How to Find a Diversity Strategy That Works

If youve ever doubted the outcome of effective diversity strategies, read on.

Senior executives surveyed by Forbes|Insights agree that diversity is crucial to encouraging different perspectives and ideas that foster innovation. There also exists a strong link between recruitment and development programs, as a companys ability to recruit diverse talent successfully depends on its ability to provide solid job advancement opportunities.

A 2015 study by McKinsey and Company suggests that gender-diverse companies are 15 percent more likely to outperform their competitors, while ethnically diverse companies are 35 percent more likely to do so.

Women-led private technology companies achieve a 35 percent higher return on investment, according to a 2013 report . When those companies are venture-backed, they bring in 12 percent higher revenue than male-owned companies.

And Intel makes a compelling case for business diversity with new research that says if two companies are identical except for racial/ethnic diversity and female representation in leadership, the more diverse company will have, in all likelihood, higher revenues, be more profitable and have a higher market value.

Most diversity training programs are not diverse enough

While its clear that diversity and inclusion strategies are critical to success, the implementation of those strategies is far from identical.

Why? Because diversity looks different in individual markets or cultures. Depending on where in the world a company operates, creating diversity in the workforce may mean focusing on diversity of religion, diversity of nationalities, languages, ethnicity, ages, sexual orientation or disabilities.

As Annet Aris, an adjunct professor of strategy at INSEAD, writes: The first step towards a successfully diverse organization requires a true acceptance by senior management that diversity in all its forms brings tangible benefits. Moral principles, such as everyone should be given an equal chance, are good, but are not sufficient to move a company forward. There has to be a genuine conviction within the management that diversity provides access to a broader talent pool and ultimately leads to improved decisions and a healthier culture.

Most diversity training programs focus on gender diversity and racial diversity, with little emphasis on diversity-focused development and diversity retention programs . Additionally, most management teams are still driven by biases that prevent the understanding of how to effectively address large disparities that often exist among employees.

Perhaps nowhere is this discrepancy more evident than in the tech industry. Googles own diversity report indicates that 70 percent of employees are male and 2 percent are black. At Twitter, white people comprise 72 percent of the leadership team, with the other 28 percent being Asian. And women comprise only 16 percent of Facebook s tech team.

Hewlett-Packard the original Silicon Valley tech startup continues to lead by example. The 76-year-old company recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of HP Labs, its exploratory and advanced research arm.

Diversity matters, HP chief executive officer Dion Weisler stressed in a speech marking the occasion at HP headquarters. In many cases, it is lip service, but when you have lived and worked in 10 countries around the world, and you get to witness the life of a farmer in a tier-six city in China who uses a donkey to go shopping, you start to think about how you can design a product that is relevant to that person or to someone in China or the U.S., said Weisler, a native of Australia who did, indeed, live in 10 countries before moving to the United States.

You cant just expect to have one set of folks working in the U.S. designing products for everyone in the world. It just doesnt happen that way, he continued. It also means that innovation can be born anywhere, anytime. It happens best when it is spread around the world. Innovation comes from everywhere. And it needs to come from everywhere if it is to serve global markets. So diversity is the cornerstone, the foundation of how we create innovation and differences of thought. If we get it from all over the world, we are better.

Incidentally, Professional Passport has trained more than 400 R&D engineers from HP. The company understands that optimizing collaboration across cultures is the last bastion of conquering an increase in speed to market a major priority for all global companies.

How to foster diversity right now

The human brain is conditioned to assess differences in others based on its own internal biases, which is why its necessary to mechanically stop the brain from operating on often-false assumptions that force us into one-sided and self-righteous interpretations of the world and those around us.

That requires reframing a situation in the form of an open mind. If you are a woman, for example, do not jump to conclusions because a Muslim colleague doesnt look you in the eyes or refuses to shake your hand. Instead of assuming that his culture does not respect women, understand that is exactly how his culture taught him to show respect toward women.

Additionally, read the individuals body language to help interpret his or her intent, and ask questions to gain clarity. Relying on assumptions, which are systematically and unavoidably rooted in culture, is the surest way to perpetuate misunderstandings and stereotypes. Making sure that we interpret each others intentions correctly will go a long way toward establishing a positive rapport in which the other person acknowledges the attempts at an unbiased approach.

Professional Passports newest course, Cross-Cultural Creativity and Innovation acknowledges that there is no best culture in the workplace or in the world and encourages a safe environment for participants to think, experiment and even fail as they embrace fresh ways of thinking globally. This involves practicing cultural humility and always asking: Is there another way to think about, approach and solve this challenge?

Regaining control over your brains behavior toward bias is a major first step toward understanding the need for and the logic and countless benefits of cultural diversity.