Diversity in the workplace makes business sense

New Zealand is a country blessed with an intricate social tapestry. And increasingly, the importance of our diverse makeup is being reflected in the workplace.

Diversity of culture, gender, abilities and sexuality is being recognised as making great business sense, as well as underpinning a fair and decent civil society.

A recent study undertaken by think tank the Boston Group investigated diversity and its link to the bottom line.

Over 1700 companies from eight countries took part; it was revealed that the companies with greater diversity in leadership earned 19 per cent higher revenue, due to the increased innovation.

Siobhan McKenna is the CEO of Global Women, a collaboration of New Zealand female leaders committed to promoting inclusion and diversity.

She says that workplace diversity makes sense for a number of reasons.

‘‘By reflecting the make-up of our society, it means we’re more in touch with our operating environment and our customers.

‘‘Diversity in the workplace is also necessary in attracting great talent as diversity and inclusion is now a fundamental part of the employee value proposition.’’

She says that having diversity at the decisionmaking tables makes it more likely for us to navigate the future successfully.

‘‘It’s the combination of perspectives that tends to unlock new thinking, providing us a new kind of ‘knowing’ to the perennial questions. Developing leadership of diverse backgrounds is key.’’

Unconscious bias plays a role in the hiring process, and like it or not, we all have it.

Being aware of this tendency makes it easier for us to understand our natural inclination towards what is familiar to us and helps us put in place strategies to mitigate this.

McKenna says ‘‘blind CVs’’ that remove candidate names and place of residence, and puts their skills and experience at the forefront of their application, can make a huge difference in this process.

Businesses who want to foster a culture of inclusivity need to start at the top.

Signals that are sent out by the boss around diversity will be remembered by team members and can become part of a company’s DNA.

‘‘If she [the boss] can role-model an authentic curiosity and willingness to listen and learn about ‘difference’, this will be picked up by the rest. Create occasions where difference is celebrated– foods, music and stories can be shared and of course, promoting diversity sends a strong message,’’ says McKenna.

But it’s also important to avoid tokenism, it won’t change things and will make ‘‘difference’’ stand out even more.

If all staff are to thrive, inclusion needs to be embedded within an organisation and nurtured with time and patience.

There is a perennial issue around the lack of women in leadership roles, in all forms of working life.

McKenna believes that some things are changing: New Zealand Champions for Change diversity report revealed that gender balance is changing at the board level of the companies who took part.

However, when it comes to management, women are still lagging behind their male counterparts.

‘‘New Zealand still has a way to go in the management levels, specifically with key management personnel and executive and general manager roles where women are significantly under-represented.’’

She goes on to say that it’s very rare to find women in CEO roles; only two of our listed companies have females at the top.

McKenna explains that internationally, the thinking is catching up with the facts and shareholders, investors and customers are starting to factor it into who they do business with.

‘‘Study after study shows women bring a powerful capability suite to the role, EQ and IQ, empathy and relationship dynamics, problem solving, creativity, integrity, authenticity. Basically, a range of traits and behaviours people want to follow.’’

We many have a way to go when it comes to genuine workplace diversity, but the likes of Champions for Change and Global Women are doing a lot to raise awareness.

Both of these organisations have resources that help guide business through the inclusion process, as well and regular events to help keep spreading the message.

In a country with one of the most diverse populations in the world (213 ethnicities are represented here) inclusion is essential.

And with, McKinsey Global Institute’s (an international management firm) research revealing the diverse businesses out-perform their peers by 33 per cent, it makes sense to prioritise diversity.

‘‘If she [the boss] can role-model an authentic curiosity and willingness to listen and learn about ‘difference’, this will be picked up by the rest. Create occasions where difference is celebrated–foods, music and stories can be shared and of course, promoting diversity sends a strong message.’’

Siobhan McKenna, CEO of Global Women.