Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0
June 2020
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 2
Preface
The start of the decade has seen a convergence of three major trends: Recent events are a reminder of the persistent inequities that continue
the accelerated use of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies in the to pervade our societies and economies. As companies seek to take
midst of the pandemic, job market disruptions to both remote work on more responsibility for addressing social justice ensuring that
and work requiring physical presence, and a wide-ranging call for diversity and equality becomes the norm in the very near future, a key
greater inclusivity, equity and social justice. Now more than ever, in the pathway is to adopt an integrated approach to diversity, equity and
midst of such sweeping change, organizations have an opportunity to inclusion in the workplace, and a renewed commitment to tangible
embed greater diversity, equity and inclusion. Societal change and the change. Ensuring racial justice, gender parity, disability inclusion,
need for future creativity and innovation demand that business consider LGBTI equality and inclusion of all forms of human diversity needs to be
the best use of new technologies in enabling this journey. the “new normal” in the workplace set to emerge from the COVID-19
crisis.
Successful organizations are powered by the diverse opinions, skill sets
and life experiences of their employees. To tap into the full potential of This toolkit is designed to highlight the opportunities and outline the
human diversity, organizations need to hire diverse talent and create challenges specific to greater use of technology in the service of
an inclusive working culture underpinned by a fundamental sense of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. It is designed for organizational
belonging, fairness and equity, enabling people to bring their “full self” leaders, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officers (CDIOs), and others
to work. actively working to promote diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces
globally. It is intended to complement a range of related publications
In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, most companies are set to produced by the World Economic Forum’s Platform for Shaping
implement new technologies and practices to manage their workforces. the Future of the New Economy and Society: “HR4.0: Shaping
However, implementing these tools without due consideration risks a People Strategies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, developed in
range of unintended consequences which can ultimately undermine collaboration with the Forum’s community of Chief Human Resources
a company’s reputation and competitive position. Today, more than Officers (CHROs) and a guide to sound decision-making in the context
ever before, new workplace technologies and practices are no longer of the coronavirus pandemic, “Workforce Principles for the COVID-19
simply “neutral” with regard to diversity, equity and inclusion outcomes. Pandemic: Stakeholder Capitalism in a Time of Crisis”.
Leading companies are increasingly recognizing this and proactively
leveraging technology as part of organization-wide strategies for For more information, or to get involved, please contact the
achieving “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0”. Conversely, companies World Economic Forum’s New Economy and Society team at
without such an integrated approach are increasingly facing unintended cnes@weforum.org.
consequences and risks when implementing new technology tools.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 3
Table of Contents
2 Preface
14 Train and incentivize employees to enhance inclusion and belonging in their daily interactions
19 Acknowledgments
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 4
A range of characteristics pose a risk of exclusion, preferential treatment or discrimination. Among these are:
Policies and practices that create inclusion make all employees feel welcome, valued and respected. They are provided equitable and fair access to
progression opportunities, good working conditions and fair wages. Employees of inclusive organizations experience a deep sense of belonging as well
as being empowered and growing.
Having a sense of belonging at work means that the work environment provides high psychological safety and employees can bring their full selves to
work without fear of judgement. Employees feel comfortable expressing their opinions and ideas freely, and are appreciated for their unique contributions
and recognized for their accomplishments.
Inclusive organizations take wider responsibility not just for the impact they have on their employees’ lives but also on the broader communities in which
they operate, working towards social justice and equity for all.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 5
1. Moral Imperative
Giving equal access and opportunities to all people to work under fair and equitable
conditions is simply the right thing to do. Inclusive companies declare fairness
and opportunity for all as part of their corporate values and codes of conduct,
demarcating exclusionary behaviour as fully unacceptable. Moral questions posed
by new workplace technologies and practices only further underline the need to
build organizational cultures that proactively engage the entirety of their workforce
on these issues.
2. Legal Imperative
The International Labour Organization has put into action a range of conventions
to eliminate discrimination from all aspects of work. Ratified by the vast majority
of countries, they serve as the basis for national legislation on equal treatment and
opportunities in the workplace.
3. Economic Imperative
To reap the full competitive advantages of diversity, equity Expanding hiring to a broader talent pool provides new avenues for staffing hard-to-fill
and inclusion, some initial learning effort by managers, roles, while an inclusive workplace culture is a key driver of employee engagement,
employees and the whole organization may be required – but well-being and retention.
