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Lead the Change
The Competitive Advantage of Gender Diversity and Inclusion
Kelly L. Cooper • Kelly Cooper © 2020 • 200 pages
Human Resources / Diversity & Inclusion
Take-Aways
• Gender diversity, equity and inclusion drive organizational competitive advantage.
• The economic returns created by enhanced diversity and equity extend to organizations, economies and
societies.
• Diversity initiatives generate a myriad of social and economic benefits.
• Start with a commitment to organizational values and emphasize emotional intelligence.
• Start with yourself – “be the change.”
• Implement the change with a well-planned and executed diversity strategy.
• Convert your efforts into return on investment to sustain the change.
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Recommendation
This evidence-based argument for gender diversity and inclusion will help you build a formidable case for
change within your own organization. Social intelligence expert Kelly Cooper explains the value proposition
of gender diversity and inclusion and lays out a blueprint for action. She provides clear examples of the
economic returns generated by more diverse and inclusive workplace cultures. Accounts of firms that have
made progress with – and witnessed remarkable social and economic benefits from – gender diversity
initiatives offer the proof that diversity drives returns on investment.
Summary
Gender diversity, equity, and inclusion drive organizational competitive advantage.
When organizations invest in gender equity, diversity and inclusion, they make social investments in their
firms that yield measurable financial returns. When leaders invest in people, they generate reduced turnover
and absenteeism, higher productivity and greater innovation.
Senior leaders who hire women and promote them to the highest offices, allow every employee parental
leave and flexible work hours, and build a more diverse and inclusive workforce benefit the business, and
make work and the world a better place. They also gain a competitive advantage. For example, making more
opportunities for qualified women at work – and paying them equitably, while removing real and cultural
barriers to male involvement in child care – provides a well-documented path to better business outcomes.
“The bottom line is that gender diversity and inclusion are tied directly to your
company’s performance and growth. It’s not just a matter of social justice anymore. It’s a
matter of good business.”
In 1995, the UN’s Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action established an agenda for international gender
equality. Widespread gender equity demands more advocates who are equipped with the facts about its
benefits.
The economic returns created by enhanced diversity and equity extend to
organizations, economies and societies.
In a 2019 report of 13,000 companies, The International Labor Organization (ILO) showed evidence that
gender diversity leads to higher profits and productivity, increased ability to attract and keep talent, and
more creativity and innovation. Gallup has found that gender-diverse business divisions significantly
outperform their less diverse counterparts, and the Peterson Institute for International Economics found
that firms with at least one-third female leadership improve their net margins by 6%.
According to a 2016 McKinsey report, three-quarters of CEOs at least say gender equality is a high priority.
But, though these firms launched multiple initiatives aimed at improving gender equity, women occupied
fewer than a quarter of their senior positions at the time of the report. McKinsey found that while Black
Americans make up 10% of all college graduates in the United States, they fill only 4% of senior leadership
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jobs. Those firms with the most diverse boards realized 43% higher profits. The ability to attract and
retain women might make or break an organization. In the United States, according to the National Center
for Education Statistics, women account for more than half of all bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees
granted.
“Increasing the number of women in the workforce has been one of the most powerful
drivers of economic growth over the last 40 years.”
The influx of women into the workforce over the past several decades accounts for much of the economic
growth experienced in that time frame. Achieving full gender equity could – according to the McKinsey
Global Institute, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) – add a potential $28 trillion to the global GDP within a few years.
McKinsey argues that going after this value requires financial incentives for leaders to hire and promote
more women, better data tracking, intentional attitude shaping, and more government laws and regulation.
Diversity initiatives generate a myriad of social and economic benefits.
Gender diversity, equity and inclusion build stronger, safer, more adaptable and creative organizations
that learn more effectively and suffer lower attrition. Organizations with strong career advancement
opportunities for women retain them. Those that initiate gender diversity attract and retain talent more
easily. Glassdoor has found that almost 70% of job seekers evaluate a firm’s diversity before accepting an
offer. Investors believe gender equity demonstrates better management, which manifests in higher stock
prices after firms earn recognition for their diversity initiatives.
Beyond appearing less competent to investors, leaders who ignore diversity and gender equity opportunities
stand to lose a great deal in other ways. Google, for example, shelled out millions to resolve sexual
assault and harassment issues. At McDonald’s, at least 50 workers claimed sexual harassment in 2019 in
Michigan alone. The Canadian Armed Forces has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to settle a series of classaction lawsuits related to sexual harassment; and Fox News paid $50 million in 2017 to settle one sexual
harassment lawsuit.
“The economic benefits will pull you, and the legislation will push you toward action on
gender diversity and inclusion.”
Consider the alternative, positive route: At the French food services and facilities management
company Sodexo, for example, leaders built an undeniable business case to achieve diversity buy-in from
its 50,000 managers, who then championed the program. Between 2014 and 2019, engagement rose 14%,
employee retention 8%, customer retention 9%, safety 12% and operating margins 8%. Sodexo estimates
returns of $19 for each dollar invested and has committed to achieving 40% women in senior leadership
roles by 2025.
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Start with a commitment to organizational values and emphasize emotional
intelligence.
The 1995 publication of Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence helped push firms to seek employees with
strong emotional intelligence (EI) alongside high IQ. People and leaders with high EI exhibit greater selfawareness and empathy, and stand up for themselves and others. When they hear racist jokes, for example,
they speak up. When someone belittles diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, they push back.
