A new report from international consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers spells out 10 lessons the company says it learned from diversity efforts within its own ranks.

Here they are:

Lesson 1: Tailor the business case, then make it resonate

  • It goes without saying that diversity is the right thing to do. But more than that, when optimised it presents the opportunity for many business performance benefits. We live in an era in which five global megatrends – urbanisation, shifting economic power, demographic changes, resource scarcity & climate change, and technological advances – are organically reshaping societies and businesses worldwide. Combine this with the fact those organisations with the most diverse groups of thoughtful talent will be the ones best placed to thrive in their responses to the challenges created by the megatrends, and the message is clear. Achieving diversity is a challenge – but also presents an opportunity that no organisation can afford to ignore. To make this message ‘real’, it’s essential to create a robust, organisation-focused business case derived from, and positioned to support success of the organisation’s business strategy. It is only with this approach that it will resonate with the leaders and people across a business. In doing this, it’s also vital to recognise that one size does not fit all. What will motivate one leader to sponsor and act – business results, for example – may be very different from what will compel another, such as diversity being the right thing to do.

Lesson 2: Recognise there is no ‘quick fix’

  • With ever-increasing numbers of diverse talent entering the workforce, we have seen diversity catapult its way onto the CEO agenda in recent years. But despite this rise in awareness, visible progress is still not being achieved. In trying to overcome this inertia, it is critical to understand that diversity has no ‘quick fix’ solution. Demonstrable and sustainable progress can only be achieved through a comprehensive change management approach that tackles behavioural, process and cultural transformation. This is why we at PwC approach D&I through our holistic PwC D&I ecosystem.

Lesson 3: No leadership commitment, no accountability, no progress

  • Without the right levels of leadership commitment, and – even more importantly – the appropriate accountability infrastructure, it will prove very challenging to move the needle on diversity in a sustainable way. Put simply, having leadership commitment to, and accountability for, D&I is critical. At PwC we achieve this through our established D&I governance structure and the PwC Global Inclusion Index.

Lesson 4: Use data analytics in planning the programme

  • An approach driven by externally recognised leading practices might win diversity awards, but may not deliver meaningful progress. Transitioning from a leading practice-driven approach to a data-driven approach is fundamental in creating a D&I programme that tackles the actual rather than assumed barriers to diversity. And only when you understand and confront the actual barriers do you lay the groundwork for subsequent success.

Lesson 5: …and use data analytics in executing the programme

  • To make real progress, it is not enough to adopt what feel like creative and innovative policies or programmes, or feel comfortable that you are getting things right because those practices are lauded as leading practices externally. Instead, it’s fundamental that you identify and track robust, relevant KPIs to measure the success of any D&I intervention you initiate. To make visible, credible headway, organisations must stay focused on and be confident that they are driving critical interventions that work.

Lesson 6: One size does not fit all cultures

  • When driving a global D&I strategy, trying to enforce a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to diversity will not work. In fact, pushing an approach or programme that is not sensitive to local cultures may do more harm than good. Instead, the D&I strategy must take account of the nuances and variances that exist in business cultures across the globe. And diversity programmes will need to be driven with allowances for local context, in recognition of the fact that the challenges and appropriate change approach will be influenced by geography, and indeed by the cultural norms in different parts of the business. Given these requirements, the key is to focus on global consistency underpinned by local delivery. At PwC we try to get this right by encouraging localisation of our global D&I activities, making the transition to our ‘2+1’ approach to dimensions of diversity, and establishing a culture of local action planning and priorities in response to the realities of diversity in each PwC firm.

Lesson 7: Embed D&I within organisational DNA

  • Sustainable progress will not be achieved if D&I is driven in a silo. D&I must be embedded within the DNA of an organisation, identified as fundamental to its success and naturally woven into the fabric of its business, customer and workforce strategies. This is not easy, and certainly won’t happen overnight. The paramount aim should be to achieve an active journey that engages and influences stakeholders across the organisation towards the goal of a business environment where D&I is an intuitive and implicit aspect of every discussion, activity, people and business process, and customer interaction.

Lesson 8: A focus on inclusion from day one

  • It can be very tempting to focus all diversity energy and resource on those areas where the most significant diversity gaps exist – which is typically at the top of an organisation. However, this type of highly targeted approach may have limited long-term impact. Broad and sustainable progress across the organisation will only be achieved by combining a laser focus on leadership diversity with substantive action that drives an inclusive talent culture and talent systems from day one and from the ground up. This means establishing critical interventions that work throughout the whole talent lifecycle. Without tackling the systemic challenges that arise earlier in the talent process, organisations will continue to face the same diversity gaps in the succession pipeline at the top.

Lesson 9: Recognise performance over presence

  • It is important that approaches to flexible working respond to the changing demographic make-up, expectations and needs of the modern workforce. Outdated views and approaches that associate flexibility with traditional stereotypes and don’t capitalise on technology must end. An organisational culture that recognises impact and performance over presence and identifies flexibility as a talent-wide proposition is an organisation where all talented people can thrive.

Lesson 10: Engage the masses

  • Commitment to diversity is becoming increasingly important for organisations to attract talent – and today’s talent want to see both commitment to diversity and visible progress being made. Leadership commitment and the dedicated engagement of key stakeholders will take the organisation a long way on its diversity journey, but will not be enough to achieve true success. A D&I strategy needs to be inclusive of everyone. So organisations should engage every one of their people in their diversity journey, empower all of them to be agents for change, and share progress with them at every step along the way. To learn more about the PwC Diversity & Inclusion journey, please visit: www.pwc.com/diversityjourney.

​Read more at:

http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/diversity-inclusion/best-practices/assets/the-pwc-diversity-journey.pdf