Part 7 of a 7-Part Series
Change Culture to enable real progress
Many years ago, when same-sex benefits were finally given to LGBTQ+ partners, I remember HR leaders coming up and saying that their work was done. I just shook my head and had to explain that no their work wasn’t done; they had only changed a policy. They hadn’t changed anything within their culture, and they hadn’t made it safe for LGBTQ+ employees to come out of the closet. They hadn’t trained leaders on what to do when an employee comes out. They hadn’t stopped making it acceptable for homophobic or racial slurs or derogatory comments at team meetings and town halls. It was still unsafe for LGBTQ+ people to come out without it being career limiting.
Inclusion enables companies to be more diverse
Prompta is a proudly certified LGBTBE diverse company, we went through this DEI culture change in 2015 and continue to grow and evolve from within, and we still have work to do on our journey. We pride ourselves on supporting companies to become more diverse, equitable and inclusive organizations and successfully go through transformational change. We know from experience that the more inclusive and equitable an organization becomes, the more diverse it will become. Equity and inclusion pave the way to diversity.
Companies have changed, but they haven’t gone far enough. They’ve got more work and heavy lifting to do. It’s critically important that we all work together and make change happen. Now’s the time for your employees to be judged by their character and realize their full potential.
Diversity, equity, and Inclusion is a huge competitive advantage
Are you the Leader who will grow
your business through DEI?
DEI culture change provides for incredible competitive advantages. Even just beginning to make inroads with gender diversity can make a big difference in company performance. “Higher representation of women in C-suite level positions results in 34% greater returns to shareholders” according to Fast Company and also “Organizations with above-average gender diversity and levels of employee engagement outperform companies with below-average diversity and engagement by 46% to 58%”. Diverse, equitable and inclusive organizations are more profitable, have better customer service and much better growth trajectories. DEI allows for more creativity, where everybody feels like they have a voice that leads to more effective problem solving and better decision making. A recent study by McKinsey highlights that “Racial and ethnically-diverse companies are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians and Gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to outperform their national industry median.”
Organizations with strong DEI cultures have better employee retention and engagement. From a recent Gallup study, highly engaged business units result in 21% greater profitability, realized a 41% reduction in absenteeism, saw an overall 17% increase in productivity, achieved a 10% increase in customer ratings and a 20% increase in sales. According to Deloitte, “83% of millennials more actively engaged when they believe they’re in an inclusive culture.” Within inclusive cultures, employees are more involved, more enthusiastic, and more focused on collaboration, both internally and externally. It’s time that every company starts to invest the time, energy and capital to transform; only then will we be diverse, inclusive and equitable, and move forward into a more just and better society.
“Are you the Leader who will grow your business through DEI culture change?
We hope you have enjoyed our 7-part DEI blog series and have found it helpful as you begin or re-examine your companies DEI culture change journey. If you have enjoyed it, please share it with others that can also start to make change a difference within their businesses and communities.
Here’s what Prompta is doing to change the DEI cultural corporate landscape.
