Why Is It Important To Talk About Diversity?
Every June we see a wave of color taking over social media, storefronts and even products. Companies change their logos to a rainbow version to show their support of pride month. And year-round many companies have D(iversity), E(quity), I(nclusion), and B(elonging) programs that are building trust, safety, and productivity amongst teams. At Inscripta, our culture is driven to make every person feel welcome and important: when we all work together and feel safe, both employees and the company wins. As a science company, we turn to the facts and here is some of what the data tells us.
Diversity is wonderfully all-encompassing. When we think about the term, we know it includes sexual orientation and identification as well as gender identity and ethnicity. But let’s not forget religion, age, and physical ability among other characteristics as well as a person’s background of experiences. Studies show that when a company is cognizant of how differences build a business, it succeeds. How? Numerous reports show quantitatively that diverse workforces are better equipped to problem solve, appeal to a broader market, and outperform financial benchmarks. This is not surprising when you think about the different experiences and skill sets a team can expand on when they have access to a variety of backgrounds. According to Gartner, “through 2022, 75% of organizations with frontline decision-making teams reflecting a diverse and inclusive culture will exceed their financial targets. And gender-diverse and inclusive teams outperformed gender-homogeneous, less inclusive teams by 50%, on average.” In many of these studies the correlation between diversity and performance is linear. The more heterogeneous a workforce or leadership team is, the higher they perform financially against industry averages.
In a McKinsey diversity study examining hundreds of companies in various industries and countries it was found that “Companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.”
What about attracting and retaining talent? In a recent Glassdoor study, 76% of respondents said diversity was an important factor when evaluating a company for employment. As a result, many large companies like Apple, Visa, and Google have started to make their workforce demographics publicly available.
Despite this data, achieving positive results requires a multipronged approach that takes time and efforts beyond simply hiring from a variety of demographics. Moreover, focusing on diversity during the hiring process is not enough to positively increase retention, the workplace experience is the main driver. It must feel authentic. Seeing diversity represented throughout a company at all levels of employment is key. Development programs and mentoring also help attract and retain quality employees. As our world continues to globalize and become increasingly interconnected, it will remain crucial for organizations to reflect those trends in their own values and practices. At Inscripta we value the whole person, including experiential diversity of both a person’s background and their mindset. After all, great ideas and powerful innovation happen together.
References:
Levine, S. (2020, Jan) Diversity confirmed To Boost Innovation and Financial Results. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesinsights/2020/01/15/diversity-confirmed-to-boost-innovation-and-financial-results/
Glassdoor (2021, July) What Job Seekers Really Think About Your Diversity and Inclusion Stats. Glassdoor https://www.glassdoor.com/employers/blog/diversity/
Sakpal, M. (2019, Sept) Diversity and Inclusion Build High-Performance Teams. Garner https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/diversity-and-inclusion-build-high-performance-teams
Dixon-Fyle, S., Dolan K., Hunt, V., Prince, S. (May, 2020) Diversity wins: How inclusion matters. McKinsey https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters
Dixon-Fyle, S., Dolan K., Hunt, V., Prince, S. (May, 2020) Diversity Still Matters. McKinsey https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-still-matters
Ely, R., Thomas, D. (2020, Dec) Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2020/11/getting-serious-about-diversity-enough-already-with-the-business-case.
Helfrich, T. (2021 Nov) How Diversity Can Help With Business Growth. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2021/11/12/how-diversity-can-help-with-business-growth
Eswaran, V. (2019 Apr) The business case for diversity in the workplace is now overwhelming. World Economic Forum https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/04/business-case-for-diversity-in-the-workplace/
