Reading 1: Diversity and inclusion

Diverse and inclusive companies produce innovative results. Yet the tech industry still
struggles with diversity and inclusion, often failing to attract diverse talent due to inclusivity
problems in the workplace. For organizations looking to improve their diversity and inclusion
programs and policies, the change can be challenging — and rewarding.

Most companies enact change to deliver business value, and many who start diversity and
inclusion programs cite research showing that companies with more diverse teams outperform
those with a more homogeneous workforce, says Sabrina Clark, associate principal at
SYPartners, a consultancy that specializes in organizational transformation.

As 2018 research from McKinsey shows, greater diversity in the workforce results in greater
profit and value creation. The same is true at the executive level, as McKinsey found a positive
relationship between diverse leadership and better financial performance. Companies ranking
highest in ethnic diversity at the executive level are 33 percent more likely to have above-
average profit than companies that rank very low. When it comes to gender diversity,
companies ranking high in gender inclusion are 21 percent more likely to have above-average
profit than companies ranking lowly in gender inclusion, according to McKinsey’s research.

While financial performance is a major driver of D&I strategies, some organizations are creating
diversity programs in the face of government compliance regulations or to address shareholder
pressure, Clark says. “In the UK, for instance, companies are required to publish their diversity
statistics; there’s also been increasing pressure from shareholders and boards,” she says.

Current employees and potential hires are also raising the stakes, says Jeff Weber, senior vice
president of people and places at Instructure. “More and more, when we’re interviewing,
candidates are asking what we’re doing about diversity and inclusion. And it’s not just diverse
talent themselves, and it’s not just millennials or Generation Z — we’re hearing this from white,
straight men in the Midwestern United States.”

Adapted from: https://www.cio.com/article/3262704/diversity-and-inclusion-8-best-practices-for-

changing-your-culture.html

Key:
To struggle (with something)- to experience difficulty and make a very great effort in order to
do something
*Talent- people qualified for and skilled at a job or profession
Enact- create change; to perform change
Shareholder- a person who owns shares in a company (a part of the company) and therefore
gets part of the company's profits and the right to vote on how the company is controlled
Raising the stakes- to increase the level of risk and/or potential reward in a particular situation