Diversity, Inclusion 'Critical' to High Performance at Work: Researchers

Higher productivity among employees is linked to workplaces that have higher degrees of diversity and inclusion, according to a new report released Wednesday by the United Nations' Geneva-based International Labour Organization (ILO).

The report, which collected data last summer amid the coronavirus pandemic, said on-the-job innovation and performance, employee retention and employee well-being were also reported at higher levels in workplaces with greater diversity. Even so, researchers said "too little is being done" to encourage diversity, which leaves companies and employees "missing out on considerable potential benefits."

"An equal, diverse and inclusive workplace is a key driver of resilience and recovery," ILO Conditions of Work and Equality Department Director Manuela Tomei said in a Wednesday press release.

The report said the team's findings build "on the wealth of existing research showing the critical role of diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the high performance of the workforce, businesses, economies and societies globally."

The pandemic "exposed and exacerbated existing inequalities" in the workplace and throughout society, researchers said. In the U.S., the "Great Resignation" trend saw millions of workers quitting their jobs during the upheaval to leave the workforce, find new positions or go into business for themselves. As countries around the world embrace an endemic approach to COVID-19, employees and employers alike are determining which changes made to the workplace during the pandemic will stick around.

ILO researchers assessed data gathered from more than 12,000 workers across 75 countries between July and September 2021. The employees surveyed worked at a wide range of companies within lower- and upper-middle-income areas, and filled roles ranging from lower-level staff members to higher-level executives.

More than half of the study's respondents told researchers companies' focus on diversity and inclusion has increased since the pandemic began, as have workers' expectations for how employers will take action to encourage diversity in the workplace.

While researchers said nearly all—about 92 percent—of those who work in higher-level positions reported feeling included at work, that number declined to about three in four when researchers spoke with lower-level employees.

About three in four respondents said most higher management positions were held by men, with women filling less than 40 percent of those top roles. Another group lacking representation in top positions included individuals with disabilities, with about one-third of respondents saying did not fill any of those roles in their workplaces.

Moving forward, researchers identified four strategies that they said can be applied among employers around the world to help create inclusion. Those four principles were identified as prioritizing diversity and inclusion in a workplace's culture and business strategy, having individuals who represent minority groups fill top positions, ensuring lower- and higher-level employees alike are "held accountable" as diversity and inclusion "role models," and making sure diversity and inclusion policies are retained throughout a worker's time at a company.

According to the report, about two in three respondents said their company had a way to measure inclusion, which researchers said is a process "essential for progress." Companies that do have these policies in place enforce them in different ways, with multinational organizations more likely to adopt them than small or mid-sized businesses. Government policies and business incentives for addressing diversity and inclusion in the workplace both play a role in encouraging companies to adopt these kinds of policies, researchers wrote.

Tomei and Deborah France-Massin, the director of the ILO Bureau for Employers' Activities, wrote in the report's preface that they "hope" their research "contributes to inclusive and resilient recovery efforts led by policymakers, labour market institutions, businesses and workers, academia, international organizations and other stakeholders."

Newsweek reached out to the ILO for comment and will update this article with any response.