Pride 2019: A Culture of Equality Drives a Culture of Innovation

Pride season is always an occasion for us to recognize the efforts Accenture takes to encourage a culture of equality—and now, increasingly, how equality can power innovation.

What’s unique this year about Pride, is that it marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising in 1969 in New York. And World Pride will be celebrated for the first time in the US, in New York, where much of the human rights movement for the LGBTQ community began.

When I reflect on how far this community has come, I am proud. There is still much work to be done for us all to get to equal, but I’m confident we can get there together. One way to do that is realizing the power diversity brings to driving innovation for businesses.

As we saw in February, Accenture’s annual research, “Getting to Equal 2019,” explores how a culture of equality drives innovation. Our research shows that the same kind of workplace environment that helps everyone advance to higher positions is a powerful multiplier of innovation and growth for the LGBTQ community.

The Getting to Equal 2019 research is based on a survey of more than 18,000 employees in 27 countries; a survey of more than 150 C-level executives in eight countries; and a model that measures the relationship between workplace culture and all employees’ innovation mindset.

The findings show that LGBTQ employees are more able and willing to innovate in equal workplace cultures when compared with less equal environments. Additionally, diversity and workplace culture have a magnified impact on the innovation mindset of LBGTQ employees when compared with all employees.

The research found that in the most equal and diverse workplace cultures, an LGBTQ employee’s innovation mindset is 20 times greater than in the least equal and diverse workplace cultures (in the case of all employees, their innovation mindset is 11 times greater).

A road map to unleashing innovation

How can a culture of equality be built where LGBTQ employees can thrive and create? 

First, companies must develop an inclusion and diversity (I&D) strategy that is aligned with the overall business plan. An I&D strategy forms a critical foundation for leaders to act and drive progress.

From there, we’ve identified three broad recommendations to help companies focus their efforts:

1.  Empowering Environment + Purpose + Autonomy Training, greater flexibility, and commitment to work-life balance are the most powerful drivers of an innovation mindset.
2.  Bold Leadership + Experimentation + Resources Culture starts at the top. Setting and publishing diversity targets, holding the leadership team accountable, and measuring progress are critical steps. Leaders must give LGBTQ employees the resources they need to innovate and the freedom to fail.
3. Comprehensive Action + Inspiration + Collaboration Forward-looking policies and practices are important, but they must also be evenly accessible to ensure that individuals or groups don’t feel singled out or held back. When LGBTQ employees are inspired by those inside and outside the organization, their commitment, to living the company’s core values and to collaborating with one another, grows.

The opportunity for us all

The opportunity for us all is enormous. Accenture calculates that global gross domestic product would increase by up to US$8 trillion over 10 years if the innovation mindset in all countries increased 10 percent. It’s an exciting possibility.

We can all be proud of Accenture’s unwavering commitment to furthering equality and look forward to seeing the innovation this unleashes within our LGBTQ community. I also look forward to all the events happening around the world during Pride season and invite everyone to join the celebrations.

 Now it’s your turn. Tell me how your organization is celebrating Pride season, so we can all encourage a culture of equality to drive innovation together.

Andrew

You can follow me on Twitter at @andrewxwilson. 

Andrew Wilson is the chief information officer at Accenture. 

Getting to Equal Research: Creating a culture of equality in the workplace