A more diverse and inclusive workforce – where there is equality of opportunity and all employees feel included, heard and respected is ultimately a more productive and commercially successful one. It is also one that is rightly more reflective of the fantastic diversity of ethnicity, culture, gender and social experience that exists in society itself.
However, there remain significant systemic and structural challenges and inequalities that executives and leaders need to urgently address to ensure their companies fully embrace diversity and inclusion in an authentic and meaningful way, a way that goes beyond compliance and marketing and right to the very heart of a company’s thinking and its culture.
This week, The New P&L spoke to Raafi-Karim Alidina and Stephen Frost of diversity and inclusion consultancy, Frost Included, and co-authors of the brilliant book, ‘Building an Inclusive Organisation – leveraging the power of a diverse workforce’. We discuss with Stephen and Raafi how companies can ensure cultural, gender and social diversity and inclusion becomes part of their thinking and not just part of their marketing; how social media and social isolation can reinforce and indulge bias and how executives, CEO and leaders have a genuine moment in time in 2020 to truly embrace diversity and inclusion in their business and drive the momentum for positive change.