Because the significance of D&I in the workplace has grown so fast, organisations now institute many more initiatives with a much wider application to the company. Leadership teams are becoming more and more metrics and quotas focused. And we are all navigating “the future of work” as well as trying to find out what part will D&I play.
With so much happening it is easy to forget that people are at the center of this matter.
This increased emphasis on D&I is just one of many other recent changes which also can be partially attributed to COVID-19 pandemic. Although there were certainly numerous other contextual factors responsible for where we stand today, the global health crisis made us remember the colleagues, employees, clients, and customers who are human beings.
Suddenly our jobs became more human when we fought through similar personal difficulties , watched each other’s home interiors or got a glimpse at our roommates’ , family members’ as well as pets’ lives.
It also became a more digital working environment and after the initial disruption remote working turned out to be a far more inclusive platform.
According to a new global survey commissioned by Intel which interviewed 3,136 business leaders from across seventeen countries and multiple industries , 63% of respondents reported that their organisation had experienced positive effects on its diversity and inclusiveness due to COVID-19 pandemic.
But what next? How can firms ensure that their current focus on diversity and inclusion will have an enduring effect on them and continue keeping people at its core?
However much it may already be known that D&I is gaining in importance, there can never be enough progress in this area: 88% of business leaders argue for long-term goals aimed at making their organisations into diverse environments for everybody involved in them.
A better thing than this was seeing why companies were committed to these efforts. The top three responses were; improved employee relations (34%), increased loyalty among staff (32%) as well as better health of workers (30%), when asked to say the main benefits of a conducive D&I environment.
On the other hand only 20% consider profitability as an underlying reason for D&I.
This shows that companies are looking beyond themselves and focusing on improving the lives of those who work with them; however, they will need to keep this in mind when actually investing into D&I.
When asked how much their company invests in systems and initiatives promoting D&I, 43% of business leaders said there is room for improvement.
Technology will undoubtedly be one of the major areas for investment where hybrid working is concerned – bringing us to our next point.
"A new global survey commissioned by Intel, which interviewed 3,136 business leaders across 17 countries and several industries, showed that 63% of respondents said that the pandemic has had a positive impact on D&I in their organisation."
Globally more than two-thirds (67%) surveyed believed technology would make achieving diversity and inclusion goals easier.
However, having the right technology is no longer just nice-to-have — it is vital for future inclusion.
According to such leaders who thought that the pandemic had good impacts on D&I, some significant changes were made possible by technology.
First, 46% of respondents felt that remote working and digitalisation have made it easier to find and bring in staff from under-represented groups. Another 45% argued that accelerated digital transformation had resulted in the use of new tools to facilitate inclusivity, connectivity, and engagement.
In addition, 43% opined that having a hybrid workforce will enable businesses to adopt a broader range of D&I-related actions.
It is also worth noting that data is vital for driving initiatives and measuring their success rates – some 49% thought technology could offer accurate tracking and progress through data and analytics.
Certainly, technology is an enabler for D&I. However, it cannot – should not – be treated as its main driver for change. It’s on the business leaders themselves who are integral to this function.
Therefore, our report shows that the biggest barrier to successfully implementing D&I goals nowadays is lack of buy-in from stakeholders themselves. For instance, companies may suffer from low levels of interest among senior stakeholders or even the absence of a dedicated D&I lead (32%).
Another problem faced by 31% was inability to attract and retain employees from underrepresented groups and lack of a substantial talent pool belonging to these categories residing in their locality or industry.
The truth about D&I is we as people must answer ourselves: how can we step up in order to address the issues preventing all diversity?
There is no solution here via technology as it can only aid us at most.
The impact of COVID-19 on D&I wasn’t just positive.
Accordingly, those leaders who observed negative effects noted they were felt more by such under-represented groups as physically challenged persons compared with others including working mothers who used to leave jobs or lost them at higher rates than any other group affected by the pandemic.
At least 32 percent stated diverse challenges have diverted attention away from inclusion within organisations.
Global upheavals such as the pandemic or shifts in how we work could always inadvertently disrupt company cultures possibly jeopardising D&I goals.
Nevertheless, as much as the way we work may change, the impetus to put people at the forefront shall remain unaltered.
By actively prioritising diversity and inclusion for a business’s people and leveraging innovative technology, this can be achieved wherever and however a person works.