Opinion article for Jornal Económico | Migration: Accelerating Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging in Business

Posted by The Lisbon MBA on 5 May, 2022 10:23 am

The companies of the future are the ones that bet on diverse teams and work on their inclusion. Employees, consumers, and investors are already demanding it.

 

According to Mariana Brilhante, today´s consumers demand companies to be more aware of their impact on society, both environmentally and socially. In turn, this is reflected in the financing, with the emergence of loans linked to ESG metrics.

 

At the same time, migration numbers are increasing. One of the reasons is the various world conflicts that force people to leave their country, with the current war in Ukraine being a recent example. Societies are becoming more multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious. According to Eurostat, 23.7 million people (5.3%) of the 447.2 million people living in the European Union are non-European citizens.

 

Therefore, Mariana tells us that it is urgent and crucial that societies see migration as an opportunity by pinpointing clear economic arguments for well-managed and integrated migrants in their new country and labor market. The Co-founder & Diversity & Inclusion Consultant at SPEAK proceeds by highlighting some of the key benefits that come from a sound Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEI&P) strategy by looking at the economic rationale that supports this thesis:

  1. Profit – According to the Harvard Business Review, companies with above-average diversity show 19% higher profits from innovation and 9% higher EBIT margins than companies with less diversity. And in a 2019 McKinsey analysis, companies in the top quartile in cultural and ethnic diversity in their management teams had 36% higher financial performance than their peers in the bottom quartile.
  2. Talent – 76 % of employees and job seekers (according to a survey by the website Glassdoor) take diversity and inclusion strategy into account when choosing which company they want to work for. The competition for talent will be dictated by how companies treat their human resources and will have to go beyond a good financial package.
  3. Reputation – In several countries, there is already a requirement to publish information related to diversity and inclusion, such as publishing information related to the gender pay gap. The opportunity is considerable for those who can be at the forefront.

 

The alumna concludes the article by stating that if consumers, employees, and investors want companies that represent society and value diversity in its entirety, companies will need to implement diversity, equity, and belonging policies to ensure that they retain talent, meet consumer needs demands and fulfill investor requirements.

 

Read the full article (original) in Portuguese here.

Source: Jornal Económico