Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Our world is changing at unprecedented speed, with advancements in technology, shifting demographics and a changing workforce. The way we work and those we work with are changing too – bringing forth greater challenges to solve with less time. Yet we find ourselves at a unique crossroads, where diverse environments become the building blocks for broader thinking and innovation, and inclusive cultures invite an array of ideas and foster the safe environments in which to speak up. 

To thrive in this changing world, organisations need to adopt a healthy company culture, where inclusion and diversity (I&D) is steeped in the talent experience, and employees bring their best selves to work – collaborating, ideating and helping to increase overall engagement, productivity, financial results and employee wellbeing.

Moving beyond legislative and regulatory requirements

Beyond legislative and regulatory requirements, fostering a healthy company culture is imperative. WTW can help you to create or enhance a culture and supporting programmes that are built on mutual respect and trust, purpose and values, an inclusive and diverse work environment and a safe and secure workplace, where colleagues can experience a sense of self-respect, pride and self-worth (also known as workplace dignity).

How inclusion and diversity increases company performance

85%

of CEOs whose organisations have an inclusion and diversity strategy say it has improved their bottom line.

Fortune 500 companies with a higher representation of women on their boards of directors outperform their peers by

53%

in returns on equity and 42% in returns on sales.

Organisations that have high ratings for inclusion and diversity are

70%

more likely to have success in new markets, and 45% more likely to improve their market share.

Sources: PwC's 2015 CEO survey; Catalyst; The Center for Talent Innovation

Making inclusion and diversity an integral part of the talent experience and talent value proposition

Organisations that realise the true impact of an inclusive and diverse workforce have an opportunity to reflect on their current talent experience and overall talent value proposition. WTW helps organisations move far beyond compliance by taking a closer look at how it fosters inclusion and diversity efforts thru the lens of purpose, work, people and total rewards.

We help organisations to answer the difficult questions about I&D:

• Purpose: Does my organisation support inclusion and diversity efforts? Is I&D part of our mission and values? For publicly traded companies, is it part of our employee-support-group commitments and/or sustainability metrics?
• Work: Do fair career development opportunities exist for me? Does unconscious bias exist? Are teams diverse?
• People: Is the company attracting and retaining the right talent, particularly from crucial talent segments? Do I feel like I can bring my authentic self to work? Is it safe to speak up?
• Total Rewards: Does my company provide benefits – or access to benefits – to all segments of the workforce that “meet them where they are and where they want to go”? Does my company support fair pay programmes and measures?

We can help you seise the opportunity to create a talent experience that not only meets your employees where they are today (thru personalisation, choice, flexible work arrangements and more) – but also helps you take them where they want to go tomorrow.

How important is I&D to today’s businesses?

71%

of global companies have processes to remove bias on hiring.

58%

of UK companies say gender pay equality is becoming more important in base pay decisions (NA 41%, EMEA 39%).

56%

of global companies have processes in place to remove bias on promotion.

Source: 2018 Getting Compensation Right Global Pulse Survey 2018

We advise our clients on the same strategies, cultural reinforcement and best practices for I&D that we are implementing as part of the WTW journey, with a recognition that the road continues. We can help you evolve and adapt along the way by: 

• Conducting compensation and benefit programme diagnostics and redesign, such as fair pay and pay equity analyses, as well as purpose-driven benefits, to help ensure inclusiveness in Total Rewards
• Leading workforce planning sessions and designing inclusive talent and succession programmes
• Crafting and modelling the impact of policy changes and listening strategies and providing insights into employee engagement
• Leading I&D implementation with our expertise in change management and communication support

Be it thru modernising total rewards and benefits programmes, enhancing integrated wellbeing or assessing future of work strategies, we believe that fostering healthy company cultures steeped in inclusion and diversity will have the greatest impact on today’s talent experience – and demonstrate a commitment to a shared purpose and empowerment of the workforce.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you with your I&D strategy, approaches and programmes.