Resources: Common Feedback + Lessons Learned/Tips

Purpose:

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of common feedback from both Just organizations and our Review team, as well as tips, reminders, and lessons learned broken down by before, during, and after organizations submit their Just documentation.

Please note that this resource is a living, working document that will be updated frequently as more questions, feedback, tips, and lessons are learned throughout the Just process.

1. Before Registration & Documentation Submission
2. During Documentation Submission Stage
3. After Label Finalization

Tips & Reminders for a Smooth Submission

Before Registration & Documentation Submission

APPROACH JUST 3.0 WITH FRESH EYES

For organizations that are coming from 2.0, as you get ready to renew, the Just Team highly encourages organizations to focus less on what has changed between the two versions of the program, and more on what the current requirements are. There is a lot of overlap, so organizations will likely be able to reuse some of their existing documentation and policies.

However, organizations will need to take a close look at the current requirements to see where updates or enhancements may be needed to meet the 3.0 requirements in the Just 3.0 Program Manual.

REVIEW & TAKE ADVANTAGE OF RESOURCES AVAILABLE

COMMUNICATE, REVIEW, IDENTIFY, PLAN, REVISE

1. Communicate Communicate your commitment to organizational equity with key stakeholders to facilitate understanding, buy-in, and share why the Just program is a beneficial framework and program to participate in. Use our Advocating for the Just Label: Elevator and Pitch Guide and Communicate Your Commitment Resource to help jump-start the conversation!

2. Review

   Review the Just 3.0 Program Manual, and your current policies, practices, and processes. Leave ample time for policy review. Carefully review your existing policies, start by assessing what policies (culture, processes, and practices) your organization does—and does not—have in place already, and research the Just 3.0 Program Manual and additional resources to ensure alignment with its standards. Take at least 12 months to prep and apply all documentation (i.e., surveys, policies, narratives, data, etc.)

3. Identify

   What’s in place—and what’s missing? Identify needed updates and consider what the update process might involve. Identify what you currently have in place and what is missing to reach your desired Level. “How do I know what Level to choose?” The answer to this question is going to require some self-reflection and analysis on where your organization is and what your organization can do between now and the point of submission to reach the Level you want. Evaluate what/how many updates you need to make, and how/what that process might look like for your organization.  Ask yourself how and when you are going to make the updates, collect data, and engage the right people.

   

   Example Just Roadmap Visual Broken Down by Quarterly Goals

4. Plan

   Map out your approach for making changes, collecting data, and engaging the right people. Plan and map out your timeline/approach to making updates, gathering data, and consider who needs to be involved.  Involve a passionate and diverse team. Engage individuals committed to employee well-being, belonging, and equity to lead the process, bringing varied perspectives to the table. “If we have to make changes to policies or processes, what is our approval process for that like?” For some organizations this might take longer internal approval processes, while others may be able to make those updates relatively quickly. This is one of the reasons why having the right people, like leadership, on your Just reporting team/committee can be extremely beneficial. Involve key stakeholders such as HR, a Just committee, legal, operations, finance, sustainability team, etc.—to ensure accurate reporting and alignment with your organization’s values. Seek organization- and community-wide input. Extend the feedback process (i.e., surveys) beyond the Just working group to include broader staff involvement and community stakeholders, ensuring updated policies resonate across the organization and community. Focus on data and surveys, as they might inform policy updates, and might take longer to do. As an example, consider starting 2 indicators per month, at least 12 months prior to your expiration date.

   

   Reach out to the Just Team if your organization has an alternative approach to address Indicator metrics. The Just Request for Ruling process is a formal mechanism for organizations to seek approval for alternative approaches that differ from established Indicator metrics.

5. Revise Schedule rounds of edits and meetings to collaboratively review and refine policy drafts, promoting clarity and alignment with organizational goals. It is good practice to review and update at least annually based on employee feedback, internal and external challenges and changes, and commitment to continuous improvement. Commit to continuous improvement. Treat the label review and finalization process as a starting point by creating a roadmap for growth in the Just policy levels, ensuring sustained progress.

Tips & Reminders for a Smooth Submission

During Documentation Submission Stage

Common Feedback: Written Policies

The most common feedback the Just team provides includes organizations meeting policy requirements. The following describes the minimum and specific written policy requirements for all Indicators. If you are a Just 2.0 organization (i.e., renewing organization), you may need to make updates to your existing policies in order to comply with our updated requirements.

*It’s very important to check out the Indicator Metrics themselves as well as the Clarifications section per Indicator to find if there are additional written policy requirements beyond the basic elements. As always, it should be clear to the employee what to expect in terms of benefits coverage (i.e., 80% that the organization covers for comprehensive - meaning medical, dental, vision, preventive health care; separate policy from the benefits plan; all employees).

Health Care Indicator Written Policies - Metrics + Clarifications Example

Common Feedback: Metric + Documentation Requirements

It’s very important to review the Metrics and Documentation Requirements of each Indicator to adhere to ensure your organization is reaching your intended Level performance.

