Diversity and inclusion has been part of every conversation at board level, in industry forums and HR conferences for the last few years. Businesses are investing heavily in diversity strategies and workplace initiatives, recruiting specialist employees and updating their value propositions to attract a more diverse workforce. These are all fantastic and well-intentioned initiatives – unfortunately, they are having limited impact. 

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day was #BeBoldForChange; if we carry on with this approach we may be waiting a long time to see real change. So why is it not working? 

The answer may lie in a generational shift in the workforce. 

The traditional view of organisations with Baby Boomer and Gen X leadership is that having a diverse workforce is the morally right thing to do. We hear about fairness and legal compliance, metrics and reporting, and representation in the workplace. However, within 10 years, millennials will make up 75% of our workforce and they look at diversity differently. 

A recent report by Deloitte that discusses the ‘Millennial Influence’ on diversity and inclusion has the following key findings:

• Millennials are 35% more likely to focus on unique experiences, whereas 21% of non-millennials are more likely to focus on representation. 
• When asked about the business impact of diversity, millennials are 71% more likely to focus on teamwork, with 28 % of non-millennials more likely to focus on fairness of opportunity. 

Maybe it’s time to challenge the way we approach improving diversity and inclusion at work. 

We already know the benefits of a diverse workforce can mean increased profitability, productivity, innovation and collaboration. With millennials more likely to focus on business impact when it comes to diversity and inclusion, we need to refocus our efforts on making it a key part of the business strategy that will support business outcomes, rather than it just being the right thing to do. 

We need to work with our people to promote and reward the behaviours that will support these improved business outcomes like innovation, teamwork and collaboration, authenticity and empathy rather than measuring success based on individual technical ability and outputs. 

I’m certain that organisations that change their approach will see an increasingly diverse workforce in terms of background, experience, thought and skills. 

And with 83% of millennials identifying as more actively engaged with their workplace when they believe their organisation fosters an inclusive culture, we’ll see significant improvements in employee engagement and retention that benefit both the organisation and the people who work there.