Conference Presentation, Panel
The Business Case for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Milken InstituteCheryl Strauss Einhorn, Matthew Fust, Matthew Harrington, Tony Prophet, Lesley Slaton Brown, Anilu Vazquez-Ubarri, Matt Harrington, Gina Diaz Barroso, Mamta Patel
- The panel aims to review the current state of the field, highlight replicable success cases, and identify missing dialogue topics for leadership over the next hour, concluding with a 10-minute Q&A segment.
- Executive leaders are increasingly expected to address societal issues, with 64% of respondents in a 28-country Edelman survey anticipating company engagement on community and citizenry matters.
- Employees and consumers now expect organizations to speak up for their values, prompting a need for companies to demonstrate durability and viability through a defined societal role.
- A consortium of allies advocates for expanding the market rather than redistributing a limited share, while predicting that companies will face greater accountability and transparency regarding internal diversity efforts.
- Board representation statistics indicate 22% of Fortune 500 seats held by women, 15% by racial/ethnic minorities, and less than 0.3% by LGBT executives, dropping to 12% for women in the Russell 3000.
- Matt Harrington projects that 2017 and 2018 will be viewed as a tipping point for institutional investor engagement on board diversity, while Edelman targets 50% female leadership by 2020, up from 44%.
- Salesforce invested $8.7 million to ensure equal pay, reported a female workforce percentage of 30% in December 2017 compared to 30.1% the prior December, and distributes monthly scorecards to executives managing over 500 people tracking hiring, promotion, and attrition for women and underrepresented people of color.
- Salesforce plans to launch the Outforce LGBTQ employee resource group in India to serve as an ally despite local lack of rights, alongside an existing faith-based group called Faith Force.
- HP has launched the "Reinvent Mindsets" video campaign to address hiring myths and a "#LatinoJobs" campaign, while implementing structured interviewing to reduce unconscious bias and expanding this practice to experienced hiring levels.
- Analyst initiatives are being rolled out for Hispanic and Asian populations at the VP level to address connectivity losses, with plans to scale manager initiatives to include coaches acting as allies rather than relying on bystanders.
- Ally training, unconscious bias training, and growth mindset thinking are being integrated into ongoing programs for leaders at all levels, while ordinary everyday decision-making is prioritized over unattainable extraordinary actions.
- Organizations intend to use data transparency rather than quotas to drive progress, with the belief that belonging and being heard drives innovation and business growth.
- Business leaders argue that diversity is essential for avoiding lost revenue, though it is noted that no single entity can solve equality, equity, and diversity without intentional collective effort.
- Salesforce has committed tens of millions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours to K-12 education in the U.S., strongly encouraging executives to adopt a school.
- Approximately 15% of Fortune 500 companies currently provide demographic transparency regarding their boards in annual proxies, a metric expected to see increased scrutiny.