Inclusion, Diversity and Your Bottom Line

$22.5 million.

That’s what Pinterest paid to settle a gender discrimination and retaliation lawsuit brought by its former chief operating officer, Francoise Brougher.

As 2020 drew to its chaotic close, the settlement put an exclamation point on issues of diversity, equity, authentic leadership, and the literal price organizations will pay if they aren’t proactive in both policies and practice.

Platitudes and window dressing don’t cut it with the public or employees. The work must be done within, from the inside out and the top down. It must be inclusive, embracing a workforce that varies in race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and disability.

Without a plan, you stand to lose more than a lawsuit. The future of your financial success is riding on DE&I.

Increasing revenue

A recent Boston Consulting Group study showed diversity in leadership increases an organization’s bottom line by about 19 percent, much of which can be attributed to innovation.

This is an impactful finding for organizations and industries build on innovation. It shows diversity is not only the right thing to do; it’s key to generating revenue.

And it’s a wake-up call to established businesses that have put DE&I in the corner.

If you’re not making money, you’re losing money.

Attracting and retaining talent

For the incoming workforce of young adults and college grads, DE&I is the expectation.

The next generation is more comfortable having the difficult conversations that go along with developing and implementing a DE&I strategy. They aren’t afraid to ask companies upfront what they are doing to improve their company culture in terms of discrimination.

Company leaders must address issues of diversity and inclusion to improve recruiting and maintain credibility.

Companies that are progressive, transparent, and forward-thinking will win the war for talent.

Mitigating Risk

Too many companies report that their DE&I strategies are in their infancy. Or they are shoehorning DE&I in with other responsibilities, which creates an ineffective, surface-level, and scattershot effect. The drawing board and good intentions don’t shield an organization from risk –  only implementation can do that.

High-profile, high-dollar cases raise awareness about the factors, big and small, that can play into ongoing patterns of discrimination in an organization. The growing visibility of discrimination across the board means more workers are willing to take a stand.

Whether discrimination is blatant or expressed in microaggressions and back-room dealings, in our changing times, no company should be 100 percent comfortable with their current anti-discrimination and inclusion policies, whether regarding race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age.

For a strategy to be comprehensive and proactive, there has to be organizational change from the top-down, with buy-in at every level, creating layers of expectation and accountability.

Organizations that don’t rise to the challenge today won’t be around tomorrow.