A report from the Boston Consulting Group has revealed that almost half of UK workers say their employer has failed to make any progress on D&I in the past three years. The research also revealed one cost of ignoring D&I is that people who do not believe their company is committed to diversity are three times more likely to leave their job in the next three years than those who do.
“What this report makes clear is that anyone connected to an organisation in any capacity wants to hear how their employer feels about D&I and what they’re doing about it,’ says Sarah Kaiser, employee experience, Diversity & Include lead at Fujitsu EMEIA. “The time has passed for apologising, organisations need to urgently take action and ensure they are facilitating an entirely diverse and inclusive workforce.
“It is only by engaging a diverse array of people in business that we can hope to protect the future competitiveness of the UK economy,” she adds, “and from enhancing agility to innovation and customer relationships, Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) programmes are crucial for improving business performance, continued growth and success. After all, when we get D&I right, everyone – from individuals and teams to the broader business – benefits. And in a progressively diverse and digital world, if we fail to foster a whole group of talent properly it will prevent the UK from seeing a prosperous economy.”
Sheila Flavell, Chair of the Institute of Coding’s Industry Advisory Board and Chief Operating Officer at FDM Group says: “It’s encouraging to see that employees recognise the benefits of diversity in the workplace and these findings should inspire business leaders to do more in this area. “The first step forward is for companies to view diversity as a business strategy and not a HR tick-box exercise,” she says. “Bringing together a workforce from different cultures and backgrounds not only creates a more dynamic working environment, it strengthens company morale and boosts productivity. A key aspect of this approach should be tackling pay gaps in terms of ethnicity and gender, two all too common issues that send the wrong signal to prospective and existing employees. It’s not about favouritism, it’s about creating a level playing field for every staff member, whatever their background.”
Don’t forget to register FREE to attend The Global Recruiter’s UK Summit on Diversity, March 6th, London: https://www.theglobalrecruiter.com/summit-2019/
