Finance Monthly - January 2022

s the importance of D&I in the workplace rapidly grows, organisations are introducing more and more initiatives with a much broader impact on the business. Leadership teams are finding themselves increasingly focused on metrics and quotas. And all of us are navigating the “future of work”, as well as trying to understand the role that D&I will play. With so much going on, it’s easy to see how we could forget that people are at the heart of this topic. Like many other recent changes, this increased focus on D&I can be attributed – at least partially – to the COVID-19 pandemic. While there are certainly many other factors that have shaped the current climate, the global health crisis had a way of reminding us about the people who are our colleagues, employees, clients and customers. Suddenly, as we battled the same personal challenges, saw into each other’s houses, and caught glimpses of each other’s families, roommates and pets – work became more human. Work also became more digital, and after the initial disruption, the flexibility of remote working enabled a higher level of inclusivity. Anewglobal survey commissioned by Intel, which interviewed 3,136 business leaders across 17 countries and several industries, showed that 63% of respondents said that the pandemic has had a positive impact on D&I in their organisation. But what’s next? How can organisations ensure that the current focus on D&I has a sustained impact and that people remain at the heart of everything they do in this space? People, not profits Despite already knowing that D&I is becoming more important, it is great to see a continued commitment to progress, our research found that: 88% of business leaders say that their organisation has made achieving a diverse and inclusive working environment a long-term goal. What was even better was seeing the reasons why companies are committed to D&I. When asked to indicate what they considered the main opportunities an effective D&I environment would provide, the top three responses were: a positive working environment (34%), increased employee trust and loyalty (32%) and better employee health and wellbeing (30%). Comparatively, only 20% cite increased profitability as a driver for D&I. While this indicates that companies do see the bigger picture and are focused on improving the lives of the people that work with them, they must ensure that they maintain this mindset when it comes to actually investing in D&I. 43% of business leaders said there’s room for improvement when thinking about how much their company invests in systems and initiatives that promote D&I. Given that the future of work is hybrid, technology will certainly be a key area of investment – which brings us to the next point. People, not technology The vast majority (89%) of leaders 63% said that the pandemic has had a positive impact on D&I in their organisation. 88% of business leaders say that their organisation has made achieving a diverse and inclusive working environment a long-term goal. 43% of business leaders said there’s room for improvement when thinking about how much their company invests in systems and initiatives that promote D&I. Bus i ne s s & Economy 36 Finance Monthly.