The word diversity has been thrown around for quite some time. It is not just hiring people of diverse ethnicity and gender to give the illusory appearance of diversity. It is a socially responsible corporate thing to do. While some socially responsible companies get it, the vast majority of companies still linger in the purgatory of inaction. As a rather sensitive area of corporate social responsibility, it behooves accountable organizations to do the right thing.
If all the focus is on a company complying with all equal opportunity legislation…this is at best myopic. First, companies need to answer why diversity policies are good for business. Here’s why:
Diversity means fostering an environment of trust:
Anka Wittenburg, the Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at SAP, for whom I have a high level of respect said it best. “Diversity is also vitally important to ensure that our employees have an environment that allows them to work flexibly, in a caring and trusting environment, where respect for one another is the bottom line." This needs to be said as there are companies where in spite of diverse hiring practices, individuals routinely work in an environment where they feel a sense of discomfort and social detachment. The workplace along with religious places of worship are the best harbingers of social interaction.
Diversity means hiring competent individuals across the race and gender spectrum.
In an article published by the IrishTimes, Apple revealed its diversity numbers and CEO Tim Cook admitted that he was not happy with Apple’s diversity numbers. Many organizations do themselves goodwill harm by refusing to hire a diverse set of human capital. By specifically hiring individuals who are passionate and competent across the race, age and gender spectrum and leaders in their chosen field of influence, companies gain an advantage and position themselves to compete at a much higher level. The data is there. By doing so, they mine the collective creativity and intelligence of their diverse employees. The returns are huge.
Diversity means equal mentoring resources to diverse individuals in the organization.
When an organization promotes from within, many employees do not always benefit from these upward mobility moves. This is because they do not always benefit from equal mentoring opportunities. Training is not mentoring. Placing training materials on a corporate website is not mentoring. Equal opportunity does not always mean equal quality of access.
True diversity means promoting your products and services using actors and companies across the ethnicity and gender spectrum.
True diversity is not about ethnicity and gender but fairness. It's not even about hiring practices but operating your business above reproach and at such a high level that you as a corporation judge yourself before anyone else does and just simply do what's right for business and society as a whole.
Diversity means the possibility of economic mobility for all.
Social media though not a real panacea for true human interaction has revealed a veritable Pandora's box of social vacuums in business and society. Companies that covertly or openly refuse to diversify their hiring and business practices and promote a culture of dynamic inclusion are making deleterious business decisions.
Marc Guevara