When sidelined, they protest.
“The beauty of EI skills is that anyone can develop them. Nobody is born with these skills
already in their DNA.”
Self-aware people know their interests and their triggers. They understand their biases and pause
before they react. When you know your triggers and biases, you factor them into your actions and
decisions. This leads to a heightened ability to empathize. Empathy spreads from person to person.
It reduces misunderstandings and builds trust and better relationships. When self-aware, psychologicallysafe employees express themselves, they can do so assertively, even in difficult circumstances. Women, for
example, will more likely stand up for equal pay and treatment.
Given that both men and women benefit from gender equity, they should join forces to make it universal.
Indeed, many more men advocate for gender equity today than in the past. Men also suffer from stereotypes
at work that deprive them of time with family or caring for newborns. Deep-seated values – personal and
corporate – must include equity. Everyone within the organization should receive training in those values
and live them.
Start with yourself – “be the change.”
When leaders model behavior, the odds of successful change jump more than five-fold. As a champion of
diversity, you have profound influence.
As a manager, speak up when you see inequities or bias. Never let racial or gender jokes slide, no matter how
subtle. Ask women, and any other person who hasn’t spoken, for their perspectives in meetings. Assign notetaking and chairing meetings equitably, from person to person.
Hold other leaders and managers accountable for their actions or inaction, share DEI data, and provide
bias and diversity training to all. Ensure that company documentation, including policies, contains no bias
or even subtle exclusionary references such as words like “manpower” or “foreman.” Improve benefits, if
needed, to include flexible work, personal leave, remote work and limited overtime. Limit meetings that go
past standard work hours and make sure that people don’t receive recognition, rewards and promotions for
anything other than performance and modeling desired behaviors.
“The first step toward leading the change is being the change yourself. Employees at all
levels of the ladder will follow your example.”
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Consider your sourcing, hiring, training, mentoring, coaching, performance systems, succession planning
and other programs and practices that prepare people for advancement to ensure equitable access. Examine
job descriptions, competencies, talent pools, where you post jobs, who you select for interviews and who
interviews, to ensure they reflect your diversity goals. Encourage your senior leader to make a formal
statement in support of DEI, to hold senior executive discussions about diversity and to embed it in the
corporate strategy.
Audit and assess your current progress toward gender diversity and inclusion. How open is your firm to
culture change? How much resistance can you expect, and who do you have to persuade first to create
momentum? Build a business case for gender diversity that emphasizes ROI. Hire a chief diversity officer
(CDO) full or at least half-time to help you earn buy-in, strategize and lead change. Conduct listening
sessions across the organization with men and women to talk about change and to gain their perspectives.
Implement the change with a well-planned and executed diversity strategy.
You can’t force change all on your own. You must persuade others to join your cause using your EI skills
and your business case. With your CDO in the lead, form a DEI task force with a diversity of leaders and
employees. Include resistors to hear their views and, hopefully, to convert them. Your task force sets goals
and targets, drafts strategy, identifies measures and metrics to track progress, and reports progress to senior
leaders.
“Nothing makes people respond more quickly than the almighty dollar.”
Develop your DEI strategy, including communications, roles and responsibilities, training, performance
management, how you will recognize and reward those who assist, and a plan to address resistors.
Implement your strategy with senior leaders at the front, as champions. Track your metrics with a view to
calculating your ROI at intervals, and sharing your progress. Count on implementation lasting three to five
years.
Proactively engage with resistors, listen intently and answer their questions. Resistance ranges from denial
to procrastination to outright refusal to cooperate – even to sabotage. Offer coaching, leverage the influence
of your frontline managers, and recognize and reward people for joining the effort. Remind resistors of the
benefits, what’s in it for them and the business case. If all else fails, move saboteurs out of the organization.
Convert your efforts into return on investment to sustain the change.
Your progress in gender diversity and inclusion will not prevail absent proof of returns. You won’t reach your
goal for sustainable DEI until it becomes part of the organizational culture. This shift takes time; buy time
with money. Money and value spring from improving engagement and retention, accelerating learning and
innovation, improving the firm’s reputation, and attracting the right talent.
Link your efforts to performance data. Track pay differentials, recruitment, retention, promotions, and the
gender and racial composition of management, senior leadership and various gender-dominated roles. Add
transparent step and level ranges for pay; select candidates for interviews not knowing their gender;
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introduce benefits like paternity leave; encourage women to enter male-dominated roles by providing
training and stretch assignments; and track DEI-related cultural indicators for progress.
Recognize and celebrate progress at the individual and team levels. Enable peer-to-peer recognition to drive
more and broader appreciation. Seek organization-wide recognition and awards from bodies like EDGE
(Economic Dividends for Gender Equality). These efforts develop a deeper sense of inclusion and belonging
throughout the workforce, driving ROI.
About the Author
Kelly L. Cooper is the Founder and President of the Centre for Social Intelligence and was a finalist for
the Women of Inspiration 2021 Awards. She guides leaders and change agents to create a diversity and
inclusion transformation within their organizations. Ms. Cooper led the development of the Free to Grow
in Forestry Initiative, including leading the development of a forest sector national action plan in Canada.
She also serves as the gender expert for the Gender Equity Task Force of the International Union of Forest
Research Organization.
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