One of my starting points when working with an organisation on their Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) agenda is making sure that leaders are fully on board with what they are trying to do and why they are doing it.
As part of that, I will present the business case for change because most senior leaders like to think in numbers.
When presented in this way, D&I becomes measurable and tangible and therefore actionable. But does this approach still have value?
I was intrigued by a recent article in Harvard Business Review, by researchers Georgeac & Rattan who identified that 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies use the business case argument (it impacts the bottom line) to justify their focus on diversity.
In contrast, less than 5 percent use the fairness case (justified on moral grounds as the right thing to do), while the remainder offered no justification for valuing diversity.
So, it would appear that the business case focus is still very much in focus. But what impact does this have on an audience?
When the business case rhetoric was used to attract talent, the researchers identified that underrepresented talent were LESS likely to want to work for that organisation compared to when other rhetoric’s were used.
Further, participants felt that the company was less genuine in their commitment to diversity when the messaging were connected to the business case.
This suggests that using the business case for diversity could significantly dilute or even hinder the value of the employee proposition to potential talent. It suggests – we want diversity because we want to make more money from having you.
More positive results were found for those organisations who used the fairness rhetoric to attract talent, perhaps because their message suggests – we want to treat everyone fairly and create a culture of belonging for everyone.
What was particularly interesting was that companies who presented no justification for diversity had the best outcomes for attracting new talent. Perhaps their lack of focus on diversity suggested – we don’t need to justify ourselves because D&I is implicit in all that we do.
So, in answer to my initial question – does this approach still have value? I believe yes, depending on the audience you are speaking to.
My gut feeling is that there is still value in introducing the business case, particularly when getting initial buy-in. I believe that it can still be a strong piece of evidence to influence others who are less familiar with the benefits of D&I.
However, what’s important for potential talent is culture and whether an organisation has a sense of belonging.
Therefore, organisations should articulate their commitment to D&I as part of their employee value proposition, but from a fairness perspective – we do this because it is the right thing to do.
This strongly links in with the employee engagement research which finds that fair and equitable organisational practices bring about happy, productive, innovative, and engaged workforce. It’s a win-win for everyone.
Going forward, I will certainly be more conscious about presenting the fairness case as this is a D&I differentiator.
I believe that one day we won’t even need to mention it because it will be implicit in all that we do. For now, let’s ensure we embed fair and equitable practices and foster that culture of belonging for all.
Sarah Christensen is CEO of Christensen Consultancy
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