Bersin by Deloitte Research Shows that Leading Organizations Increasingly View Diversity & Inclusion as a Business Imperative, but Few Have an "Inclusive" Culture Today

New Bersin by Deloitte research shows that 71 percent of organizations surveyed aspire to have an "inclusive" Diversity & Inclusion strategy, but only 11 percent of surveyed organizations have one currently

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Bersin by Deloitte

Apr 01, 2014, 08:00 ET

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., April 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Bersin by Deloitte, a leading research and advisory firm empowering Human Resource (HR) organizations to drive bottom-line impact, today announced new research that shows an overwhelming majority (71 percent) of surveyed organizations aspire, within three years, to have an "inclusive" culture that leverages the diverse backgrounds of individuals to drive value and business results by creating an environment where employees feel involved, respected, valued and connected. In sharp contrast, only 11 percent of organizations report that they currently have an "inclusive" culture. Bersin by Deloitte announced the findings at its IMPACT 2014: The Business of Talent® conference at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Summarized in a complimentary WhatWorks® brief, The Diversity and Inclusion Benchmarking Report: An Analysis of the Current Landscape, provides key benchmarks and guidance to help Diversity & Inclusion (D&I), HR and talent leaders make valuable investment decisions. The research found that while D&I emerged in response to federal guidelines in the 1960s, over the past five years more than half (51 percent) of organizations have only progressed beyond a compliance-driven approach to focus on D&I strategies that link to better talent and business outcomes. In addition, more than half (54 percent) of organizations still do not have a D&I function or have one that is staffed solely with volunteers.

"The research shows that organizations are moving beyond a 'check-the-box' mindset of embracing D&I for compliance reasons to a desire to invest in D&I because they understand it will likely enhance employee engagement, better serve customers and increase their organization's innovation and agility," said Stacia Sherman Garr, vice president, Talent Management Research, Bersin by Deloitte, Deloitte Consulting LLP. "Unfortunately, what leaders talk about, publically project and desire is not consistent with the level of investment in D&I. To close the gap between the rhetoric and the reality of D&I, organizations have an opportunity to map D&I efforts to broader talent and business goals and objectives."

Furthermore, Garr said, "organizations help to create an inclusive culture by addressing shortcomings in resource commitment, governance, talent management integration, and the use of metrics that can enable the integration of processes, policies, and activities that result in more inclusive organizational cultures and higher employee engagement."

The nine-month study examined the D&I practices of 245 organizations with operations in North America, more than half (56 percent) of which are global or multinational organizations.

Among the research report's additional findings:

Small monetary investment on a per-employee basis.Despite the advanced understanding of the value of D&I, most organizations are not spending very much on it on a per-employee basis. On average, organizations are spending just $50.69 per employee to support D&I efforts. By contrast, this is about five percent of the $1,169 organizations said they will spend per employee on learning in 2014.
Recruiting processes are not designed to attract diverse employees.Seventy percent of respondents reported their organization promotes itself as being diverse and inclusive, but only 10 percent "strongly agree" that the recruitment process is designed to attract diverse employees. Most organizations reported that they rely primarily on internal employee referrals as their main recruitment source, likely attracting the same workforce demographic mix as their current employee base.
Most organizations have D&I champions and involve senior leaders, but fail to fund D&I initiatives adequately. A large majority of organizations (78 percent) indicate that D&I initiatives require a champion such as an executive spokesperson or advocate. Further, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of respondents indicated that once a new D&I initiative is deployed, senior leaders are actively involved. Yet two-thirds (66 percent) of respondents could not agree with the statement that D&I solutions have a budget adequate for desired impact.
Poor use and communication of D&I metrics within the organization.Although the majority of organizations are tracking metrics, most are not using them effectively. Almost two-thirds (62 percent) of respondents report D&I efforts are not clearly mapped to strategic business outcomes. Only 10 percent of respondents "strongly agree" their organization changes/adjusts/refreshes D&I strategies and solutions based on evaluation data or feedback. While about a third (31 percent) of leaders talk about the business value of inclusion to a great extent, only 12 percent talk about the organization's effectiveness in reaching D&I goals. Moreover, only two percent of all respondents reported that they "strongly agree" that metrics are transparent and shared among all employees.

Bersin by Deloitte today also unveiled a primer that explains the challenges within D&I, and a framework to help organizations understand the breadth of decisions that can lead to better strategies, practices and ultimately better talent and business outcomes in today's struggle for talent and consumers. All of these research-based assets are now available to WhatWorks® members via BersinInsights, the personalized and integrated member information platform.

Register to join Stacia Sherman Garr in her online webinar, Diversity & Inclusion Assessment: An Analysis of the Current Landscape at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on June 5, 2014. The webinar will look at how Diversity and Inclusion, HR and talent leaders at leading organizations around the globe are leveraging D&I to create cultures that are agile, innovative and meet financial targets.

Those interested in learning more about Bersin by Deloitte or its WhatWorks® membership may email [email protected] or call 510-251-4400.

About Bersin by Deloitte
Bersin by Deloitte delivers research-based people strategies designed to help leaders and their organizations in their efforts to deliver exceptional business performance. Our WhatWorks® membership gives Fortune 1000 and Global 2000 HR professionals the information and tools they need to design and implement leading practice solutions, benchmark against others, develop their staff, and select and implement systems. A piece of Bersin by Deloitte research is downloaded on average approximately every minute during the business day. More than 5,000 organizations worldwide use our research and consulting to guide their HR, talent and learning strategies. For more information, please visit http://www.deloitte.com/bersin or http://www.bersin.com.

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte Consulting LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP. Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

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