Why Are Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace Important?

It was May 2020, millions of people in the U.S. took to the streets to demand justice and police accountability in Black Lives Matter protests after George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. The story made the headlines around the nation, from small town TV stations and papers in Pennsylvania to the LA Times and the New York Times, and spread out rapidly across national borders, gaining international attention in over 60 countries. People worldwide were flooding social media with posts and stories to support the protests. George Floyd’s killing not only triggered a wave of activism around the world but also gave the Black community in the U.S.—inspiring many others outside the country to follow their example—the opportunity to be vocal about continued racial inequalities and loudly share their personal race-related experiences.

My own experience of race-related issues growing up in a white, middle class family in southern Spain was limited. I have always been surrounded by white people with similar socioeconomic backgrounds. Racial and ethnic diversity wasn’t part of my vocabulary. It was only in my twenties, when I moved to Paris to work in a high school in the suburbs, that I started my journey of self-education. While teaching Spanish to a very diverse group of students—including children of African immigrants, others born into dysfunctional families, teenagers who suffered mistreatment and lived with very limited resources, girls who were discriminated against because of their religions and beliefs and more—and getting to know their stories made me realize my reality as a white woman was very different from theirs. I learned inequalities have a disproportionate impact on people of color and other marginalized groups and gained perspective on the challenges they have to face every day.

Many years later, I moved to London to work for a U.S. tech start-up. Joining a predominantly female workforce was already a big change towards gender diversity—and a step forward in my self-education—compared to my former company where I was the only woman in a white male club and with—what I found out, later on, would be now considered—a culture of toxic masculinity. Since then, I have seen real progress in the Diversity and Inclusion (also known as D&I) field at this company and a conscious effort from HR and leadership teams to continue to drive the diversity agenda forward, through programs, policies and company-wide roll-out trainings. I, personally, join the unconscious bias training session every year and take every opportunity to educate myself, celebrate diversity and champion people from all over the world to be their true selves. However, it was clearly not enough.

I made this realization when the Black Lives Matter movement arrived in the UK in summer 2020. I was quite shocked to read so many horrible situations from my friends and peers. I cringed when I knew what Black people and other people of color have to go through daily. The truth was more complicated than I thought and, sadly, I had no idea it was this bad. My friend Joesy Anacoura, UK senior Partnership Manager at ManoMano, told me it can take longer for sellers to take her seriously than her white counterparts.

“I have noticed other colleagues being mistreated and them having to experience inner conflict, having someone there to reassure them that it was not their fault, someone who is not directly impacted but can relate to the situation helps them define their next steps and offer support,” said Anacoura

I felt disappointed in myself. I should have been more aware of my friends and coworkers’ daily fights against systematic racism, which manifests everywhere, from individual thoughts to public institutions and private organisations. Racism exists across all levels of our society including, education, housing, wealth, workforce representation and more. And despite my best intentions to be supportive and learn, posting a black square on social media or not being racist was simply not enough. I needed to actively join the fight against it.

I didn’t want to feel this way again. I knew I could do better and push further outside of my comfort zone. I also realized this wasn’t about me, no matter how angry I felt and how strong my feelings were. My role wasn’t to be a spokesperson for Black people as I won't be able to understand their concerns as they do, but I could be a better ally. I could use my white privilege to make change and educate myself and others in the community by learning more about different cultures, races, ethnicities, and religions I don’t identify with. Furthermore, I could work towards equity for all people and strive against racism and other inequalities, in both my personal and professional life.

That is why I didn't hesitate to join the Diversity and Inclusion group of my workplace at the early stages of its creation in October 2020. A D&I group is a shared space for individual growth and learning, with a mission and—most importantly for me—a commitment to embrace and accept cultural diversity and differences while celebrating what makes each of us different and unique. I couldn’t find a better place to be and continue my journey through self-education and awareness, nor to drive effective change.

Research provides new insight into how employers understand D&I and its essential role in bringing meaningful change and how it also makes perfect business sense. According to the third report from McKinsey released in May 2020, “Diversity wins: How inclusion matters ”—a study which investigates the business case for diversity—organizations that work on diversity and inclusion are more innovative and productive, which results in a higher market share and greater customer loyalty. On the employee’s side, a diverse and inclusive workforce leads to more commitment and better satisfaction from their employees, and therefore better retention.

The same study from McKinsey shows that while some companies have made significant improvements in their journey to a more equitable, diverse and inclusive in both workforce and workplace, they still represent a small percentage of businesses. Progress overall is still slow and there is a long way to go before true diversity and inclusion policies are in place across all levels. But before immersing ourselves in this topic and looking into how companies are doing in this area, let us start from the beginning and learn the basics.

When I decided to learn more about diversity and inclusion, I had to do some research about these two concepts to understand what they mean and how they work together. Though diversity and inclusion are two different but interconnected terms, they are often considered the same thing, and some companies misinterpret that striving for a more diverse workforce would automatically make their company a more inclusive place.

In short, diversity would be the what and inclusion the how. More specifically, Catalina Colman, director of HR and inclusion at Built In—a U.S. online community for startups and tech companies—said, “Diversity is the presence of differences within a given setting.” This includes, but is not limited to, race and ethnicity, age, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, religion, disability, sexual orientation, language, education, national origin, marital status, whether or not you have kids, physical and mental abilities and more. These are all components of diversity.

Inclusion, on the other hand, aims to build a welcoming environment that embraces differences and empowers people by respecting and appreciating their diverse talent. “It is the practice of ensuring that people feel a sense of belonging in the workplace. This means that every employee feels comfortable and supported by the organization when it comes to being their authentic selves,” Colman said.

