5 Ways to Convince Senior Leaders to Invest in Diversity & Inclusion
It’s doubtful that you’ll find many people who don’t believe or care in diversity and inclusion. However, it’s often difficult to get Senior Leaders to actually commit to investing time, money and resources to really start making a positive impact.
So, we thought we’d give you some ideas to help make a business case to the powers that be to convince them that diversity and inclusion should be given the same attention as other business imperatives.
Here’s 5 things to consider;
1. Available Research
Newcastle University’s Arrow Team recently conducted a research review for us exploring changing society in terms of diversity and how organisations must adapt to this changing workforce as well as considering how organisations can remove barriers to inclusion and support individual needs and provide a culture of belonging as well as their responsibilities by law. Click here to access the full report.
There’s TONNES of other research demonstrating that a diverse and inclusive workforce is more creative, innovative and more profitable.
Companies with inclusive cultures are:
Adapted from: Juliet Bourke, Which Two Heads Are Better Than One? How Diverse Teams Create Breakthrough Ideas and Make Smart Decisions (Australian Institute of Company Directors, 2016)
2. Evidence from employees to make business case
Build evidence from employees to make a business case. Think about conducting focus groups / listening groups/ engagement surveys, take note of their experiences and impact. Present it to Senior Leaders and ask ‘What do you want to do with this?’.
3. Consider your customer base
Do your employees reflect your customer base? Often products and services aren’t fit for purpose due to the carbon copy workforce behind them. How can we understand the true needs of our clients and customers if there’s a lack of diversity internally. We want to avoid perpetuating biases and encourage diversity of thought to gain a competitive advantage.
4. Data, DATA, DATA!
Look at your data. What is it telling you. In particular look at the likes of sex / race disaggregated data across all levels of the business. You want to be drilling down into who holds part-time roles versus those in full time positions, comparing different departments and functions (generally technical roles are more male dominant compared to the likes or Marketing or HR Functions), understanding who is applying to vacancies and in return, who is leaving and why. Your data will tell a story and display patterns that you might not be aware of. Also, you can’t argue with the facts!
5. Reputation & competitor analysis
Two thirds of people consider diversity important when deciding where they want to work and 85% of female millennials actively seek employers with a strong record in diversity. What impression does your company give to outsiders? Also consider what your competitors are doing in this space. You could be potentially isolating current and potential customers and employees by ignoring diversity and inclusion.
For more information about how we can help, get in touch with our team or visit the resource section of our website.
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References
The Diversity and Inclusion Revolution, Eight Powerful Truths, Juliet Bourke and Bernadette Dillion. Deloitte Review, January 2018
The Female Millennial: A new era of female talent, PWC, 2015
Underscores Importance of Diversity Hiring and Initiatives Throughout Recruiting Process & Employment Experience, Glassdoor, 2014
