Gartner, Inc has revealed that most diversity and inclusion (D&I) initiatives are ‘ineffective’, despite D&I being a ‘top management priority for CEOs’.
Gartner’s latest research, unveiled at the ReimagineHR Conference in Florida yesterday, highlights that 80% of organisations rate themselves as ‘ineffective’ at developing diverse and inclusive leadership. In fact, only 36% of D&I leaders said that their organisation has been effective at building a diverse workforce.
“While CEOs are prioritising and committing to the values of D&I, and want to see progress, ultimately the current measures are not moving the needle enough,” points out Lauren Romansky, Managing Vice President in the Gartner HR practice. “Based on our research, we know that many D&I strategies are ineffective because they rely on a point-in-time training, an individual champion, or a singular experiment. Further hindering results is that these approaches are often shared only at senior levels.”
CREATING SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES
“Progressive leaders understand that truly sustainable and enduring D&I strategies can move the needle, creating the diverse workforces we need to collaborate, innovate and grow our businesses,” adds Romansky.
To ensure D&I initiatives are ‘successful and enduring’, companies need to make sure they are sustainable, which means the strategy should be supported by the entire organisation, is measurable over time and embedded into existing processes, advises Gartner.
This ‘sustainable’ approach works. According to Gartner, sustainable D&I strategies can achieve a 20% increase in organisational inclusion, which corresponds to a 6.2% increase in on-the-job effort, a 5% increase in employees’ intent to stay with a company, and a 3% increase in individual employee performance.
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