6 Statistics That Will Convince You to Prioritize Diversity & Inclusion

If you’ve been following the HR world for the past few years, you may have heard a thing or two about diversity and inclusion. Whether it’s through big pieces in the press, blog posts that go viral, or keynote speeches at every conference you attend, these topics have been trending in a big way. And it makes sense: Forward-thinking company leaders believe that their organization’s composition should reflect the diversity of their customers and the world at large. This is why it’s become increasingly common for companies to establish Diversity & Inclusion teams, to tie diversity goal in with executives’ KPIs, and even to hire Chief Diversity Officers.

But not all companies are there just yet. Perhaps you believe that diversity and inclusion should be priorities but you need executive buy-in to make any sort of progress. Or maybe your execs are interested but don’t know how to balance diversity efforts among all the other items on their to-do lists. And that’s why we put together this list of statistics: to help you see the business benefits of building a diverse and inclusive organization and give you the info you need to prove your point. You’ll see that apart from just being the right thing to do, prioritizing diversity and inclusion can positively impact your company in a number of ways, from attracting new hires to establishing your presence in new markets.

We encourage you to share these numbers with your coworkers and your leadership team to help them see the value of making diversity a priority.

1. 67% of candidates want to join a diverse team

Are you making any hires in the near future? If so, it’s worthwhile to think about how you can showcase your commitment to diversity to your candidates. According to research from Glassdoor, 67% percent of job seekers said that a diverse workforce is an important factor to them when considering companies and job offers.

2. 57% of employees want to prioritize diversity

Diversity isn’t just something that matters to your potential employees—current employees care about this as well! Prioritizing diversity and sharing these efforts with your employees may also be key retention strategies since 57% of employees want their company to do more to increase diversity.

3. Inclusive companies enjoy 2.3x higher cash flow

What company doesn’t want more money? Research from Josh Bersin shows that more inclusive companies have a 2.3x higher cash flow per employee over a 3-year period. And this is just one metric that Bersin identified as indicative of a “high-performing company” that tied in with a more inclusive workforce. In fact, Bersin identifies an embedded approach to diversity and inclusion to be a top “magic practice” that separates top-performing companies from their lower-performing peers.

4. 35% of diverse companies outperform homogeneous ones

When it comes to financial performance above the national industry median, diversity is clearly a competitive advantage. Research from McKinsey shows that the most ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to outperform the least ethnically diverse companies. In an excerpt from their Diversity Matters report, they write, “More diverse companies, we believe, are better able to win top talent and improve their customer orientation, employee satisfaction, and decision making, and all that leads to a virtuous cycle of increasing returns.”

5. 1.7x more likely to be innovation leaders

If your company prizes innovation, having an inclusive workforce is a non-negotiable. Josh Bersin found that inclusive companies are 1.7x more likely to be innovation leaders in their market.

6. 70% more likely to capture new markets

As your business grows, capturing new markets will become increasingly important. Harvard Business Review reports that diverse companies are 70% more likely to report that the firm captured a new market.


 

By now you can see that diversity and inclusion have the potential to make a big impact on your business. We hope these stats have convinced you (and the rest of your team) that it’s well worth the effort to prioritize diversity.

But what comes next? One of the most obvious places to start is with your recruiting strategy. Regardless of where you are today, you can make a commitment to sourcing, interviewing, and hiring diverse candidates and gradually changing the composition of your workforce moving forward.

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