THE BUSINESS CASE FOR D&I

Diversity and inclusion make good business sense because they deliver a range of positive organisational, team and individual outcomes. A diverse and inclusive workplace is clearly linked to improved profit and performance, innovation, creativity, talent management, engagement and wellbeing. Employers also have legal obligations and responsibilities not to discriminate against employees and to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent discrimination, harassment, victimisation or bullying.

Every two years, Diversity Council Australia undertakes a national study tracking the state of inclusion in the Australian workforce. That study, the DCA Inclusion@Work Index, sets out a strong business case for inclusion and the benefits it has on the performance and well-being of all employees.

DCA’s Inclusion@Work Index 2019-2020 shows that:

There is strong support for inclusion

  • Three out of four Australian workers supported or strongly supported their organisation taking action to create a workplace which is diverse and inclusive (D&I).
  • Only 3% oppose or strongly oppose their organisation taking action.

Inclusion at work is good for business

Workers in inclusive organisational cultures are:

  • Three times more likely to report that their team is highly effective (60% of workers in inclusive organisations strongly agreed that their team always worked together effectively compared to just 17% for non-inclusive organisations),
  • Five times more likely to indicate their team is innovative (47% of workers in inclusive organisations indicated that their team always looked for innovations versus 10% for non-inclusive organisations), and
  • Three times more likely to indicate their team provides excellent customer/client service (61% versus 21%).

Inclusion at work is good for employees

Inclusion at work creates employee satisfaction, success, and security.

Workers in inclusive organisational cultures are:

  • Five times more likely than their colleagues in non-inclusive organisations to report being very satisfied with their job (65% of workers in inclusive organisations were very satisfied with their job compared to just 12% of workers in non-inclusive organisations),
  • Three times less likely to leave their current employer (10% of workers in inclusive organisations were very likely to look for another job in the next year compared to 31% of workers in non-inclusive organisations), and
  • Two times more likely to receive regular career development opportunities (66% of workers in inclusive organisations versus only 30% in non-inclusive organisations).

Inclusion at work benefits EVERYONE

When organisations take action to create a more diverse and inclusive (D&I) workplace, it benefits everyone. Using disability as an example, in organisations taking D&I actions, we found similar proportions of workers with and without disability were very satisfied with their jobs (45% workers with disability, 51% workers without disability) – and significantly more satisfied than workers with and without disability in organisations where no D&I action was being taken (18% workers with disability, 25% workers without disability).

Want to use our research?

Materials contained in this document are © Copyright of DCA Ltd, 2019. If you wish to use any content contained in this report, please contact DCA at research@dca.org.au, to seek consent.

Where you wish to refer to our research, it must be correctly attributed to DCA.

  • Formal attribution to DCA is required where references to DCA research material are in a written format.
  • Citing DCA as a source will suffice where the reference is made in a verbal format.

Suggested citation: Diversity Council Australia (O’Leary, J. and D’Almada-Remedios, R.) DCA-Suncorp Inclusion@Work Index 2019–2020: Mapping the State of Inclusion in the Australian Workforce, Sydney, Diversity Council Australia, 2019.

 

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