Seeing added value of equity, diversity, and inclusion
President Batsetswe Motsumi looks at the benefits of and enriching experience of inclusion
I JOIN many of our colleagues within CICES and outside to reflect on our equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) golden thread for the recent Black History Month. Our reflective tone must focus on the benefits of and enriching experience of inclusion. To help this I am happy to share the independent business statistics directly linked to a sensible and authentic approach to equity, diversity and inclusion.
I believe that the economic case for diversity strong, the demand from prospective employees to associate with equitable and inclusive organisations and the skills shortages challenging the industry are not in dispute, for example:
- According to McKinsey & Company (Diversity wins: How inclusion matters) there is a substantial performance differential 48% between the most and least gender-diverse companies. In the case of ethnic and cultural diversity, the findings are equally compelling. We found that companies in the top quartile outperformed those in the fourth by 36% in terms of profitability in 2019, slightly up from 33% in 2017 and 35% in 2014.
- According to a recent study by PR News, 86% of candidates cited diversity as an important factor when looking for a new job.
Progress will only happen if the conversations around EDI become the norm in our workplaces, boardrooms, communities and our spaces of relaxation.Organisations largely understand the business case for recruiting diverse talent and are implementing a wide range of strategic initiatives to broaden their talent pool or as an industry, to address the skills shortage as well as make progress on diversity of thought. Given that the business case for EDI appears to be settled at least in data sense, how do we then help our colleagues to engage with this topic?
We must firstly avoid approaching diversity and inclusion from a position of victims and perpetrators. Collectively we should identify our own ways and create safe spaces to enable education, curiosity and exploration of issues relating to diversity and inclusion. Progress will only happen if the conversations around EDI become the norm in our workplaces, boardrooms, communities and our spaces of relaxation. It would be helpful for organisations to acknowledge that equity can only be achieved through creating an enabling environment where EDI advocates are fully involved in adapting the organisations systems and processes.
However, the challenge that I see across the industry is how to progress from informative to transformative EDI strategies and moving from intent to impact with respect to EDI approach in our environments.
Remember that diversity and inclusion is a journey that has only just began in organisations and expecting an overnight success remains an unrealistic expectation hence my recommendation to read the room first.
All of this requires a change in mindset, and focus. The following points provide some tangible actions that could be taken by individuals or organisations to add value through being diverse and inclusive:
- Organisations must rightfully set performance standards and be consistent in the application of these standards by avoiding the temptation to move the bar a notch when faced with difference. What is equitable is making a real effort to understand our organisational biases and ensuring that the performance bar is kept constant for everyone.
- Understand the impact of systems and process effects in creating barriers to equity, diversity and inclusion and develop solutions to counteract the unconscious biases.
- Ensuring that organisations invest in potential and performance across all demographics without a skewed focus on recognising potential and rewarding potential in certain groups and demanding performance ahead of opportunity in others.
- Promote a culture of equity advocates within CICES and promote this message throughout our members, employer organisations and the organisations that we collaborate with. In our environment we can individually and collectively encourage authentic and respectful conversations without fear of consequence.
- For the underrepresented groups my advice is to avoid succumbing to negative psychological labelling concepts that can feed a vicious cycle of victim behaviour and potentially alienate the advocates that are needed for progress to be made on EDI issues.
- Finally, when speaking out about concerns, make sure that you have carried out a risk assessment to make sure that the environment is right and that speaking out will not attract unintended negative consequences for yourself and others. Remember that diversity and inclusion is a journey that has only just began in organisations and expecting an overnight success remains an unrealistic expectation hence my recommendation to read the room first.
Batsetswe Motsumi MCInstCES, President