Caroline Turner is a Principal at, DifferenceWORKS, LLC, an organization that “helps leaders leverage the diversity of today’s workforce.” In her spare time she is also a contributor to Huffington Post. One of Turner’s many contributions has been collecting and updating a running list of business cases made for the support of diversity in the workplace.
As Turner points out, corporations will not support diversity unless it can be justified to benefit the bottom line. While providing opportunities for many people is a good thing to do, it is not a necessary piece of business unless there is evidence to prove otherwise. Turner’s list does just that pulling from multiple sources and updating the list as much as possible.
Below is a few points that Turner provides in her article:
- According to the U.S. Department of Education, for school-year 2016-17, women were projected to earn 57.3% of B.A.’s, 58.3% of M.A.’s and 52.2% of doctoral degrees.
- Women influence more than 85% of retail decisions.
- Credit Suisse Research Institute reported that companies with at least one woman on their board outperformed the peer group by 26% over the preceding six years
- Catalyst research shows that companies with a higher percentage of women in executive positions have a 34% higher total return to shareholders than those that do not.
- Turnover has significant direct and indirect costs. Companies with inclusive cultures have lower turnover.
- An organization with a reputation for being a good place to work for diverse groups has an easier time recruiting talent from today’s diverse hiring pool. That saves money and time.
To view the full list of business cases for diversity, click on the link below:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-business-case-for-gender-diversity-update-2017_us_590658cbe4b05279d4edbd4b