against a clinic or other person who participates …

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The struggle against racism

In the long struggle against racism, in its various manifestations across the globe salutary acts is the removal of racist symbolism which is expressed in statues, architecture, language, names, adornment, artifacts and even packaging for consumables. Examples of these are legions and they range from statues erected in honor of slave-owners in the Southern United …

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Recognising unconscious bias in an organisation

By now, most people recognise that humans are subject to a range of unconscious biases which negatively impact decisions. Combatting these biases as an individual is difficult because, by definition, they are numerous and lurk beyond ordinary awareness. Working with global organisations, Symmetra advocates it as critical to focus on vital areas of biased decision-making. The research …

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Symmetra CEO, Heather Price, is an Expert Panellist for the fourth edition of the Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Benchmarks (GDEIB) being launched today

How does an organization know if its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program will be effective in today’s, sometimes contentious, multicultural climate? How should systemic racism and other issues be addressed in the workplace? With the support of 112 global experts from around the world, we now know what makes for the success of DEI …

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Why Diversity and Inclusion is Now a Source of Competitive Advantage

Diversity and inclusion has become so important over the last three to five years, where it’s shifted from being a social justice issue to a strategic business imperative because there’s been a host of empirical research which has emerged which demonstrates that diversity can actually optimise performance and innovation in organisations.

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The Hayne Commission: How Diversity and Inclusion Can Help to Mend the Banks’ Broken Cultures

Trust in Banks has been weakened The implicit trust which many Australians had in their banks and the belief that financial institutions would generally do the right thing has been rudely shattered. The final report of the Royal Commission into misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry laid bare the sorry state of …

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Under the law, Australian women are equal – it’s invisible barriers that cause the problem

Women in Australia face almost no legal barriers in pursuing their careers or other economic activity. The just-released report by the World Bank: Women, Business and the Law, 2019: a decade of reform measures the level of gender equality across 187 economies – with specific reference to economic activity. The areas measured are: going places; managing assets; getting …

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