• MULTIPLE ASPECTS/COMPONENTS
  • Some Indicators may require more than one practice, or component, or aspect that should be included in your documentation. For example, the Accessibility Indicator example below shows that organizations must address the 3 required aspects of workplace accessibility:

1. Physical Accessibility
2. Digital Accessibility
3. Attitudinal Awareness

• This information is found in the Metrics section of the Accessibility Indicator. Other Indicators such as Well-Being has 3 aspects of employee well-being, and Workforce Empowerment has 3 required input protocols - all found within the Metrics, with further details outlined in the Clarifications section.
• TIERED
  • Some Indicators may have requirements that are tiered based on the performance Level selected. For example, again, with the Accessibility Indicator, if you’re going for a Level 3, you’ll need at least 2 practices in each aspect of workplace accessibility (so 2 practices in physical, 2 practices in digital, 2 practices to promote attitudinal awareness). 
• DOCUMENTATION EXAMPLE
  • We ask for some specific information that we’re looking for to meet metric requirements. For example, for the Pay Scale Equity Indicator, any organizations going for Levels 2-4, we request documentation of BOTH the organization’s pay classes, as well as associated job-level descriptions that should be accessible to all employees. Specified Documentation Requirements can all be found in the Documentation Requirements tab per Indicator.
• SEE CLARIFICATIONS
  • For details such as Clarifications definitions (i.e., what we mean by "pay classes" or “comprehensive”, or what each ‘tiered’ component means with tangible examples).

Accessibility + Pay Scale Equity Indicators - Metrics + Documentation Requirements Example

Common Feedback: Applicability

Each Indicator has specific Applicability requirements - or rather, who in the organization the Indicator and its requirements applies to (types of employees such as full and part-time; term-limited workforce members such as interns and contractors; board members, etc.)

Please be sure to check the Applicability requirements again, in the Clarifications section in the Program Manual for each Indicator. Some of these Applicability requirements coincide with the aforementioned written policy questions. For example, all employees (definition of employees and all other workforce terms in General Clarifications) apply to the Family + Medical Leave Indicator (see example below), benefits must be accessible to all parents + caregivers, all employees, regardless if they’re full time or part time, and if part-time - specify pro-rated benefits, and specify that the paid leave is separate from paid vacation time–IN ADDITION TO the basic policy elements (i.e., who oversees, how often evaluated, etc.)

Family + Medical Leave Indicator - Clarifications > Applicability Requirements Example

Common Feedback: Survey Requirements

SURVEY DOCUMENTATION

Review this comprehensive Just 3.0 Survey Requirements resource guide (please note: this information was compiled directly from the Just 3.0 Program Manual).

*Documentation Requirements: Screenshots or file submissions of required questions, corresponding results per question, calculations and evidence of administration, participation rate, and average score per Indicator

**Survey Participation Rate: 70% dependent on smaller or larger organization size

***It is important for organizations to ask the specific required survey questions for consistency and data collection and analysis purposes. Organizations may, however, use this form to submit alternative survey questions for the Just Team to review and evaluate each alternative question items' validity.

Survey Documentation Meeting Survey Question + Response Rate Requirements Example

Common Feedback: Advocacy + Action Documentation

Why Advocacy and Action?

• Organizations Higher Level Performance (such as Level 3, 4)
  • Optional for these couple of Indicators (not circled) in the Inclusion Category to include advocacy and action documentation
• Alternative Pathway Option for Some Indicators
  • Gives organizations an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to broader diversity even if their data does not reflect Indicator metric thresholds
  • Increase ability of organizations to demonstrate broader advocacy and greater impact (within and outside of the organization)
• Industry Diversity Impacts
  • Still impacts employees’ experience
  • Generates more inclusive environment when organizations advocate for expansive diversity
  • As an organization, participating in this (Just 3.0) process is a form of advocacy

For the Indicators that require Advocacy and Action Documentation (circled above) - either for higher performance levels or as alternative pathways - your efforts should demonstrate these general areas outlined below (goal, what + why, impact + measurement, Future: Build upon / Do differently). These general Advocacy and Action minimum requirements are in the Clarifications section of relevant Indicators.

These required Advocacy + Action Documentation areas can be addressed through any campaigns, impact reports, pictures, etc. - just make it clear how these area requirements are addressed! Regardless, highlight answers to these questions or submit a separate sheet that summarizes answers to these questions (meeting requirements more important!) Efforts should be wide-ranging, impactful, selected and implemented with intention and aligned with an organization’s commitment to work toward greater diversity in the industry.

FORMATTING

Overall

The format for submitting documentation is mostly flexible as each submission will look different for each organization. Ideally PDFs are the best format for uploading documents in the Portal field.

