O
Catalyst | On Topic
“The least diverse companies, in terms of
both gender and ethnicity, are 29% more
likely to be less profitable”
“to work together and build a more
balanced industry”.
Included in the commitments
was a pledge for one member of the
company’s senior executive team to
become accountable for gender D&I.
The charter recognised that a
balanced workforce was becoming
“increasingly attractive for investors”
– an indication not only that the dial
was moving on attitudes to gender
parity, but also of the recognition
that a financial services organisation
that employed only men would be
less profitable. More than 330 firms
from across the world have signed up
to the charter.
The bottom line
The business argument is
straightforward: an organisation
will make more money if it is more
diverse. Suki Sandhu, CEO of
executive search firm Audeliss, says:
“it has been proven that the least
diverse companies, in terms of both
gender and ethnicity, are 29% more
likely to be less profitable.”
He suggests that this argument
is a powerful bargaining tool when
trying to persuade employers in
more conservative countries, such as
India and Brunei, not to discriminate
against prospective employees. As
Kate Lanz, neuropsychologist and
CEO of artificial intelligence auditing
company Mindbridge, says: “Business
cultures that make it easier for people
to stand up, stand out and be who they
are – whether it’s diversity in gender
or sexuality – are winning.”
As Frost discovered, however, even
some successes can be hollow if you
examine them a little more closely.
Looking at companies that had won
awards for their work around gender
balance and correlating this with
their gender pay gaps, Frost Included
revealed that there was a positive
correlation at play. In other words, at
some companies lauded for its work
around gender, he noted significant
gender pay disparities. Frost calls this
kind of PR ‘pinkwashing’: making it
look as though you are ticking all the
correct boxes when in fact you are as
guilty of bias as anyone else.
There is still work to be done in
a number of areas. For all Frost’s
optimism about the advances
made around gender and sexuality
discrimination, he points out that
progress around race and disability
have been less encouraging.
Salima Shariff, head of talent
acquisition at Anglo American,
reports feeling a sense of déjà vu
(from 20 years ago) in terms of the
conversations organisations seem
to be having around D&I, while
her organisation’s head of D&I, Liz
Douglas, asserts that, while everyone
now understands the business
argument for D&I, leaders now need
to make “the emotional connection”
in order to effect significant change.
Shariff agrees, saying that, by setting
the tone from the top, those at a senior
level can help their organisations
to become “trailblazers”, leaving a
lasting legacy around D&I.
But how can organisations achieve
this in practical terms?
Positive case studies
For guidance and inspiration, it
is useful to consider some of the
companies that have a positive track
record in achieving D&I successfully.
There are plenty of case studies
as these organisations tend to talk
publicly about their progress.
For example, Sandhu believes that
US corporations such as Deloitte are
leading the way in terms of offering
shared parental leave and family-
friendly policies to employees, to
help them manage the transition into
parenthood.
Frost adds that the Wellcome
Trust is doing great work funding
research into the causes of inequality
within science, while the Bank of
England should be commended for
its sponsorship programme intended
to help black and minority ethnic
(BAME) and female staff progress
Issue 3 - 2019
47