Companies promoting diversity and inclusion outshine their peers
Guest Column: Aparna Garg, Head- Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Indian Energy Exchange writes about the importance of investing in a female workforce
As we celebrate International Women's Day, let us embrace the empowering theme of "Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress." The theme underscores the vital role women play in driving societal advancement. Globally, organisations have started to realise the importance of investing in female workforce with an aim of fostering an inclusive workplace culture. Today, businesses understand the criticality of supporting workplace gender diversity and inclusion. It not only fosters a feeling of fairness and respect for all employees, irrespective of background, gender or other characteristics, but also helps to create a workplace of the future.
Time-tested Benefits of Inclusive Policies
Empirical evidence indicates companies promoting diversity and inclusion across all business functions outshine their peers. A McKinsey & Company survey reveals that organisations practising diversity hold a 35% higher chance of outperforming competitors. Therefore, it is imperative to create a diverse workforce as it offers multiple tangible benefits. To begin with, it nurtures more creativity and innovation. When people from distinct backgrounds, experiences and perspectives work together, they deliver a vast range of problem-solving ideas and strategies. This diversity in ideas and thoughts generates more novel solutions, sparking greater creativity within teams. Diversity also augments the decision-making process as diverse cohorts of employees collaborate in decision-making, presenting a wider spectrum of viewpoints. Consequently, more well-informed and thoughtful decisions are taken given the broad perspectives and possible implications.
Gender Equality and Better Outcomes
Without any doubt, the position of women in leadership roles has been increasing every year. For instance, while the Fortune 500 list held only two female CEOs when the new millennium began, there were 53 women CEOs in 2023. In India too, the advent of new-age companies has seen a growing group of female chief executives. According to the Great Place to Work India report, in the past few years, women’s representation in the country’s workforce has risen steadily to 26% in 2023 from 21% in 2021.
However, there is still some way to go before the gender gap is closed, especially at the C-suite level. To achieve this, sustained efforts are required to break down existing barriers and provide equal opportunities for all. While companies are working towards closing this gap, sectors like education, banking, advertising and communication, hospitality and aviation have been witnessing a substantial percentage of women joining leadership roles.
Measures to Meet Inclusion Goals
To achieve what we discussed above, multiple measures could be implemented by organisations. These include providing women employees regular internal learning and development opportunities, mentorships to enhance leadership potential, additional measures to ensure mental and physical well-being along with providing equal pay for the same work as done by men and allowing women to be active participants in networking programmes.
While corporates have been taking adequate steps to ensure gender diversity and inclusion at workplaces, increasing such measures will lead to greater innovation and productivity. Through these efforts, we can enable social mobility and empower women and other cohorts to achieve their full potential.
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