a wide range of research conclusively documents that well-
managed diverse teams significantly outperform well-managed Consequently, companies leading their geography and industry for diversity, equity,
homogenous ones over time (see Figure 1). inclusion and belonging perform better than their market average across a wide range
of key performance metrics:
To achieve this, companies will need to move beyond a focus
on diversity for its own sake towards a focus on providing a Profitability: 25%-36% more likely to outperform on profitabilityII
safe, open and inclusive work environment that is underpinned
by a sense of belonging for all employees. In return, diverse Innovation: Up to 20% higher rate of innovationIII and 19% higher innovation revenuesIV
and inclusive teams – if well managed – have a broader range
of knowledge and skills; are better at identifying and solving Decision-making: Up to 30% greater ability of spotting and reducing business risksV
problems that others may overlook; and gain a competitive
edge in accessing new markets and higher market share. Employee engagement: Statistically significant causal relationship with engagement
and retention, for all employeesVI
Conversely, companies that fall behind their regional and industry peers in diversity,
equity, inclusion and belonging see a competitiveness penalty, being 29% less likely
to achieve above-average profitability than their market mean.VII All of these factors are
becoming ever more crucial for success in the “new normal” workplace and economy
of the future.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 7
The “new normal” workplace emerging from the COVID-19 crisis is likely to
significantly accelerate these trends.
An Organization-Wide Approach
As noted in detail in this toolkit’s sister publication, HR4.0: Shaping People
Strategies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, achieving diversity, equity
and inclusion requires an organization-wide effort from the most senior
leaders of the organization, who can set the tone and lead by example
with their actions, as well as by all managers of personnel and by all
employees. A systemic transformation that creates a diverse, equitable
and inclusive company spans the breadth of the company itself – its
brand, its working culture, organizational processes, recruitment, reward
and performance management as well as inclusive and accessible working
facilities (Figure 2). If managed well, such an approach can be supported
greatly by the appropriate use of relevant new technology tools.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 8
Tech-Enabled Solution: Supplement job advert text that is likely to bias the applicant pool. For example:
— AI-powered text analytics such as natural language processing evaluate the patterns within the language used in a job advert and
rate it on its neutrality and appeal to different populations
— Augmented writing interfaces suggest alternative wordings to author more inclusive job descriptions
Tech-Enabled Solution: Expand candidate search capabilities to target diverse groups, including sourcing passive candidates. For example:
Examples of technology providers include: HiringSolved, Jaws, Joonko, Jopwell, Seekout, Teamable
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 11
Tech-Enabled Solution: Analyse employee data at scale, set targets and benchmark against peers. For example:
— AI-powered analytics solutions aggregate and process HR data at scale to distil key statistics about an organization’s workforce such as
its composition across functions, levels and pay grades
— Cloud-based tracking dashboards provide real-time information on diversity and inclusion KPIs related to pay equity and career
progression alongside core compliance metrics
— Cross-industry and geography benchmarking indices give leaders visibility of their competitive advantage or disadvantage as an employer
Examples of technology providers include: Gapsquare, LinkedIn Talent Insights, Our Office, People Fluent, Pipeline, Scout, Stratus TMS, Workday
Tech-Enabled Solution: Analyse employee interaction and dispositions, providing insight into target areas for further diversity, equity and inclusion
training. For example:
— Behavioural assessment tools for people managers and employees which can be used as input for further coaching and development
— Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing technologies provide anonymized analysis of employee interaction or communication
channels such as Slack or Microsoft Teams and can evaluate biases and exclusionary behaviour, sometimes utilizing methods such as
organizational network analysis
Examples of technology providers include: Bunch, Envisia Learning, Harvard Implicit Bias, OrgAnalytix, Mesh/diversity, Trustphere
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 13
Tech-Enabled Solution: Expand employees’ soft skills in empathy by exposing them to other points of view and perspectives. For example:
— Virtual and augmented reality tools provide behavioural training, experiential learning and bias awareness through scenario re-enactment,
helping employees enhance their soft skills
— Machine learning and natural language processing technologies capture, analyse and generate overviews of managers’ workplace
communication within and across their team
— Collaboration platforms incentivize divergent ideas and greater inclusion by design
Examples of technology providers include: AllieBot, Balloonr, BeingVR, Cultivate, Equal Reality, Pluto, Planbox, Translator, Talespin, Vantage Point
Tech-Enabled Solution: Help structure performance and progression management by collecting recognition and reward data, analysing
performance review language and selecting feedback networks. For example:
— Machine learning applications suggest the most relevant colleagues to give performance feedback based on how, when and where people work
and interact with one another within the organization
— Natural language processing applications identify biased language in written performance reviews and highlight if a performance review does not
