For example, you look like no other generation that precedes you; as a group, you are more diverse than your elders. More than 44% of your generation is part of a minority race or ethnic group, according to the Census Bureau.
You think that business needs a reset. The consulting firm Deloitte surveyed 7,800 young adults from 29 countries and the numbers may be sobering even to some of the world’s best companies.
In other words, most of you want companies that are interested in serving a greater good.
Personally, I think these shifts of your purpose-driven, diverse generation present tremendous opportunity, both for our culture overall and for companies. I’m in charge of social innovation at Toyota – leading both our social impact work and our diversity and inclusion strategy. For us, these ideas go hand-in-hand toward our quest to create value for both our business and our society.
Diversity is at the heart of this journey, and here are four big drivers I see for diversity in business:
Research is showing that diversity and inclusion are not only necessary and right, they pay real dividends. Diversity and inclusion drive innovation and create more opportunity.
A survey by McKinsey & Company of more than 180 companies in France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. demonstrates this fact. For companies in the top quartile for executive diversity, returns on equity were 53% higher than for those in the bottom quartile.
Another survey, run by the Center for Talent Innovation, creates an equally strong argument. Employees of firms with diverse leadership were 45% more likely to report a growth in market share over the previous year.
Even after you insert the required caveats – that correlation does not necessarily mean causation, or that surveys need to be broad enough to include a variety of industries – the benefits of inclusiveness make good sense.
If you bring people together of different ages, backgrounds, genders, sexual orientations, experiences and ethnic groups, they will have new and more varied ideas, protect against each other’s blind spots, and recognize opportunities that more homogeneous groups might miss.
Companies that are more diverse, especially at the top, have better perspective and can be all the more innovative.
A company that resists such ideas risks becoming a relic. We at Toyota work very hard to offer products and services for the way people really live. That includes people with all kinds of backgrounds and beliefs. If people look at us and don’t see a company that respects and really gets them, will they want to buy from us? Will they – and all of you – want to come work for us?
There’s a simple logic to it: as the diversity of the workforce grows with the millennials, so too should real inclusion efforts.
From this solid foundation of a better representation of American society, companies will be able to produce more innovative solutions for Americans. Everyone wins.
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