Publications
Publications
- November–December 2020
- Harvard Business Review
Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case
By: Robin Ely and David A. Thomas
Abstract
Leaders may mean well when they tout the economic payoffs of hiring more women and people of color, but there is no research support for the notion that diversifying the workforce automatically improves a company’s performance. This article critiques the popular rhetoric about diversity and revisits an argument the authors made 25 years ago: To fully benefit from increased racial and gender diversity, organizations must adopt a learning orientation and be willing to change the corporate culture and power structure.
Four actions are key for leaders: building trust and creating a workplace where people feel free to express themselves; actively combating bias and systems of oppression; embracing a variety of styles and voices inside the organization; and using employees’ identity-related knowledge and experiences to learn how best to accomplish the firm’s core work.
Four actions are key for leaders: building trust and creating a workplace where people feel free to express themselves; actively combating bias and systems of oppression; embracing a variety of styles and voices inside the organization; and using employees’ identity-related knowledge and experiences to learn how best to accomplish the firm’s core work.
Keywords
Citation
Ely, Robin, and David A. Thomas. "Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case." Harvard Business Review 98, no. 6 (November–December 2020). (Winner of the 2020 HBR McKinsey Award for the best article of the year in Harvard Business Review.)