How to Win the Diversity Game? Treat It as a Business Imperative | WHOSAY

Описание: For companies, becoming more inclusive is not only a matter of corporate responsibility but also a business imperative. “In the next ten years, $12 trillion will transfer from baby boomers to millennials,” said Manager of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, Kiersten Barnet, at the Communications Week NY panel “Shaping a Diverse and Inclusive Culture: The Rise of Diversity & Inclusion,” moderated by PRSA National Diversity & Inclusion Committee Chair, James Shackelford at Viacom.

Furthermore, as of 2015, it’s the first time in the US that women are in control of more capital; $14 trillion to be exact.

As Barnet said, these demographics are much more interested in transparency when it comes to being clients or employees of a particular company, especially when it comes to said company’s policies across all aspects of diversity. Long story short; companies cannot afford not to get it right on this issue.

“It’s a business imperative,” said Nielsen SVP Global Communications & Multicultural Marketing, Andrew McCaskill. “The populations' shifts that are happening are real; 92% of the population growth that’s happened in America for the last 15 years has come from communities of color, that means your constituents and your customers are going to be largely African American, Hispanic, and Asian.”

He added these groups represent about $3.7 trillion in spending power. “These are people who are buying your products, so you have to have people inside the organization who understand those cultures.”

But how can companies become more inclusive?

“Stop using ‘cultural fit’ as an excuse for bias,” chimed in McCaskill who also suggested an antidote to what he says is the industry’s “I don’t get the right resumes” excuse. “Every leader of a PR firm needs to go out and become friends with four senior professionals of color. Each of them can provide at least ten qualified contacts or point you in the right direction.”

MSNBC & NBC News Senior Vice President of Communications, Errol Cockfield said, “In the last half decade, there has been more focus on diversity and inclusion.” On the other hand, he said issues like the “Me Too” movement remain as vestiges of an era which is not representative of what we want.

He added that three things need to happen; reporting, bias training, and mentoring in and out of the organization, including middle, high schools, and colleges. “Tell people, ‘these careers are an option for you.’”

Ferrero USA Head of Corporate Communications & PR, Cheryll Forsatz, said that, as the child of immigrants, your parents might not see a career path in marketing or any other field other than medicine, law or finance. “Broadening the perspective of people entering our field starts with how do we get schools on board, especially in communities of color.”

“You can have all of the diversity you want on your website,” she added. “But at the end of the day, if candidates walk into your office and don’t meet with people they aspire to be like, statistics don’t matter.”

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