Nish Parikh Forbes Councils Member
Forbes Human Resources Council
Corporate initiatives to foster an inclusive workplace — or what has come to be known as diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) — have been steadily growing in recent years. Earlier, DE&I was considered only government compliance or just a “program” to be run by companies. But organizations are now faced with an overwhelming degree of disruption since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. While some have faced huge revenue losses, operation and supply chain dislocations, and liquidity and solvency challenges, others are trying to cope with unforeseen demand spikes.
The lessons already learned from the pandemic tell us that DE&I may now recede as a strategic priority in most organizations. And one can’t blame a company’s leaders for that. It may be largely unintentional. Most companies will have to focus on more pertinent needs like adapting to new ways of working, consolidating the workforce capacity and maintaining productivity.
Key To Recovery
A 2018 McKinsey report exhaustively demonstrates how decisive diversity and inclusion practices are to organizational success. The January 2018 issue of the Deloitte Review has revealed that companies that follow an inclusive culture are twice more likely to meet or exceed financial targets and six times more likely to be agile and innovative. These companies, the report claims, are eight times more likely to achieve a better business outcome.
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