Hi there,

This is your monthly roundup of Spot product updates and DEI-related content.

Special Announcement Regarding Roe
In the wake of Roe v Wade being overturned by the United States Supreme Court, organizations are scrambling to figure out how to offer support for abortion and related reproductive care.

To support organizations and their employees—many of whom feel overwhelmed, scared, and confused in the face of the uncertainty wrought by the Court’s decision—we have created a new Spot interview for individuals to ask questions about their organization’s benefits, coverage, or support for sensitive, in-flux situations such as abortion care. We understand that employer responses are, by necessity, fluid and that it’s impossible to predict how much will change; this interview gives you a way to respond to anonymous inquiries as things evolve.

Ask a Benefits or Coverage Question is free to any Spot customer who wants it. Go to Settings > Case management settings in your dashboard to turn on this interview. If you don’t have these settings, email us at [email protected] and we’ll add the interview to your account.  

Click this link to preview the Ask a Benefits or Coverage Question interview

Coming soon

  • Not Alone feature: Employees can choose to co-report, so their report only gets submitted if another employee who opts in to the feature names the same individual. If you’re interested in activating this feature when it’s available, please reach out.
  • Bystander intervention training will be available at the end of August! Please let us know if you’re interested in this 1-hour training. (As discussed in more detail in June’s newsletter, if you have employees in Chicago, Illinois, this training may be required.)

New from Spot

  • Ask a Benefits or Coverage Question: We’re now offering an interview for employees to ask questions on benefits, coverage, or support that their organizations offer for sensitive situations such as abortion care.
  • BambooHR integration: In addition to Okta, OneLogin, Zenefits, Slack, and custom Workday integrations, we now offer a BambooHR integration. Reach out if you’d like to manage Spot trainees and training deadlines via BambooHR.
  • More complete trainee export: If you use a system such as Okta to sync your trainee data, full trainee names are now included in your CSV export.

This Bears Repeating

  • Unconscious bias microtraining: Try the prototype at https://app.talktospot.com/micro
  • On-demand HR coaching: Spot subscribers can get on-demand, hourly coaching with experts from HRuprise! Contact us to discuss the discounted rate and booking process.

In the Spotlight

Spot Cofounder and Research Advisor Dr. Julia Shaw gave the July 4th plenary talk at the Chartered Institute of Fundraising’s annual convention. We’re so pleased to partner with the CIOF—the professional membership body for UK fundraising—to help their large community of fundraisers surface important concerns and train on DEI issues

Links Roundup

No notes: “Anti-racism work at its core is about changing life outcomes for Black and brown folks, and in the process of doing that, creating better life outcomes for everyone,” says Trudi Lebrón of the Institute for Equity Centered Coaching in this piece on tips for running an anti-racist business. (Employee Benefit News)

Either way: On the one hand, a new survey indicates that a perceived lack of commitment to DEI is directly connected to employee attrition, an expensive problem. On the other hand, research in the MIT Sloan Management Review emphasizes that it’s more effective to move past the so-called business case for DEI and to make a moral case for it, embedding DEI in the organization’s mission and goals. (HR Dive, MIT Sloan Management Review, Buck)

Still happening: Although US federal law permits new fathers to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid parental leave (wow, thanks), less than 5% of men take two or more weeks of leave—and “those who receive paid leave take a week or less.” Close to 100% of women take parental leave that is available to them. This difference has long-tail implications for whether women return to work and how much they earn when they do. (SHRM, Ball State Dept of Sociology)