ICYMI: Companies are trying to save DEI from Trump. But can they save DEI from itself?

More than ticking boxes…:

…To that point, there’s a wide body of research that suggests companies with a diverse work force and diverse leadership teams perform better than those that are less so. 

McKinsey & Co., among the leaders in quantifying the effects of diversity on performance, suggests the business case for diversity is getting stronger. The consultancy says companies with ethnic and gender diversity on executive teams are 39-per-cent more likely to outperform peer companies than a decade ago.

Those companies benefit from a wide variety of pluses diversity brings – new and different ways of looking at things, solving problems and serving customers; the richness of a culture that doesn’t simply incorporate diversity but embeds it and reflects it in the products and services it sells. 

If you’ve worked in a global company that does business across multiple cultures, languages and political frameworks, diversity is table stakes. If you don’t have leadership and a work force that understand and can deliver to a global customer base you won’t survive.

But creating a truly diverse culture is easier said than done. Many companies have had trouble building internal mechanisms that make diversity a performance-driver. 

One of the most common shortfalls: Companies focus on the recruiting part of diversity but fail to create the internal structures necessary to train, develop and acclimatize these new hires. 

The streets of Corporate America are littered with a talented, diverse range ofcandidates who were recruited to show a commitment to DEI, but failed because companies didn’t create what HR types call a culture of success to support them….

Source: Companies are trying to save DEI from Trump. But can they save DEI from itself?