match the ultimate performance rating
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 15
To realize the potential of new workplace technologies, organizations seeking to implement an integrated Diversity, Equity and
Inclusion 4.0 approach should ask technology providers to share details about:
— Clarity about the input data used and how it addresses any privacy concerns
— Evidence base for the validity of psychometric methods used in the evaluation
— Due diligence on whether the product has biased outcomes by race, ethnicity, gender or other dimensions
— Reporting on the diversity of the teams that have produced the tool and on the adequacy of their bias mitigation training
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 17
—, The role of diversity practices and inclusion in promoting trust and employee engagement, 2015,
https://www2.deloitte.com/au/en/pages/human-capital/articles/role-diversity-practices-inclusion-trust-employee-engagement.html
Hewlett, S.A., Marshall, M. and Sherbin, L., “How Diversity Can Drive Innovation”, Harvard Business Review, December 2013,
https://hbr.org/2013/12/how-diversity-can-drive-innovation
Korn Ferry Institute, The Inclusive Leader: Optimizing diversity by leveraging the power of inclusion, 2019,
https://www.kornferry.com/content/dam/kornferry/docs/article-migration/Korn-Ferry-The-Inclusive-Leader_2019_06.pdf
RedThread Research and Mercer, Diversity & Inclusion Technology: The Rise of a Transformative Market, 2019
Rocio, L. and Reeves, M., “How And Where Diversity Drives Financial Performance”, Harvard Business Review, January 2018,
https://hbr.org/2018/01/how-and-where-diversity-drives-financialperformance
West, S.M., Whittaker, M. and Crawford, K., Discriminating Systems: Gender, Race and Power in AI, AI Now Institute, 2019,
https://ainowinstitute.org/discriminatingsystems.html
World Economic Forum, HR4.0: Shaping People Strategies in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, 2019
World Economic Forum, Workforce Principles for the COVID-19 Pandemic: Stakeholder Capitalism in a Time of Crisis, 2020
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 18
Acknowledgments
The World Economic Forum would like to thank the members of the The views expressed in this toolkit do not necessarily
Platform for Shaping the Future of the New Economy and Society, represent the views of the World Economic Forum nor those of
the Stewardship Board for Equality and Inclusion and the Members its Members and Partners. This briefing is a contribution to the
of the Global Future Council on the New Equality and Inclusion World Economic Forum’s insight and interaction activities and
Agenda for their thought leadership and guidance. We also thank is published to elicit comments and further debate.
the members of the broader core community of the Platform for
their ongoing commitment and contributions to addressing several
of the challenges discussed in this toolkit.
Members of the Global Future Council on the New Equality and Inclusion Agenda
Prasad Swaminathan, Council Co-Chair, Group Head of Talent and Learning, ABB
Laura D. Tyson, Council Co-Chair, Distinguished Professor, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley
Michael D. Aguirre, Council Fellow, Postgraduate Fellow, Inequality in America Initiative, Harvard University
Jahanzaib Ansari, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Knockri
Gary Barker, President and Chief Executive Officer, Promundo Global
Umran Beba, Senior Vice-President; Chief Human Resources Officer, Human Capital Management, PepsiCo Inc.
Haroon Bhorat, Director, DPRU, School of Economics, University of Cape Town
Sari Brody, Global Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, IKEA
Wanda Bryant Hope, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Johnson & Johnson
Caroline Casey, Founder and Director, The Valuable 500
Mario Martin Delgado Carrillo, Chairman of the Political Coordination Board of MORENA, Chamber of Deputies of Mexico
Patsy Doerr, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Credit Suisse
Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General, Secretaría General Iberoamericana (SEGIB)
Nora Lustig, Samuel Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Economics, Director, Commitment to Equity Institute, Tulane University
Mary Lou Maher, Head of Global Diversity and Inclusion, KPMG
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 4.0 A toolkit for leaders to accelerate social progress in the future of work 19
John Morrison, Chief Executive Officer, The Institute for Human Rights and Business Limited (IHRB)
Lisa Nishii, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Cornell University
Rachel Osikoya, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Maersk
Wade Rakes, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Centene Corporation
Chris Rowland, Global Diversity Officer, Manpower
Bhushan Sethi, Joint Global Leader for PwC People and Organization Practice, PwC
Kathryn Shaw, Professor of Economics, Stanford Business School
Hessa Tahlak, Assistant Undersecretary for Social Affairs, Ministry of Community Development of the United Arab Emirates
Judith Williams, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, SAP
I
https://www.ilo.org/global/standards/subjects-covered-by-international-labour-standards/equality-of-opportunity-and-treatment/lang--en/index.htm
II
McKinsey & Company, Diversity Wins: How inclusion matters, 2020
III
Deloitte, Diversity and Inclusion Revolution: Eight Powerful Truths, 2018
IV
Rocio Lorenzo and Martin Reeves, “How And Where Diversity Drives Financial Performance,” Harvard Business Review, 2018, https://hbr.org/2018/01/how-and-where-diversity-drives-financialperformance
V
Deloitte, Diversity and Inclusion Revolution: Eight Powerful Truths, 2018
VI
Deloitte, The role of diversity practices and inclusion in promoting trust and employee engagement, 2015.
VII
McKinsey & Company, Diversity Wins: How inclusion matters, 2020
VIII
RedThread Research and Mercer, Diversity & Inclusion Technology: The Rise of a Transformative Market, 2019
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