Reframing Diversity

About the Reframing Diversity study

The study grew from a fundamental question of increasingly urgent attention among senior professional specialist advisers in some of the largest and most progressive UK organisations.

‘To what extent do diversity considerations feature in the strategic conversations that drive organisational success?’.

To answer this question required a better understanding of the essence and nature of those conversations, often held at the highest pinnacle of Board-level decision-making. Thus the study methodology was designed to explore and compare these conversations, from the perspectives of:

· top executive leaders doing the talking; and
· senior specialist professional advisers whose expertise informed the discussion.

Organisations in the study had different labels for their diversity-related effort, often communicating diversity goals linked to wider equality and inclusion principles. Here we use ‘diversity’ as a generic label encompassing these descriptions.

Main Findings

Organisations appeared to gain greatest impact from diversity when:

. it is positioned as a core strategic Boardroom issue
. executives are able to swiftly realise direct and tangible business results
. an organisation’s drive for diversity is proactively led by top executives
. they work with their senior diversity professional adviser in an effective partnership.

According to published literature, it had been an established principle - over at least the previous ten years in handling UK diversity issues - that equality and diversity programmes should be aligned with an organisation’s core strategic objectives, not only to deliver programme goals but also to enable organisations to identify and benefit from diversity-related business opportunities.

But in 2007, documented evidence of success in achieving these benefits remained rare.

By uncovering hard evidence drawn directly from key stakeholder experience, the study revealed:

· why many UK organisations struggled or failed completely to convert diversity growth into business opportunity; and
· why such failure could be acting to prevent core principles of diversity from becoming more widely established in the UK workplace.

The study recommendations suggested a reframing in strategic handling of diversity effort, so as to sustain over time the necessary long-term gains alongside more immediate visible impact on short-term business goals.

Recommendations

Ensure immediate strategic benefits
Organisations should evolve their diversity management model so that they aim for measurable strategic benefits from the outset and realise them quickly.

Measure strategic success
Better protocols need to be established for quantifying the strategic contribution of diversity.

Develop diversity professionals' strategic capability
Further targeted work is needed to strengthen diversity professionals' strategic outlook and influencing ability.

Grow more 'executive diversity leaders'
Leadership and professional development providers - including professional bodies - should routinely address diversity-specific challenges in executive development as part of mainstream good leadership practice.

Work together in closer partnership
Senior diversity professionals and their executive leaders should develop a more mutual and positively reinforcing working relationship.

Methodology

The study was conducted and the findings report authored jointly by Embankment Associates Ltd and Shapiro Consulting Ltd.

Its design comprised two methods of research.

1) An in-depth qualitative approach, to gather rich experiential information directly from participants, using:
· one-to-one interviews conducted face-to-face and by phone, involving 34 senior diversity professionals
· a further 16 similar one-to-one interviews with senior public and private sector Board Executives at CEO and Director level.

2) Desk research, covering a range of published data and articles, as well as consideration of extant socio-economic factors affecting the context for the study.

Candidates from among the diversity professional community were selected using screening criteria targeted to the high-level nature of the research:

· direct access to the Board or top decision-making body, with an influencing role on diversity and inclusion issues;
· senior-level responsibility for direction, development and budgetary investment in an organisation’s diversity and equality goals;
· aspiration to make a strategic impact within the organisation through investment in diversity.

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