Fortune and Refinitiv have announced a new initiative to encourage firms to measure, report and improve their diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) progress.
Their aim is to make corporate diversity disclosure “the new standard of doing business”. According to Fortune and Refinitiv CEOs, companies frequently make commitments about D&I, but very few actually report metrics on how well they’re executing on these goals. They believe the corporate world “desperately” needs public disclosure of such measurements, which will help companies set benchmarks, encourage high-performing companies to reach higher, and prompt those lagging in these areas to step up.
“I know it’s a truism, but it also happens to be true: What gets measured gets managed,” stated Fortune’s CEO Alan Murray in his daily newsletter report. “That’s why Fortune and Refinitiv are teaming up to urge companies to take the first step toward achieving full racial and ethnic diversity and inclusion in the workplace: Measure Up.”
MEASURING UP
Although 96% of CEOs say that DE&I had become a strategic priority for them (according to a joint Fortune/Deloitte survey), “the vast majority of companies don’t publicly report metrics on how they are executing on their DE&I commitments,” pointed out Murray.
He hopes Measure Up will change that. “We will challenge companies to report these critical metrics, through Refinitiv’s environmental, social and corporate governance data systems. And we will include that data as part of our Fortune 500 list.”
He also revealed that Fortune will publish a new list next year, identifying the Most Progressive Companies in Racial Inclusion. As well as working together to provide data-driven insights, the two companies plan to host conversations with corporate leaders on critical issues related to the challenge.
Refinitiv’s CEO David Craig believes the corporate world “overwhelmingly wants to see change and understands how vital diversity is in building successful and sustainable companies”. “However, efforts to tackle minority under-representation in the workplace will fall flat unless companies first have an accurate picture of their racial composition,” he remarked.
REINFORCING RACIAL INCLUSION
Both CEOs believe the Measure Up initiative will help business leaders across industries tackle one of the biggest barriers to a just and equitable society; the continued lack of racial and ethnic diversity in corporate workplaces. They plan to start this work by establishing diversity disclosure and accountability as a critical metric for stakeholder-driven businesses. They also plan disclose their own DE&I data.
“As one of the world’s biggest providers of ESG data, we are encouraging companies to share minority-related measures of their workforce with the world – just as they already do with gender,” added Craig. “By teaming up with Fortune to create Measure Up, harnessing their unique link with the CEO community, I’m more hopeful than ever that the corporate world can fulfil its promises and respond to the cries for change that have only grown louder in the wake of the murder of George Floyd,” (as reported).
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