Another concept that comes into this equation is equity. Although I prefer to focus on the previous two, I would like to briefly explain what equity means in the workplace. According to Colman, equity is the process of ensuring that processes and policies are impartial and fair and provide equal possible outcomes for every individual. Once a company has a diverse and inclusive workplace, employers need to ensure that employees feel included and get equity. That means they not only have a job, but they have the same ability to get promoted and to contribute and have the same impact in the workplace as their coworkers do.

Now we know what diversity and inclusion mean, why is the business case for diversity and inclusion stronger than ever? The past two years, unlike any others, with an ongoing pandemic and the rise of anti-racist protests globally, have created new challenges for organizations and have driven a significant shift in the workplace in terms of D&I. Looking at the responses of over 5,000 employees in the Lenovo and Intel joint survey “Diversity + Inclusion in the Global Workplace ” on the evolving role of diversity and inclusion within the workplace, we see that Diversity and Inclusion are no longer just a “nice to have”. The new generation entering the workforce want to join companies with values they can identify with. Having a diverse and inclusive culture is now a key differentiator to attract and retain talent. Therefore, Diversity and Inclusion should become a key element of people services’ operations and leadership teams’ agendas.

Listening to Rachael Wilson in reWorked—the diversity and inclusion podcast —I got a clear overview of what 2020 meant in terms of D&I in the workplace and what pushed companies to do better and take action to build more inclusive and diverse work cultures. George Floyd’s killing was, once again, a huge moment for business reflection and made ground for business change across all levels. Wilson explains how consultancies specializing in diversity and inclusion saw an explosion in demand as this event inspired many companies to review, redefine and test their response to the Black Lives Matter movement. It was no longer enough for organizations to make a public statement about diversity or a quick revision of their company values and missions to give an air of inclusivity. They finally understood that the efforts needed to focus on taking action.

However, the pandemic also forced many businesses to look carefully at their budgets and reconsider where to allocate their funds. The McKinsey & Co study shows that 27% of reported organizations put their D&I initiatives on hold in an effort to decrease expenses during the pandemic. That is because many companies still perceive Diversity and Inclusion programs as expensive and not a business priority. Unfortunately, on top of this, working from home schemes have created new challenges for companies in maintaining diversity and inclusion policies. Fostering a feeling of belonging and building connection between employees, especially with those who do not have a good internal network, (e.g., new joiners) make it difficult. A similar struggle is facing female employees who have to take care of work and the household and family responsibilities. My peer Leslie Poortman, Senior Sales Representative at Houzz, told me that working in a company with so many women in upper management showed her how very understanding leadership can be in a successful and high-achieving company as it pertains to work-from-home environments for mothers.

“In the past, I have worked in environments that did not care if you had these types of home responsibilities and as a result, the stress related to juggling parenting and working to my best ability have instead been competing factors,” said Poortman

Despite these challenges, the associated benefits of spending on building a strong D&I program cannot be ignored. Companies need to understand that diversity and inclusion initiatives are a must, not a luxury. According to the “Diversity wins” report from McKinsey, businesses with a diverse and inclusive workforce are more likely to overcome the crisis successfully. Contrary to some businesses’ understanding, the same study reports that reducing investments in D&I could also mean throwing away performance gains. To this point, research reveals that the most diverse companies are now more likely than ever to outperform non-diverse companies on profitability, with a substantial performance differential of 48% between the most and least gender-diverse companies. And the outperformance difference is even higher if we focus on ethnicity. Companies in top quartile with ethnic and cultural diversity, outperformed those in the fourth by 36% in terms of profitability in 2019.

Furthermore, research shows that a company that prioritizes building a diverse and inclusive workforce is in a stronger position to attract and retain new talent. In fact, according to talent acquisition platform Glassdoor, 67% of job seekers said a diverse workforce was important when considering job offers. This is actually the number one priority for Charles Gary, Talent Acquisition Manager at LinkedIn, whose job is attracting and onboarding new talent. Gary explains that there is nothing that he loves more than to welcome a diverse group of individuals.

“I have felt that inclusion and belonging and I want to share that with others,” Gary said

A diverse workforce also leads to more innovation and better problem-solving. According to Josh Bersin, a global research analyst on corporate talent, diverse and inclusive companies are nearly two times more likely to be change-ready and 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders in their market. Vishi Prakash, People Services Partner, APAC at Houzz, aligns with the idea that investing in attracting and engaging a highly diverse workforce and cultivating a work culture which effectively promotes inclusivity and equity at all levels are key components required for any company that looks for sustainable long term business performance.

“It impacts morale, engagement, and also impacts the relationships we form at work. Being part of the People Services team, I want employees to feel safe and supported in the workplace and D&I is very much part of that,” said Prakash.

Now is the time for companies to take action and put their organisations on the right path towards a diverse and inclusive workplace, but where should companies begin? Consultancies specializing in Diversity and Inclusion recommend to start focusing on three key aspects. First, businesses need to deep dive into the data, review their current policies and programs. Data would give them an overview of where and how they could start making a difference. D&I audits help to understand how far a company is from meeting diversity standards and help them to challenge the existing programs and policies in place. Secondly, experts recommend to work with senior leaders and managers as they are key in driving the diversity agenda forward successfully. And finally, employers need to work closely with their people services teams to create a comprehensive training program that provides all employees with the right tools and education (e.g., understanding unconscious bias and how to mitigate it would allow employees to build an inclusive future), D&I consultants said.

The key is to go from awareness to action. If after reading this article, you would like to educate yourself and do more, a great place to start is to do your own research. Listen to voices that are different from you and engage with diverse communities. Take the time to expose and educate yourself, to work on becoming more sensitive and foster diversity and inclusion around you in both your personal and professional lives. It is only when we understand the pivotal role we all play in creating an inclusive society, that we are able to take action and help to build a more equitable, diverse and inclusive workplace and world for everyone.

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