Closing the diversity gap

Diversity and inclusion have become an integral contributor to the organization’s success in competition-laden modern times. Companies, regardless of their industry, products, or services, are taking a deeper look at their workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. For instance, they use DE&I initiatives to improve the overall bottom line with a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce and comply with legal and moral obligations.

Unfortunately, finding the right tech talent persists as a problem in many business areas.

Why? Let’s talk about it.

57% of the workforce in the United States is made up of women. However, they take up only about 31% of the technology-related positions. Furthermore, only about 4% of the women from the Black, Latina, and Native American communities work in the computing industry, and few hold senior leadership positions. These numbers assert that finding the right diverse talent is not an issue.

A Gartner study reveals that though many organizations claim to promote a diverse and inclusive culture, only about 40% of the employees acknowledge that their managers foster an inclusive work environment.

Pyramid Consulting, Inc. hosted “The C-Suite Strategy to Win the War for Diverse Tech Talent” at the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) conference in 2019. The panel concluded that there is much more to diversity than gender and race. Diversity and inclusiveness are more about making space at the table for people from all walks of life and ensuring that everyone feels welcomed and inspired to participate.

But achieving true inclusion and diversity still eludes many businesses. Why? The answer is simple.

Many employers are not using the right strategies to find, retain, and grow talent. Sadly, we remain at risk of losing our progress towards equality unless technology leaders prioritize building more diverse talent pools.

The benefits of a Diverse & Inclusive workforce

1. Research studies by Deloitte assert that inclusive teams perform about 80% better than their peers in team-based assessments. Moreover, they conclude that diverse companies may have 2.3 times higher cash flow per employee.
2. Research by McKinsey shows that gender-diverse and ethnically diverse companies are likely to outperform their peers by 15% and 35% respectively.
3. A Gartner study reveals that inclusiveness improves team performance by up to 30% in high-density environments.
4. A Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study claims that organizations with diverse management teams saw a 19% increase in revenues.

We understand that building a diverse workplace is challenging. It requires hiring teams to broaden talent pools and rethink their traditional hiring strategies. But Diverse candidate pools foster benefits that aid organizations in achieving their goals and objectives.

Whether you are just getting into DE&I discussion, or perhaps you have a mature program that could make an even better impact, no matter where your company ranks on the diversity spectrum, Pyramid Consulting helps you develop the right strategy to achieve your workforce diversity and inclusion goals.