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Our human capital management partner, isolved, provides a look at this important issue.
Put simply: businesses should have a robust diversity and inclusion program because it is the right thing to do. That being said, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) initiatives also have significant value outside of social responsibility.
In fact, diversity and inclusion can have a direct impact on a business’s bottom line. An analysis from McKinsey shows that companies with diverse executive boards are likely to see higher profitability. Conversely, a study from the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that diverse leaderships teams can have a significant boost on innovation.
11 Reasons to Embrace Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace
Although these two studies just scratch the surface when it comes to the benefits of diversity and inclusion, many companies are still lacking when it comes to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace. Our human capital management partner, isolved, provides this helpful infographic with 11 reasons DE&I benefit your business:
- Do what’s right
- Improve diversity of thinking and creativity
- Increase market share in minority markets
- Improve employee engagement
- Improve profit
- Increase productivity
- Increase customer satisfaction
- Reduce employee turnover
- Improve and drive innovation
- Reduce hiring time and make recruitment easier
- Improve diversity in society
Business leaders looking to make strides toward a more diverse and inclusive workplace can establish actionable goals and evaluate progress by forming a diversity, equity and inclusion council or committee. But what is the purpose of a DE&I committee? Here’s a brief overview from isolved of what this group does, and why it’s important to employers and employees.
What a DE&I committee does
This type of internal group can be made up of members of an organization, from top-level executives to employees. The purpose of a DE&I committee is to help establish a supportive and welcoming workplace environment in which employees of all backgrounds and demographic characteristics can work together.
As explained by Diversity Best Practices, “the primary role of the council is to connect D&I activities to a broader business-driven, results-oriented strategy.” A diversity council’s roles and responsibilities include:
- Relating diversity and inclusion to the company’s mission, values and objectives.
- Outlining key diversity and inclusion goals and actionable steps to achieve them.
- Helping institutionalize policies that support equity for all employees.
- Evaluating the effectiveness of ongoing efforts and adapting as needed.
DE&I initiatives are good for people — and for business
One important purpose of a DE&I committee is to ensure that the company creates an inclusive environment that promotes equity in the workplace. This leads to a culture that leverages diversity to its fullest potential so that every employee can have a sense of belonging regardless of their background.
Furthermore, the active promotion of inclusion and diversity in the workplace is healthy for business and its bottom line. As the World Economic Forum noted, “the business case for diversity in the workplace is now overwhelming.” When highly skilled workers from different backgrounds collaborate, the variety of experiences, perspectives and creative ideas they’ll contribute can lead to innovative and even disruptive new ways of thinking and problem solving.
And there is ample data to back this up. According to a recent McKinsey report, businesses with high gender diversity on executive teams were 21 percent more likely to outperform the competition in terms of profitability. Additionally, organizations with leadership teams that exhibited higher levels of ethnic and cultural diversity were 33 percent more likely to have industry-leading profitability.
On the other side of the spectrum, companies with the lowest levels of gender, ethnic and cultural diversity lag behind significantly. In McKinsey’s study, they were 29 percent less likely to reach above-average levels of profitability.
Achieving a diverse, inclusive workplace certainly pays off in a variety of ways, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Instead, a DE&I committee will continually work toward specific goals and hold the organization accountable.
Businesses with the right teams and tools in place to accelerate DE&I goals will be better situated to attract and retain top talent.
GTM can help with your DE&I initiatives. Our HR consultants can assess your current policies and training programs and find strategies that work for you and your employees. We can help set up your DE&I committee and create a roadmap to becoming a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Fill out the form below for more information.
