The importance of structural inclusion

Fayruz Kirtzman – Let’s Talk

I would say what you should be doing is start considering DE&I a strategic imperative. Just like any other business imperative.

Is there a lack of underrepresented talent in companies?

You want an honest answer? I think that's a cop out. I think it's an excuse not to be creative in how we attract the right talent, how we advance it, and how we keep it.

What we call this focus, really, is structural inclusion. If organizations don't have structural inclusion, meaning, if their talent management practices have certain inequities built in and because of those, it's harder to recruit or advance underrepresented talent, it's easy to say, "oh, well there aren't any".

Outperform their peers.

The diverse and equitable and inclusive organizations outperform their peers. Organizations see higher growth rates.

70% more likely to capture new markets are those organizations that have a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. 75% see that their ideas become productized faster - a faster time to market. They're more profitable.

Companies with ethnically diverse executive teams are actually 33% more likely to outperform on profitability. They're more innovative. That's a no brainer. You can't innovate with sameness.