Diversity & inclusion policy possibly pointless?

Management consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), recently conducted research that reveals Diversity & Inclusion policies in Australian workplaces are displaying disappointing results.

Released in June, the report surveyed 1600 Australian employees to see how effective they felt their workplaces’ Diversity & Inclusion policies were. 97 percent of respondents said their workplace had at least one Diversity & Inclusion policy in place, yet “only 11 percent of women, 14 percent of ethnically diverse, and 18 percent of LGBTQ+ employees feel they have benefited from their company’s specific D&I programs,” the report reads.

The report outlines that many companies’ Diversity & Inclusion policy has unclear outcomes and objectives, and fails to resonate with the workforce.

“Only 32 percent of employees report direct exposure to their company’s D&I programs, and only 59 percent of employees say they understand the goals of these programs,” the report reads.

“These results suggest that companies are designing D&I programs without truly understanding what their employees need.”