For many companies around the world, diversity and inclusion is becoming a top priority.
Just look at PwC’s recent multi-year, global, cross-industry survey on diversity. Seventy-six percent of respondents indicated that diversity and inclusion are organizational values or priorities.
But having a diverse workplace and executive team isn’t just the right thing to do. It also pays off. In a 2019 analysis of 1,000 large companies in 15 countries, McKinsey found companies were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability when they were in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams. That is an increase from 21% in 2017 and 15% in 2014.
Having ethnic and cultural diversity also paid off. Top quartile companies in ethnic and cultural diversity outperformed those in the lowest quartile by 36% in profitability. That was an increase compared to the 33% outperformance in 2017 and 35% outperformance in 2014. Interestingly, McKinsey found that the likelihood of outperformance is higher for diversity in ethnicity than for gender.
Diversity throughout an organization can improve profitability. Research from Josh Bersin and Deloitte found that the most diverse companies earn 2.3 times higher cash flow per employee and are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders, according to Forbes.
These diverse organizations also have advantages in the human resources realm. For example, they are significantly more likely to train people to perform better, deal with performance problems and find and groom leaders.
The research seems to be pointing in the same direction. If companies promote diversity throughout the ranks, they benefit. CGI+ is a great example. Much of our success can be traced to nearly 50 percent balance of men and women working within our organization. Our cultural and international diverse workplace allows us to understand and work well with the myriad of residents that live in our communities as well as the wide variety of investors based around the world.
