The Business Case for Diversity

For Jean diversity is about helping organisations to engage with the diversity in their workforce and celebrate this. A global economy inevitably leads to diverse workplaces.  In fact some suggest that by 2011 only 20% of our workforce will be under the age of 45, white, able bodied males. Therefore diverse organisations are upon us. In order to remain competitive organisations needs to attract and retain the best people for their roles.  And there is every chance that these people will not fit the normal idea of people for the jobs.

The Equal Opportunities Commission published its final report ‘Sex and Power’ on the role of women in organisations and in government in 2007. Their key message is chilling. The 2007 survey shows that:
‘progress on women’s representation across a wide range of professions and sectors is painfully slow, and in some cases has gone into reverse...’ (p3)

Alongside the Lehman Brothers Centre for Women in Business published their research Inspiring Women – Corporate Best Practice in Europe in May 2007 suggests that while 50% of people entering organisations are women, only 30% of management roles are filled by women and this drops to 15% for senior leadership roles. 
Research also suggests that women are more likely to seek leadership roles if there are already role models present.

Why invest in diversity?

• It makes sound business sense – as customers and clients become more discerning about who they buy from and who’s services they use, they will look to see how diverse the organisations they are buying from are
• Recruitment and retention of staff – people I speak to tell me that they are attracted to and more likely to remain working organisations who are investing in diversity initiatives such as employee networks and development opportunities.    They look for this prior to applying for jobs and use indexes such as the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index
• Some research suggests that staff who are happier at work and are more valued are more productive thereby increasing productivity and reducing costs. Happy staff also treat customers and clients with more respect