PEOPL E MAN AGE M E N T & R EC R U ITM E N T
Future-Proofing: is your business ready for a future that includes everyone? By Mo Kanjilal, Co-Creator of Watch This Sp_ce If you want to create a
HR
future-proof business, then including
different types of
people, perspectives
and ideas in everything you do is critical. Without that, you will lack the different perspectives you need to innovate.
Here’s the thing though, it’s easy to say
that’s what you will do. It’s a bigger task to actually create an inclusive company that looks outwards and engages with everyone.
The Business Case
Research shows that teams that include a diverse range of people output
around 19% more innovation. Diverse teams make decisions quicker with
around half the number of meetings. And you know what? Innovation +
24 www.sussexbusinessgroup.co.uk
Quick Decision-making = success.
And that success means higher profits, better productivity and happier and more engaged employees.
Yet despite this evidence showing that diverse teams perform better, the majority of companies are still
dominated by homogenous teams of
people from dominant groups. In fact,
recent research shows the gender pay
gap has widened and that more people from ethnic minorities have lost their
jobs during the pandemic. And that’s
just two aspects of the different types of people in society.
When we talk to organisations about the
business case for diversity and inclusion, there’s always lots of nods and looks
of interest. Yet real change in the wider
world is so slow. To make radical and transformative changes takes work,
engagement and tenacity. Maybe that’s why progress is taking a while. People
Transforming the people involved in your business means reaching out to very
different types of people. This is where we see so many organisations talking about diversity and inclusion, but not
really doing much about it. It’s easier to follow the same patterns of recruitment and to hire people you know. It’s easier to network with people who are similar to you. A more complex task is to
radically reimagine the whole process. To create new and inclusive
recruitment processes means change. Obvious right? So why is it that this is
