There are more than seven and a half billion people existing on Earth today, and yet every single one of us is different in our own ways. That said, if a company only employs a certain demographic of people in terms of age, race, gender, religion, sexuality (and so on), how diverse really is it? Although every person is an individual, in a workplace environment, it can often result in 'cookie cutter' outcomes.
People are often the biggest contributor to the success of your business, it doesn't matter what software you use, where your office is based, nor the sophistication of your working environment. People are the drivers of what moves you forward. If your business is enriched with individuals from varied backgrounds, your business success has many more opportunities to grow - this is because people have different experiences. If you had 5 people with the exact same characteristics, there's not going to be much diversity in their work.
As James Brown famously sang, "It's a Man's Man's Man's World". It's no secret that there is a huge gender gap in leadership, with CEO positions almost entirely male-dominated. In the FTSE 100 Index, only 5% of CEO positions are held by women. In the last 8 years, the number of female FTSE 100 CEOs has increased by just one person (from four, to five) and at the current rate, it will take more than 80 years before women achieve equality at CEO level. (IG)
The majority of women in the workforce feel excluded from decision making, do not feel comfortable expressing their opinions, and do not feel as though they can succeed. (Culture AMP)
Gender inequality is a huge part of diversity, but it barely touches the tip of the iceberg. There are so many factors to consider when implementing diversity strategies in the workplace and gender is just one of them.
Not only does D&I improve business strategy, it also increases financial turnover. Why would you not implement and invest in having a diverse workforce? Companies that have higher-than-average gender diversity and employee engagement had 46% to 58% better financial performance than companies that were below the median on diversity and engagement. (FastCompany)
Diversity and data go hand in hand, recruitment decisions are often made emotionally but with more data-driven information your hiring process will be a lot more effective. By understanding the data in your talent pool, it will give you a better understanding of how diverse the potential of your company could be. If you have a good grasp on data in your recruitment process it will allow you to make better informed decisions about who to hire and how you can improve diversity in the workplace. You can read more about data in recruitment here.
So, we know that diversity in the workplace is worth investing in, which is why ENG have invested in a strategy that does more than just the bog-standard recruitment process you're probably used to. At a time when you're ready to make your next hiring steps, what processes do you follow to ensure diversity in the workplace? At ENG, diversity is a centric part of our process, underpinning our ENG 3D Framework® that allows your recruitment process to flourish and removing emotion from hiring decisions.
Whether you are looking for short or long-term solutions, ENG will ensure that through our ENG 3D Framework® the Data, Diversity and Delivery we provide will enhance your business and ultimately lead to a more diverse workforce. If you want to know more, email us on 3D@executivenetworkgroup.co.uk.