Diversity PwC
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Find out how your companies’ diversity programmes are working out

12 Jan 2017

PwC has released a new tool to measure various companies’ diversity and inclusion programmes, with almost half of those already surveyed admitting that not enough is being done.

Called the ‘Global diversity and inclusion survey’, PwC’s new tool takes an interesting approach into investigating workplace practices across industries and borders.

Having already questioned 500 leaders in business, diversity and inclusion (D&I) and HR, around 48pc of respondents admitted that, from an employee point of view, diversity remains a real barrier for career progression.

According to PwC, this can be put down to company D&I programmes not effectively achieving original objectives. Respondents from local companies were significantly less likely to see diversity as a barrier (25pc) than their peers at companies with a global footprint (43pc).

“While companies have made public commitments and significant investments in D&I, there continues to be gaps between strategy and execution,” said Bhushan Sethi, PwC’s principal consultant for people and organisations.

“Closing this gap requires that business leaders focus on the next frontier for D&I: embedding D&I into not only people strategy, but broader business decisions about customers, products, brand, and location.”

80pc of those surveyed already claim to be hard at work in developing a pipeline of diverse leaders, with around half that looking to hire more diverse candidates. Given the importance of leadership when inspiring new recruits, this could prove important.

A simple, multiple-choice survey, PwC’s data shows that organisations where diversity isn’t seen as a barrier to employee progression had a few key elements in common. Most tellingly, they tend to have a dedicated D&I programme leader who is a C-Suite executive and can drive the agenda forward.

The project comes on the back of PwC recently hiring Sharmila Karve as its global diversity and inclusion leader.

“When it comes to diversity, words are not enough,” said Bob Moritz, chair of PwC.

“People need to see tangible actions and results to feel they are working in a diverse and inclusive environment. It’s not surprising that organisations that score best on diversity and inclusion have a dedicated leader who is part of the C-suite and having impact in the organisation.”

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Gordon Hunt
By Gordon Hunt

Gordon Hunt joined Silicon Republic in October 2014 as a journalist. He spends most of his time avoiding conversations about music, appreciating even the least creative pun and rueing the day he panicked when meeting Paul McGrath. His favourite thing on the internet is the ‘Random Article’ link on Wikipedia.

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