As a business owner, I’ve come to deeply appreciate the innovative power of diverse teams and inclusive cultures. In an era of breakneck change, companies that promote diversity of backgrounds, perspectives and thought have a competitive edge in driving transformation and unlocking new solutions. If we all had the same experiences and cultures, there would be no challenge, no disruption, and no innovation. Competitive advantage would be impossible to achieve. I recently attended the BizX business forum, and famed Dragon’s Den investor Piers Linney shared his perspective on Diversity in business: “Diversity is not just the right thing to do, it’s the best thing to do” – and I wholeheartedly agree.
The research is unequivocal – diversity correlates with profitability and success. A McKinsey study (2015) found that companies in the top quartile for ethnic and gender diversity are 35% and 15% more likely to outperform their less diverse peers. Gallup data (2015) shows firms with higher racial and gender diversity earnings 58% and 19% higher revenues, respectively.
Yet the tech sector continues to grapple with diversity challenges, particularly for underrepresented racial minorities and women in technical and leadership roles. Only 28.8% of the workforce at major tech companies are women, dropping to 25.1% for technical roles and 23% in leadership, according to Deloitte (2022). The numbers are starker for Black and Hispanic employees, comprising just 8.4% and 8.3% of technical roles, respectively.
We’re leaving transformative talent and innovation potential untapped by failing to build truly diverse and inclusive tech teams and cultures. Belonging drives engagement and retention and allows team members to contribute their unique talents. When people feel safe and supported by being their authentic selves, creative disruption happens and valued team members are retained and nourished in their roles.
At Performa IT, we’ve intentionally made D&I a strategic priority, implementing initiatives such as:
- Implementing a data-driven hiring process and job specification reviews to mitigate bias
- Providing employee resource groups, development opportunities and formal mentorship programs
- Providing robust D&I training and accountability for leaders
- Targetting partnerships promoting STEM education access
- Application to become BCorp certified
- Supplier Equality and Inclusion reviews
While this is an ongoing journey, our efforts have produced positive results. Our overall workforce diversity has increased by 13.4% since the previous financial year. Our team have also nominated Tech She Can as one of our chosen charities to support in FY25, a charity working together with industry, government, and schools to improve the ratio of women in technology roles.
Diversity is an innovation engine – fueling creativity, preventing short-sightedness, adding vital perspectives to our user-centric design process, and helping develop services which support all communities. Simply put, we create better solutions for our customers by harnessing our cognitive diversity.
I encourage every business leader to lead by example and drive systemic changes needed to build a robust pipeline and culture of diversity and belonging. The most innovative, sustainable companies of the future will be those whose teams best represent the communities they serve.
References
McKinsey & Company (2015) Diversity Matters. [online report] Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/diversity-wins-how-inclusion-matters [Accessed 25 Apr. 2024].
Gallup (2019) The Closest Look Yet at Corporate Diversity and Inclusion: New Gallup Data. [online article] Available at: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236199/closest-corporate-diversity-inclusion-new-gallup-data.aspx [Accessed 25 Apr. 2024].
Deloitte (2022) Data about tech workforce diversity. [online] Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/diversity-in-technology-remedies-for-promoting-workforce-diversity.html [Accessed 25 Apr. 2024].