Documentation Requirement Type*

LESS IS MORE

• Providing a large amount of documentation will not necessarily guarantee a certain level.
• Comprehensive documentation clearly meeting metrics and requirements is better than a flurry of information that is hard to determine what is guaranteed to all employees.
• It’s also important to remember that this process is about the employee experience and transparency; if employees have a hard time understanding what applies to them and what benefits and opportunities are guaranteed to them, it’s likely a hard time for our Review team to determine, as well!

HELPFUL TO HIGHLIGHT

Clear demonstration of meeting metrics and requirements is not only easier for our team to evaluate, but reinforces transparency for all employees. This can be in the form of highlighting, bolding, italics, circling, etc. Documentation of plans (i.e., Health Care, Retirement) with the inclusion of summaries (i.e., benefits summary) are great, too.

Health Care highlighting of benefits example. Clearly addressing preventive care requirement.

It may be helpful to think about what are the guaranteed benefits each employee can expect (i.e., volunteering hours, paid leave in weeks to care for a loved one or themselves, professional development hours, paid days of combined vacation and sick time, retirement or superannuation contributions) - and how can this be clearly and accessibly communicated with all employees (onboarding and staff presentation materials, all-staff folder, organization intranet, handbook excerpts, policies meeting requirements, comprehensive summaries of benefits in additional documentation).

REVIEWER COMMON CLARIFYING QUESTIONS

• Misalignment/Discrepancy Between Information Submitted
  • Make sure that all information submitted is consistent. The application portal (Apply) has dedicated fields for submission per Indicator (i.e., Policy, Narrative, Data Analysis, Ratios, Percentages, Number of paid benefits in hours/days/weeks, etc.)
  • For certain Indicators, such as Benefits Category and Compensation Category Indicators, the documentation submitted should be consistent throughout the specific Indicator.
    • We ask for organizations to determine "Value X" for the Racial + Ethnic Diversity Indicator, paid Family and Medical Leave in weeks, Health Care cost-sharing structure, Retirement plan terms, Living Wage and Pay Scale Equity analyses, etc.
    • For example, the Pay Scale Equity Indicator asks organizations to 1) conduct an analysis demonstrating their Pay Scale Ratio 2) input their Pay Scale Ratio in the Apply Portal field and 3) include their Pay Scale Ratio within their Policy.
      • If an organization's Pay Scale Ratio analysis is 1:7, the organization's policy reports 1:15, and the Apply Portal field input is 1:3, the Just Team will ask for organizations to clarify and confirm their actual Pay Scale Ratio before evaluating performance level to ensure data accuracy. If the Pay Scale Ratio analysis is 1:7, the Policy and Apply Portal field input should also be 1:7.

• Combined Documentation 
  • Some organizations like to combine their documentation into one document (i.e., Policy + Narrative + Data Analysis).
  • While this is OK, please note that all policies are publicized on the database page, but supporting documentation (i.e., narratives, data, etc.) is not publicized.
    • If the organization decides to combine documentation with their policy, please confirm with the Just Team if the organization is OK to host their policy with additional information included.
    • If the organization does NOT want their additional information publicized with their policies, please resubmit with the information split up by corresponding field in the Apply Portal (i.e., Policy > Policy field ; Narrative > Narrative field ; Data Analysis > Data Analysis field ; Plan Documents > Plan Documentation field, etc.)

• Unique programs/plans/circumstances
  • At times we come across situations that may be unprecedented or unfamiliar to previous applications and circumstances. There are some retirement plans or [universal] health care coverage (i.e., international organizations) or living wage frameworks that we have yet to come across–and that’s where you come in! Please share your unique circumstance with the Just Team so that we can best determine level performance for your equivalency (see R4R process below).

• Contextual support
  • Please help us in providing additional and contextual information to better understand how your organization meets metric requirements (i.e., mentorship program, benefits, etc.) This can be in the form of a narrative and plan documents that clearly demonstrates meeting metric requirements.

Tips for a Smooth Submission

After Label Finalization

1. Demonstrate + Celebrate Transparency & Accountability: “Walking the Walk”
   1. Internally
      1. Use our Sharing Just with Staff Resource to ensure all employees understand the Just program, its benefits, your organization's results, and areas of improvement.
   2. Externally
      1. Use our updated Just 3.0 Marketing Toolkit to share your label on social media and in project proposals!
2. Provide Feedback on: Application Process, Resources, Best Support for You
   1. Complete the Just Process Feedback Survey
   2. Complete the Just Annual Survey
   3. Email just.support@living-future.org with your feedback!
3. Connect and Engage with Other Just Organizations
   1. Join our Just Online Community Platform! Connect, engage, and exchange ideas with other organizations participating in the Just program
      1. Network and host/join Just events in your region
4. Commit to Continuous Improvement
   1. Create feedback loops amongst stakeholders (i.e., community members, leadership, staff, etc.) and adjust any policies and practices based on this feedback
   2. Use our Just 3.0 tool to map out your long-term goals, strategies, and actions over a 2-year period (i.e., label renewal)