Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) has rocketed up the business agenda in recent years. In part because having a diverse workforce, in a world that is making baby steps towards properly safeguarding diversity, is a quick branding win for employers looking to make gains in a competitive employment market. (Consider that for Millennials, working for an employer who is socially-minded, with diversity an important part of this, is one of the most important factors when choosing where to work).
There’s also the business argument. Although it would be nice to live in a world where diversity was celebrated for its own sake – because heterogeneity is important and because erasure and victimisation of minority and less powerful voices is inherently a bad thing – it’s at least a start that organisations increasingly see diversity as a boon to business (and perhaps, although not ideal, that will spark better understanding of the minority and sidelined groups that we are referring to when using the catch-all phrase ‘diversity’).
Yet whilst a plethora of studies linking better diversity, in all senses of the term, with increased organisational competitiveness, creativity, trustworthiness and financial stability stack up, HR can sometimes struggle to implement or make the business argument for D&I schemes. This is what this issue seeks to do. To help, there’s an exclusive longform interview with Twitter’s EMEA HR Lead, which includes notes on how to implement diversity programmes via digital means, a look at what different firms are doing to properly implement inclusivity in their firms, and a deep dive to help you make the business argument for D&I.
As ever, I hope you are safe and this edition proves both useful and enjoyable.
