Panel, Roundtable
Creating a Positive Work Culture: Diversity, Inclusion and Teamwork
- Material expectations predict that external factors, including violence, election results, Brexit, and the Trump presidency, will reinforce the need for unity and diversity, while socioeconomic rifts in Europe and America will drive a focus on class and economic diversity.
- Future business arguments will pivot to proving that open, diverse societies improve innovation, productivity, and the bottom line, with the U.S. technology sector anticipated to lead the fastest transformation due to public reporting pressure on executives.
- Corporate strategy will increasingly integrate diversity data into business models tied to customer centricity rather than treating it as a standalone HR metric, particularly as institutional clients demand specific inquiries regarding Latino women and career development.
- Demographic shifts are expected to see 70% of global assets under management held by millennials and women within the next two decades, necessitating that the financial community understands diversity to avoid stagnation in innovation and growth.
- Specific regulatory and reporting mandates include CalPERS and CalSTRS requiring diversity analytics reporting in 2017, alongside a shift where General Counsels increase comfort with data disclosure as non-disclosure becomes a higher risk.
- Recruitment and selection processes are projected to evolve by removing names and bias from resumes, potentially increasing application rates for male-dominated teams by up to 40% within six months, while revised job descriptions could raise women's application rates to 90% compared to men's 50 to 60%.
- Accountability mechanisms will require department heads to report diversity progress via business plans to CEOs, and business units will be held responsible for providing a specific number of diverse slates for any role.
- Middle management comprising 15,000 individuals is identified as the primary focus for cultural change, with leadership assessment models moving to include the ability to attract and lead diverse teams.
- Strategic approaches include defining diversity broadly to include thought, style, experience, and approach to cast the widest net, as well as leveraging untapped resources by opening up qualification definitions, a process expected to span the first couple of years following a one-year operational start.
- Technology platforms, specifically SaaS solutions, are expected to facilitate bias removal in hiring and enable the connection of organizations to their operating landscape to ensure adaptability to changing economics and customer needs.
- Risks include the potential loss of diversity agendas if vigilance is lost, the increased danger of not disclosing data, and the failure to innovate or grow if workforces do not reflect their diverse customer bases.
- A collective voice is anticipated to influence the global arena and kickstart conversations in environments where dialogue is practically dangerous, with companies expected to partner externally to bring thought leadership to the table while processing the "new world" landscape.