Diversity in business is hampered by a data gap, finds new research from Brunel University, commissioned by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Towards better diversity management – which summarises the full research and draws on previous work on the subject – reveals that organisations globally often lack basic information about diversity in the workforce or their marketplace. The paper urges companies to involve the finance function to identify the data gaps, and then measure, analyse and interpret the data.
Claudia Chapman, head of policy and campaigns at ACCA, comments: 'The expertise of the finance team can help demonstrate the linkages between good diversity management and business performance. The finance function could help diversity managers overcome some of the hurdles to success such as the pressure for short-term business results and lack of support within the business.'
The paper recommends that an effective business case for diversity should not just focus on the bottom line, but also account for shareholder value, stakeholder value, the regulatory context and the global value chain of the company’s operations – which organisations are urged to think about more.
Brunel’s academic experts offer four recommendations for business, regardless of the sector in which they work, saying:
- Customise the business case taking into account a wide range of stakeholders and the environment;
- Make data central to design;
- Give the finance function a central role in the design of a business case;
- Prepare the business to focus on medium-term and long-term gains to see the greatest benefit.
Nikki Walker, from diversity and inclusion (D&I) consultancy more2Gain, also argues in the paper for the involvement of finance teams in D&I activities to gain executive and management commitment, saying: 'Business people focus on what they think will bring business value. Unless you can demonstrate to senior business leaders and to managers that there is value in them doing something different, why would they do it? Intellectually accepting that greater diversity would be the ‘right’ or ‘fair’ thing to do is not enough. You have to show them the opportunity or the loss and risk if they don’t do it.'
Bruce Jackson, ESRC’s Senior Knowledge Exchange Manager, commented: 'Through our partnership with ACCA we share a commitment to encouraging independent, high quality research that informs and impacts business, the third and public sectors as well as governments. This paper brings together findings from a series of high-quality independent research projects that explore the issues surrounding diversity in business and gives a number of action points for senior management and finance functions to help their businesses grow and prosper in an increasingly global context.'
Claudia Chapman concludes: 'There is clear value in the finance function and accounting teams being included in demonstrating how the business impact of workforce diversity can be measured. Finance can strengthen the diversity business case, enable accountability and governance, but someone needs to make the first move.'
Read Towards better diversity management, via the 'Related links' section, left of this article.
- ENDS - Recommendations for Senior Management from the Report
Ten action points for senior management to help organisations develop their business case for diversity management:
- Define what diversity means for you.
- Identify your strategic priorities.
- Know your data sources and needs to leverage diversity towards priorities.
- Take stock of your current data and new data.
- Gather data, build trust, and demonstrate integrity in use of data.
- Develop a business case by linking diversity data with business outcomes.
- Achieve commitment from stakeholders for implementing the policy based on the business case
- Craft diversity strategies that are informed by the business case.
- Share the responsibility for management of diversity across the organisation.
- Monitor the effectiveness of the business case.
Eight action points for the finance function from the Report:
- Finance functions should play a key role in the creation and implementation of effective diversity policies that are based on a sound business case. The finance function could:
- Approach HR and diversity colleagues to propose working together to assess diversity in the organisation and its interaction with management strategy
- With HR, identify the most appropriate measures for analysing diversity impacts – financial measures and softer metrics such as employee or customer satisfaction
- Assess the quality and extent of current diversity data and whether this needs to be improved
- Consider including shareholder value, wider stakeholder value, regulatory costs and the global value chain in the scope of the business case
- Consider the financial impact of lost business (perhaps through failure to meet clients’ diversity expectations) as well as potential for increased turnover and profit from improved customer understanding through greater organisational diversity
- Tailor the business case and its presentation for the audience, whether HR, line managers or C-suite executives
- Establish governance around diversity actions, for example, by including diversity KPIs in management reporting packs
- Turn the spotlight on themselves: is the finance function – through its standard methodologies or reporting approaches – acting as a blocker to diversity initiatives in the organisation?
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Notes to Editors
- The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funds research into the big social and economic questions facing us today. We also develop and train the UK’s future social scientists. Our research informs public policies and helps make businesses, voluntary bodies and other organisations more effective. Most importantly, it makes a real difference to all our lives. The ESRC is an independent organisation, established by Royal Charter in 1965, and funded mainly by the Government. In 2015 the ESRC celebrates its 50th anniversary.
- ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.
- We support our 170,000 members and 436,000 students in 180 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. We work through a network of 91 offices and centres and more than 8,500 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through our public interest remit, we promote appropriate regulation of accounting and conduct relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.
- Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. We believe that accountants bring value to economies in all stages of development and seek to develop capacity in the profession and encourage the adoption of global standards. Our values are aligned to the needs of employers in all sectors and we ensure that through our qualifications, we prepare accountants for business. We seek to open up the profession to people of all backgrounds and remove artificial barriers, innovating our qualifications and delivery to meet the diverse needs of trainee professionals and their employers
IP卡
狗仔卡
提升卡
置顶卡
沉默卡
喧嚣卡
变色卡
千斤顶
显身卡