New Beamery Study Reveals Significant Gaps in Global Workplace Diversity Efforts and Dearth of C-Suite Sponsorship

LONDON and SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Beamery, the leading Talent Operating System, today announced the findings of a comprehensive research initiative, "The State of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Talent Transformation." Focused on bringing diversity, equity and inclusion to the forefront of global talent transformation efforts and helping organizations make tangible impact in 2021 and beyond, the data from over 400 organizations across the U.S. & U.K. revealed that while the vast majority of companies have a strong sense of purpose around DEI, they lack the resources, ownership and budget to affect meaningful change.

"Because Beamery believes that talent equity is fundamentally important, we undertook this body of research to challenge ourselves and others to translate our stated priorities around diversity into real progress," said Kyle Lagunas, Director of Strategy, Beamery. "What we found is that while there is plenty of general support, a lack of focused goals and a preoccupation with diversity rather than inclusion is holding many companies back."

Key research findings include the following:

Widespread support and a desire to make an impact
Organizations are clear on why DEI is important to them. When asked for the primary reason they prioritize diversity, half (50%) reported that their workforce should reflect the communities they serve, another 48% cited competitive advantage, and encouragingly, fewer than one in three cited compliance as their leading motivator. Similarly, many companies -- 58% of those surveyed -- reported having clearly defined DEI goals.

Goals without resources, aspirations without accountability
Despite this strong sense of purpose, no diversity program can succeed without proper support and resourcing, yet:

• Only 40% of organizations cite DEI as a C-level priority;
• Nearly two thirds (60%) have no DEI officer or owner; and
• Fewer than half, 42%, have any dedicated budget for DEI programs.

Priority groups across gender, age and ability
When it comes to groups of interest within the diversity spectrum, the highest priority demographics for companies are:

• Women (81%),
• Underrepresented minorities (79%)
• People living with disabilities (75%),

Identifying these priority groups is crucial to designing and implementing talent programs that attract, engage and retain them, including policies and benefits such as flexibility, pay equity and family planning benefits.

"While we've just scratched the surface of diversity progress in the workplace, the research makes it clear that companies are well-intentioned," continued Lagunas. "Equally encouraging is the robust corps of tools, technologies, and shared best practices now available to executive and talent teams to move DEI in the right direction. In order to overcome persistent challenges, organizations must recognize that success will be iterative and that there is no bad place to start to create impact."

Companies that have embraced diversity as part of the "future of work" are already driving change and making meaningful progress. For example, Brown-Forman, one of the largest American-owned spirits and wine companies, recently announced the Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative, a joint effort between the Jack Daniel Distillery and the Nearest Green Distillery, to advance diversity within the American whisky industry. Both companies are supporting it equally with an initial combined pledge of $5M to help create the Nearest Green School of Distilling, develop the Leadership Acceleration Program for apprenticeships, and establish the Business Incubation Program, focused on providing mentorship and resources to African Americans entering the spirits industry as entrepreneurs.

"Diversity, equity and inclusion is in our DNA. We believe there is power in inclusion, power in diversity and both are a core part of who we are as a business, and the Nearest & Jack Advancement Initiative is just one example of how we're driving change," says Arelis Correa, VP Director of Global Talent Acquisition at Brown-Forman. "At the end of this journey we will be operating differently than we do today, and we will look like a different organization. I'm a huge proponent of continuing to evolve; there's always room for improvement."

For more information and a complete copy of the report, click here.

Research Methodology
The survey was conducted among 414 talent acquisition / recruitment managers and directors from companies with 500+ employees, in the UK (200) and US (214). The interviews were conducted online by Sapio Research in September 2020 using an email invitation and an online survey.

About Beamery
Beamery's Talent Operating System allows enterprises to attract, engage and retain top talent, and manage the entire talent journey on one unified platform. Beamery's mission is to help the world's best companies acquire their greatest assets: their people. Founded in 2014, Beamery has offices in London, Austin and San Francisco. Learn more at www.beamery.com and @BeameryHQ.

SOURCE Beamery

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