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PowerList 2008
pic: ©iStockphoto.com/Nicholas Monu
to get skills and customers they will take it minds in the long term.’ in how to manage diversity or difference.
seriously. Just as a profits warning would He agrees with Clarke that for diversity to Elaborating on the theme, he adds:
affect their share price, there could be a DI be taken seriously it must have the buy-in of ‘Organisations also need to reward
warning that affects their share price, too. senior management. ‘They must recognise appropriate behaviour. Promote the person
‘CEOs are there to protect and grow their that this has a place in the boardroom,’ he who demonstrates that they understand the
bottom line and if something impacts on that says. concept of diversity. Look at their team make-
they have to deal with it. Lewis believes there are three major up. And this has got to be at every level, not
‘Not only that, but an index would also areas, or ‘strands’ as he describes them, that just admin, but senior levels, too. Initiatives
make it clear to CEOs where they stand organisations need to work on in order to and policies must have the buy-in and support
among their peers and show them what they demonstrate where they stand. of senior management.’
need to do to improve their performance.’ The first, he says, is people. ‘At a basic As for his third strand, corporate
We are, of course, a long way from seeing level, research shows people want to work reputation, he says: ‘Until now corporate
anything as sophisticated and forward- in decent companies and a company gets social responsibility has usually been linked to
thinking as Clarke’s idea take root, but from that a more harmonious workforce. environmental issues, but it should be linked
suggestions in Harriet Harman’s equality bill Where people treated are treated well, there to diversity, too. Good practises are not just
around the reporting of diversity data, mean is less stress-leave, fewer disruptions and revenue-related, but community-related, as
he is not talking pie in the sky here. productivity will remain higher.’ well. An organisation must make the effort to
‘It’s only a matter of time before the Secondly, says Lewis, organisations must create for itself a reputation of being the sort
government pushes for compliance with examine their structure ‘because policies of place that people aspire to work for.
Harman’s bill,’ says Clive Lewis, Managing alone won’t help’. For example, he says, ‘Also, it must be transparent about the
Director of Globis, one of Britain’s fastest- there should always be something in a staff provision of diversity data.’
growing human resources consultancies, handbook that demonstrates to employees an Lewis is right, but the fact is, people have
and chair of the panel that produced the organisation’s commitment to the principle of a natural resistance to change. And when
influential REACH report. ‘Legislation is one diversity in the workplace. And this should be it comes to diversity and inclusion, many
way of keeping diversity at the top of people’s underpinned with training and development managers cannot see where they are going
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