Positive work culture is one where all employees feel trusted, valued and heard. Companies with a diverse mix of employees across genders, educational backgrounds and age ensure an inclusive and productive workforce. A workplace culture of equal opportunities stands out and attracts the best talents, who when provided a platform to showcase their talent gives their best and prove to be highly productive for the organization. A diverse workforce adds up to 19per cent more to the revenues of the organization.
A recent survey conducted by Boston Consulting Group across countries and sectors analyzed how various aspects of diversity in the leadership and managerial levels lead to improved innovation and better financial performance:
Inclusion in organizations means a serious commitment to implementing fundamental changes in the organizational structure and workplace culture. Only by leveraging the different best talents, a positive team dynamic and workplace policy can be established one which delivers on the promise of diversity and inclusion.
Special Programs Initiated by Corporate
Many organizations are coming up with special programs to welcome back women employees after a sabbatical or a maternity break. According to the 2018 Working Mother & AVTAR Best Companies for Women survey/study, 51per cent of the 100 best companies have similar formal programs to bring women back to work, wherein 9per cent of all female hired are women who are resuming their careers after a gap.
A lot of unions/groups have also merged in the past decade and they effectively look at ensuring higher standards of diversity within organizations. Women Who Code, created in 2011 is an international non-profit organization and provides services for women pursuing careers in technology and coding. Of its 80,000 women techies, Women Who Codes has 50per cent engineers, 8per cent executives, 7per cent management, 5per cent data science, 4per cent design and the rest 26per cent in other tech roles.
Tata SCIP (Second Careers. Inspiring Possibilities) is an initiative by the TATA Sons to enable women who are resuming work after a break and returning back to the corporate world. TATA SCIP offers a plethora of career options to the women workforce to choose from.
Uber is another organization who is committed to the policy of a diverse workforce. According to a workforce study submitted by Uber, 15per cent of technical hiring is women and 11per cent of technical leadership positions in the company being held by women. Overall 38per cent women make part of the workforce with 22per cent holding leadership positions in the company.
Similarly, Amazon Rekindle program aims to provide women with a launch pad to leverage opportunities and reintegrate themselves back into their corporate career. Genpact Career 2.0 which is a social media exclusive company has hired more than 90 women employees till date and aims to continue its efforts towards integrating more diversity led policies in their system.
Organizations need to be more decisive and treat diversity as a priority and let equality take precedence in workplace culture. Statistics have shown that over the last 10 years, women-led firms with revenue of $10 million or more have grown by 56.6per cent, the rate of growth is 47per cent faster than that of any firm of similar revenues. Inclusion and diversity need to be a growth strategy and not just meeting targets to have a percentage of women in a particular function. Irrespective of functions and career levels, conscious inclusion must happen. As Theresa J Whitmarsh said “If you exclude 50per cent of the talent pool, it’s no wonder you find yourself in a war for talent. “
By Ajay Shah
Source: Entrepreneur
At a recent training I was facilitating, I invited people to ask me anything anonymously using polling technology. While the questions always give me great insight into where people are struggling with issues of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), this question seemed more universal: “What do I do if my manager is not inclusive?”
Our society’s tendency to look to men for expertise is one of the things that holds women back in our careers. But we can all help give women’s knowledge and accomplishments greater visibility, which will cause people of all genders to view women as experts and turn to women for expertise more.
Right now, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are under growing scrutiny. Some companies are pulling back from DEI initiatives amid nervousness around shareholder activism and possible investor or customer pushback. Highlighting the benefits of DEI to an organization’s performance and the wellbeing of employees is the best way to address this negativity.
