Expanding diversity of thought in business

Darren Roos at IFS argues that diversity of thought is key to long-term business success

 

There is a growing volume of data available to businesses today showing that diverse organisations – whether neurodiverse, racially, gender or generationally diverse – perform better than their peers. Lorenzo and Reeves found companies with above-average diversity have higher innovation revenues, while McKinsey found executive gender and ethnic diversity correlate with profitability.

 

Whatever the exact figures, however, organisations that simply focus on diversity through the lens of entitlement and concentrate on getting the numbers for reporting are missing the point. It is not just about attracting talent from a wider pool but also leveraging those skills effectively within the team to drive organisational goals.

 

Premier League football clubs, for instance, don’t confine their choice of players to one country. They select from all over the world. That’s because they realise a wider group of players will contain a more valuable range of skillsets and experiences.

 

The same principle applies in business. When organisations build teams that are diverse, in age, gender or background, they build better teams.

 

Yet the benefit goes well beyond breadth of capability, it is also about diversity of thought. By this, I mean that there are many different ways to think about any topic or issue and the way each person interprets and interacts with the world will differ depending on their own unique identity, culture and personal experience. It is that difference that drives healthy debate and ultimately both creativity and innovation.

 

Businesses that encourage diversity of thought actively encourage people to contribute views that differ from the mainstream consensus. Employees feel more valued, (and listened to) while businesses benefit by getting a broader perspective on key issues.

 

Conversely, when businesses hire people from a similar background and with a similar upbringing, they tend not to get diversity of thought. Even those businesses that recruit more widely will struggle if they don’t actively encourage their diverse workforce to express their views.

 

The result will be a reinforcement of the sense of stagnation that characterises some boardrooms. Businesses will be less bold and more conservative. With a narrower range of viewpoints, they’ll remain locked into old ways of working.

 

 

The urgent challenge of gender diversity

So, given these challenges, how can organisations kick-start the process of tackling them and building balanced, diverse teams that are free to express their thoughts? While generational diversity, racial diversity, neurodiversity, and diversity of sexual orientation are major issues, one of the biggest imbalances in society today is around gender diversity.

 

Just 19% of UK employees think there is gender equality in their workplace, according to new research by technology giant Samsung. Moreover, workplace gender stereotypes are reportedly still widespread in the UK, with 44% of workers reporting that they still believe certain jobs are exclusively male or female.

 

There are still many sectors where few women are present in large numbers and those that are, struggle to get their voices heard. The technology sector is one example.

 

While tackling gender inequality has been on the agenda for many years, the progress is far too slow. Women simply aren’t entering technology jobs at the same rate as men. A report from TrustRadius found that 72% of women in tech report being outnumbered by men in business meetings by a ratio of at least 2:1.

 

As a result, the industry is lacking in positive role models which significantly contributes to the 56% of women who leave technology jobs mid-career – double the turnover rate for men. Losing the talents of a large proportion of the workforce in this way is unsustainable and contributing to skills shortages.

 

Clearly, technology roles need to be made more accessible for women and long-term career development opportunities need to be created, particularly as mothers are more likely to carry out childcare duties, and therefore require part-time or more flexible roles.

 

 

Greater diversity in the future

Currently too little is being done across society to solve these problems but there is much that can be improved. If businesses encourage and support female talent to take up leadership roles, they’ll create role models which will help inspire the next generation of female leaders. But companies should not be left thinking they are doing this in a vacuum. There has to be a wider societal focus.

 

Government must play a role in implementing policies that help empower women in the workplace, as well as promoting their equal representation. The Government’s recent report on Empowering Women at Work, published in March 2021 is a positive step forward here but there is much more to do and it starts with education.  

 

The Government also needs to be instrumental in shaping the approach to gender identity in state education. It can make a positive difference here by encouraging schools to start championing girls, from a young age, to dream big and provide them with education and resources that don’t limit their aspirations.

 

To tackle gender diversity in the workplace you have to start early and focus on tackling the stereotyping of young girls who are taught from an early age by society that they are different, and can’t be astronauts, firefighters or engineers etc.

 

If society can get the next generation of girls to grow into confident young women, believing they can be anything they want, we’ll see more women in space and in the boardroom, and if employers can support and encourage them down this path, we’ll see more diversity of thought in every business.

 

That’s key for the successful future both of businesses and the workforces that populate them.

 

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Darren Roos is chief executive officer at IFS

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com