D&I - Flourishing or Languishing with Frontline Leaders?
Alignment and Commitment from the Top Team to the Frontline are critical to achieve the impact of any well executed strategy.
When it comes to Diversity and Inclusion strategies, it's clear Top Teams have a deeper understanding of their business value than the Frontline, hence a greater commitment to excellent execution. They are also more likely to be compensated on the organisation's top and bottom line business outcomes than frontline leaders, whose performance based compensation is usually aligned to priority operational outcomes.
Without the consistent commitment of frontline leaders and teams, your Diversity and Inclusion strategy is very likely to languish, rather than flourish.
How do we Ensure D&I Strategies Flourish with Frontline Leadership?
Message what Matters
The key is to personalise the impact and value of Diversity and Inclusion, based on the Leader's primary operational priorities.
There’s a plethora of diversity dividends to be achieved at both Industry and Functional levels, which roll up to demonstrate the organisation level impact we’ve become familiar with.*
Below are some common Industry based Diversity Dividends:
The Tech industry embraced diversity because of its ability to enable innovation and revenue growth.
In recent years, the Financial Services industry, embraced diversity, inclusion and psychological safety because of their positive impact on ethics and risk which flow through to the bottom line.
In Manufacturing and heavy industries, it's proven to be impactful in increasing physical safety,
and in Professional Services, it has been a catalyst for talent attraction and retention.
There's a similarly wide range of Diversity Dividends available based on your Functional Focus.
Providing there is a Culture of Inclusion, Diversity can create competitive advantage on a multitude of leading business indicators:
In Sales the focus is on customer connection and loyalty, an important contributor to revenue;
In Marketing, diversity increases your ability to better understand your target market and create compelling brand messages that really resonate;
In Finance, diversity is compelling because it delivers productivity and profitability;
In Research and Development, diversity increases the "intelligence quotient" in your team and the ability to create 'out of the box' products and solutions;
In Human Resources, it's compelling because of its ability to attract talent in a tight market.
Individual functions benefit in a plethora of different ways from Diversity and Inclusion!
Aligning Messages and Metrics at the Frontline
Diversity fatigue (and if we’re honest, some fear) can occur at the Frontline.* Tailored messages and performance based rewards aligned to leading functional indicators, will likely galvanise focus and reignite commitment.
Educating leaders to understand how the mechanics of diverse teams drive competitive advantage, is recognised one of the most compelling drivers for leaders.*
Further, understanding its under-represented talent who will most increase your team’s "intelligence quotient" and create competitive advantage, helps leaders embrace a different view of ‘merit’.
A significant opportunity awaits Frontline Leaders willing to create personalised people experiences, which work for everyone equally.
Many organisations now have sufficiently flexible WorkPlace policies and practices to enable Frontline Leaders and Teams to establish what works best for them.
Frontline Leaders and Teams wanting to create competitive advantage and capitalise on a unique opportunity, will discover embracing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion fuels their functional business indicators.
Will your Frontline Leaders and Teams respond to society's changing expectations and grasp the opportunity for business and people to flourish - or will they languish until dragged into the modern era by frustrated investors and communities who can see a brighter alternative?
Inclusive Leadership who Practice Inclusion and Embrace Diversity achieve Better Business for Belonging - for us all!
At I LEAD Consulting we enable diverse teams, Inclusive Leaders and Collective Cultures to achieve the highest degree of performance and impact.
PRACTICE INCLUSION | EMBRACE DIVERSITY | ACTIVATE ALLIES
*DCA; McKinsey; BCG; Dream Collective; The Economist
