Slackbot Launched to Help Combat Fintech’s Workplace Harassment

Experts like workplace harassment attorney Jeremy Pasternak will tell you that it’s a serious issue, and one that’s prevalent in fields like fintech (where finance and technology intersect). According to an InChorus study from 2020, “85% of harassment related incidents (with 500 incident types) were related to gender, and 84% of victims harassed more than once.”

What’s more, 78% of harassment victims in this sector did not perform any official reporting, another clear indicator that there’s a problem afoot in the fintech fields. Naturally, this prompted a response from companies throughout the fintech sector, like the FinTech For All Charter. 

The charter sought to take harassment issues head-on, in collaboration with InChorus and a few other notable organizations, like FinTech Alliance, Level39, Revolut, and Innovate Finance. This monumental effort seeks to stamp out harassment with a three pronged approach:

• Focusing on details: The charter acknowledges that racism, sexism, and other types of dicrimination are often systemic in nature. They want to drill down to the details to understand how bias can manifest in seemingly small interactions, then take steps to counteract said bias and create a more fair environment for all.
• Measuring progress: The charter understands that no change can occur unless they have an accurate measure of where they started and how things have progressed. That’s why data collection and analysis is such an integral part of the process.
• Maintaining collaboration: No one organization can achieve change on their own. That’s why the charter is a collaborative effort that brings multiple partners together. With a combined effort, the road to solutions is that much easier.

Now, there’s another initiative set to hit the scene in their fight against harassment, in the form of a new Slackbot that’s supposed to “track and collate data on microaggressions relating to harassment and diversity issues within the fintech sector.”

The InChorus Slackbot was created with the intention of giving individual workers the ability to anonymously report on everyday instances of bias, harassment, etc. so that the Charter can improve their data and understanding of such occurrences. Once that data is aggregated, it will help provide insights on what’s happening and how it can be fixed. In the words of InChorus:

“From this data you’ll get actionable insights into the lived experience for different groups, allowing you to zoom in on priority challenges & high-impact, data-led next steps.”

Hopefully, the inclusion of this new InChorus Slackbot will help drive the conversations within the industry toward solutions, and reduce the prevalence of harassment across the board.