Efforts to improve diversity within organisations are more likely to succeed
if they are driven by a commitment to improve the bottom line, rather than
meeting quotas.
Celia de Anca, director at Instituto de Empresa’s Center for Diversity in
Global Management, said employers that improve the diversity of their workforce
are able to respond more effectively to the needs of customers and changing
markets.
Speaking at a workshop on diversity in global management in London, she
said: "Up to now, we have been in a world of models," she said.
"I think more and more we need to break the world of modelsÉI don’t
believe diversity should be imposed."
According to De Anca, middle managers are most likely to be entrenched in
outdated organisational cultures and hinder attempts to improve diversity.
Continued stereotyping of gender, race and religion is another obstacle that
business must overcome, she added.
Annette Andrews, a member of Ford Europe’s dedicated seven-person diversity
team, told delegates that employers can drive improvements to workforce
diversity more effectively by maintaining separate HR and diversity teams.
"Our ultimate aim is to do ourselves out of a job," Andrews said.
