Diversity and Inclusion may be a “no-brainer”, yet the fact remains that there is so much more to be done (According to US government estimates alone, Person of color as chief executives make up only 0.8% of the Fortune 500, despite African Americans representing 13.4% of the population). Also see, our work and committed efforts to improve D&I here.
Empirical Research have validated that well managed diverse teams significantly outperform less diverse (well managed) ones over time. How & Why ?? The well managed diverse teams have a broader spread of knowledge and skills; are more efficient at identifying and solving problems; eventually gain a competitive edge in accessing new markets and higher market share. Organizations leading their geography and industry for diversity & inclusion, equity and organizational belonging perform better than their market average across a wide range of key performance metrics. Their rate of innovation, for example, is up to 20% higher.
These studies also validate that diverse management teams:
- are 33% more likely to generate better-than-average profits;
- are 70% more likely to capture new markets; and
- generate 19% more revenue from innovation than companies with below-average leadership diversity.
Yet, in spite of overwhelming data & evidence that diverse companies & teams are more productive, innovative and perform better financially, the lack of progress is simply unexplainable & also ridiculous.
Being said that, moving the needle on D&I needs deeper deliberation & ecosystem readiness, in addition to strong commitment. Like any critical business area, Diversity and Inclusion must be approached with scientific and analytical rigor. Leaders’ decisions and actions must be informed by data, analytics and verifiable research; only then can organizations achieve measurable progress in addressing complex D&I challenges and opportunities.
How Diversity and Inclusion Capability Maturity Index helps Leaders & Organizations build holistic high performance workplaces?
To enable organizations understand, objectively & measure where they are in their journey & chart the road ahead, The Diversity and Inclusion Capability Maturity Index serves this purpose by gauging organizational efforts across 5 key dimensions, namely, Compliance, Awareness, Talent Embeddedness, Business Embeddedness, Customer Embeddedness; the benchmarks that must be met within each dimension; and the behavioral and structural system level changes that are required to make Diversity and Inclusion achievements sustainable.
Spread across 5 maturity levels, each of these five dimensions contains behavioral and structural system inclusion elements. While Behavioral-inclusion initiatives measure the degree of inclusive mindsets, skill sets and relationships. Structural-inclusion initiatives measure the degree of equitable and transparent structures, processes and practices that work for all employees and customers.
How does the index work?? Within each of these dimensions, progress is plotted for both structural and behavioral initiatives from basic to progressing to advanced to leading edge. At the basic level, the D&I initiatives proliferated within a single department or function, whereas, at the D&I Champion level, the initiatives are fully embraced by the workforce, management team, in addition to it being rigorously practiced as organizational dna.
The Index enables Organizations & Leaders with the following:
- Ascertain the current maturity stage of existing D&I effectiveness – At Aggregate level & Individual Level (Compliance, Awareness, Talent Embeddedness, Business Embeddedness, Customer Embeddedness)
- Ascertain the capability maturity path for upward progression to next level (at Aggregate Level & at Individual Element Level)
- Determination of ‘end state’ D&I strategy, basis the organizational context, growth goals, talent target groups & industry competitiveness
- Optimal D&I Strategy for the current stage
- Post D&I Capability Maturity determination, included herewith, is a step by step guide to creation & implementation of robust D&I for your organization
To summarize, Diversity and Inclusion is no longer a matter of regulatory compliance or affirmative & social justice, it’s wholesomely a business-performance paradigm. Organizations that lag behind in giving this paradigm, appropriate attention & commitment will find it more difficult to attract high quality talent, build heterogenous high performance teams, break into new markets, innovate and build a compelling differentiation & complete experience among employees, customer, and outside stakeholders.
Take The Diversity and Inclusion Capability Maturity Index, to evaluate (& refine) D&I Effectiveness & build strong differentiation of holistic & complete high performance workplace resonating it deeply with the workforce, is meaningful and delivers a complete employee experience.
