Why corporate leaders have NO choice BUT to TRULY embrace the ‘D&I’ agenda

Diversity areas to tap into and a ‘Must have’ tip to be Inclusive

by Evelyne Legaux on 16-04-2024

 

With International Women’s Day and its ‘Inspire Inclusion’ theme recently celebrated, this article ought to further look at why corporates must TRULY embody Diversity & Inclusion, various ways they can do so and what this means for leadership. Whatever your functional area – Finance or else - or role as a middle-management team lead, senior executive leader or board member, this article is for you.

 

For many years, the trendy concept of Diversity & Inclusion has been put forward in the corporate world in an attempt to polish a company’s image on the market or, at best, comply with evolving regulatory requirements when it comes to the management of human resources. Many companies therefore came up with D&I policies & in-house committees to  best position themselves in the competitive world of talent attraction & retention.

More often than not however, the reality on the ground was something entirely different, with people lacking a proper understanding of what it means to accept diversity and be inclusive in the workplace, and leaders equally having no proper willingness to truly implement the concept and embed D&I in their organisation’s culture.

Interestingly though, in many respects today’s fast-changing world is eventually forcing the corporate world to evolve their perspective on Diversity & Inclusion for the better…

 

So, let’s explore what the D&I drivers at play truly are

• Corporates increasingly need to move away from reacting to crisis & tackling issues once they have already arisen, to anticipating what future challenges might be and proactively preparing for same through innovative approaches. In parallel, they must also be able to juggle both short-term priorities with long-term value creation.

The ability to do so requires soft skills such as adaptability, multi-faceting thinking & deep resilience that appear to be somewhat mis-aligned with traditional leadership in our overwhelmingly patriarchal & vertical western societies.

More & more corporates actually come to realise that female leaders do innately bring such strengths to the workplace or the executive board room. This is even truer of female founders or entrepreneurs who do not hesitate to follow other leadership pathways, while bringing new insights, beliefs & values to the business world. And most naturally, females tend to lead from a place of authenticity, empathy & inner strength that bolsters trust, openness & clarity in other people.

Therefore, by moving past traditional hierarchy-based leadership to reach a more fluid forward-thinking leadership concept, female leaders by themselves embody fearless diversity and encourage more of it within their own teams or organizations.

It is therefore in corporates’ best interest to strengthen and accelerate the D&I agenda, starting with raising awareness about the usual biases & stereotypes that hinder or restrict women’s access to leadership roles & successful entrepreneurship.

 

• Now, switching to the accelerated momentum of new technology adoption, as previously talked about on many occasions in this Newsletter, the smartest process automation or digital solution will do nothing for a company, unless its leaders bring their people along with the new vision & the upcoming change implied for them.

For this to happen, corporates must develop a growth-mindset, create a culture of innovation and, most importantly, place people at the heart of it all, so that they feel understood, empowered & motivated.

Another key to success here is for corporates to bring Diversity into their workforce & talent pool, as doing so will augment the likelihood of designing the best possible solution for the business & its customers, with minimum risk.

Here again, corporates are starting to realise that investing in Inclusive leadership brings a strategic advantage, in addition to being the right thing to do. D&I tends to no longer be seen as a ‘Nice to have’, it is becoming a ‘MUST’ instead!

Knowing that technology & data-analytics skillsets are in ever-growing demand, what better solution for companies than to tapp into the very heart of the Diversity pool, that is to leverage the potential of women with a STEM background, for instance? Females who embrace such a career despite the many societal & cultural roadblocks facing them, surely do it out of genuine passion for science & technology.

When corporates diversify their talent scope and genuinely promote equal opportunities & conditions for all in the workforce, not only do they support a better society but they also smartly address the crucial needs of their business.

 

• Another area of focus for corporates is their executive leadership team (ELT) that more than ever before, ought to be effective & rallied behind the company’s purpose, strategy & priorities. This often requires strong personal egos to forget about their own individual agenda, and put the organization’s interest & that of its stakeholders first.

This would only work though where each & every ELT member can develop soft skills & adopts behaviours that enable them to share a common goal and gain a sense of belonging. To achieve this, corporate ELTs must build trust, collaboration, support & care for each other.

What better way to reach that point than fostering a genuinely Inclusive mindset within the ELT itself through open communication & transparent decision-making, thus creating an equal-playing field amongst members in the company’s best interest and that of its stakeholders?

 

• Last but certainly not least, let’s dive into a fascinating new world of possibilities & untapped resources for corporates. With an increasing need for skills in digital technology, AI, data science as well as complex problem-solving or analytical thinking, corporates are encouraged to go further in diversifying their workforce & talent pool.

In fact, companies are starting to turn towards people with neuro-cognitive differences because not only do they possess those much sought-after skills, but they also bring invaluable soft skills such as hyper-focus, fast-pace analysis or curiosity. This doesn’t come without challenges though as neuro-divergent people can present one or several different conditions (autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, etc…) with varying degrees of severity, which in itself can be difficult to comprehend for others around them.

Companies therefore need to understand what the various types of neuro-divergence are about, and adapt their recruitment process, office settings, management appraisal criteria & ways of working accordingly, so as to give those people an equal chance to obtain & retain a suitable job. Whenever able to create a suitable supportive work environment, companies can harvest the unique skills that neuro-divergent people bring, while truly epitomizing the D&I concept and evolving the organization’s culture for the better.

There is though one essential element that ALL corporates MUST intentionally create, promote and nurture, for D&I to become a lasting reality on the ground… Let’s explore what that is…

 

The ‘MUST HAVE’ gateway to building a genuinely Diverse & Inclusive culture

No matter the industry, the functional area of responsibility or the geography, leadership qualities are at a premium like never before in a world where the human factor is central to success. Most importantly, leaders are expected to act as an Inclusion force, ensuring that ALL in the workforce feel welcome, valued & supported.

Such quality is of utmost importance as leaders are faced with navigating rapid change, disruptions & emerging threats that bring renewed change & stakeholder management challenges. It is also particularly relevant for CFOs & Finance teams whose role has been dramatically evolving over the past few years, to embrace strategic business guidance, support sustainability & long-term value creation initiatives, analyse forward-looking business trends or else spot/fix issues, and now crucially need new skillsets.

Having a new need however is not sufficient for corporates to become truly Diverse & Inclusive overnight. They must first & foremost recognise that creating a workplace where everyone feels encouraged to speak up, express ideas & concerns or take risk while experimenting, is central to it. Creating that psychological safety where people can innovate and possibly fail without the fear of being blamed or penalized, and where they can bring their authentic best self to work without being stigmatized or undermined, is indeed of the essence for D&I to truly flourish.

Where psychological safety is low, motivation & job satisfaction are low, innovation runs dry, transformations fail and attrition is high…

Psychological safety essentially is an equalizing factor that erases differences and allows a diverse workforce to be recognised for their skills & the value that they bring to the business, thus boosting talent retention/attraction as a result.

Creating such a work environment requires leaders to intentionally cultivate an empathetic style, be comfortable with showing some vulnerability through personal experiences & stories, and to honestly celebrate the value-add of differences & diversity.

Corporates that are successful at creating psychological safety in the workplace and genuinely embracing the D&I ethos, are rewarded tenfold in terms of innovation, creativity, talent retention & ultimately business performance.

 

What does D&I look like in your own organization? We would love to hear your thoughts or questions by email on info@financeotcconsulting.com or indeed through our Contact page.

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