Leveraging diversity is good for business

Leveraging diverse experiences and avoiding groupthink is good for business.

According to a recent study, companies with more diverse teams have 19 per cent higher revenues, due to higher levels of innovation, and those with diverse teams are 21 per cent more likely to outperform competitors on profitability.

Indeed, companies with greater cultural and ethnic diversity at executive level are 33 per cent more likely to achieve above-average profitability.

That said, the Chartered Management Institute published its ‘Everyone Economy’ report in 2023, and of the 2,066 UK employees surveyed, 52 per cent said that they felt they had been overlooked for workplace opportunities because of their identity.

It is evident among the many reports, articles, and factsheets that are readily available, that a shift is required to focus on D&I in the workplace.

To address this, organisations should aim to move away from just appearing visibly diverse and make the move towards embedding positive D&I practices.

These practices should go beyond a people strategy, they should establish a new cultural norm, unique to each organisation. Actions should be deliberate and led by senior leaders who model equality and inclusivity.

Senior leaders should play a crucial role in challenging traditional workplace practices and culture to embed D&I as a strategic business priority, integrating a purposeful approach to embracing D&I as part of the organisation's vision, people policies and procedures, and daily management practices.

Three simple considerations to help leaders to develop a more open and inclusive leadership approach are:

1. Be more curious: Engage in respectful questioning to better understand others
2. Entrench a listen-first approach: Create a safe space, particularly in 1:1s through empathetic listening without interruption
3. Include diverse voices in decision-making: Put in place a structure to ensure everyone’s voice is heard and given equal weight

Be aware we all have bias, leaders are not immune, and your bias as a leader could be your Achilles heel.

Developing an awareness of your own bias, sharing experiences, and embracing D&I initiatives from the outset, whilst taking time and being curious to learn the individual values and culture of others, are great ways to role model what is expected from your wider team.

The CIPD reports that many organisations offer unconscious bias and fair and inclusive people management training to educate and remind employees of their subconscious preferences, and developing self-awareness is a great place to start.

Explore every stage of the employee lifecycle and subsequent people practices, starting with recruitment, and consider how to attract and hire more diverse candidates. 

Then, ensure equality of training, development, career, and progression opportunities. Review opportunities to foster inclusivity and a continuous learning environment beyond awarding those who have experience with more of the same.

Encourage those who may shy away from putting themselves forward and enable every employee to engage.

Leveraging diversity requires active, intentional, and continuous effort to promote full participation and a sense of belonging for every employee, it relies on the ability of leaders to envision, embrace, and enact new inclusive ways of leading.

So, what action do you need to take to further embrace diversity and inclusion?