Diversity and inclusion falls down the agenda for businesses
- Despite almost three-quarters of HR Directors and CEOs (72%) saying that employee demands for a DE&I strategy are a major concern for their business, under a fifth (17%) said they had introduced or invested in one in the past year.
- Growing pressures see operational costs (83%), supply chain costs (80%) and demands for higher employee pay (79%) forcing employers to reduce investment on DE&I strategies – leading to a worrying lack of focus on employee representation and support.
- Those investing in DE&I strategies understand the importance of them to their business; of those who had introduced or invested in a strategy this was because they believed:
- It was morally right – 40%
- It aligned with their values and purpose – 37%
- It made financial sense for their business – 31%
- Respondents agree that treating employees fairly improves their business performance in the long-run (73%), and also that employee happiness is critical to productivity (70%)
- Nearly one in five (17%) said more guidance from the government on solving the ethnicity pay gap, and the gender pay gap (15%) would have the best impact on their business.
- This comes as part of new research from Barnett Waddingham (surveying 300 HR directors and c-suite professionals) to reveal the state of play for businesses’ investments in initiatives to support their employees
Julia Turney, partner and head of platform and benefits, Barnett Waddingham, says: “There’s no denying that businesses are under a huge amount of pressure at the moment; after a year of recession fears it’s understandable that leaders have had to be laser-focused on performance and profit. But there is a very real risk that short-term thinking will come at the cost of long-term success – and this is evidenced by the de-prioritisation of DE&I.
“Business leaders know that DE&I improves performance in the long-run – the sheer volume of research into the topic is unchallengeable. But companies in the UK are grappling with rising costs and mounting pressures from employees, leading to a very squeezed c-suite. And it can be costly and resource-intensive to implement a good DE&I strategy, and difficult to measure ROI immediately. The solution lies in data – only what is measured is actioned, and firms must ensure they have effective measurements and metrics in place to be able to prioritise and spend effectively. Only then will long-term investment in critical areas like DE&I be possible.”
