Image: Davos Agenda virtual panel 'Delivering Social Justice in the New Economy'.
This year, the annual Davos Agenda, presented by the World Economic Forum, explored various topics about the post-COVID world. Esteemed leaders from around the globe provided their advice and solutions for a reimagined future that is prosperous, equitable and celebrates inclusion and diversity.
The Delivering Social Justice in the New Economy panel, moderated by The Valuable 500's Caroline Casey, ahead of her incredible announcement saw four panelists from various fields discuss the challenges and solutions for creating a diverse and inclusive future in our post-pandemic world. On the panel were:
- Tatiana Clouthier, Secretary of Economy, Mexico
- Peter T Grauer, Chairman, Bloomberg LP
- Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, Senior Associate Dean at Fuqua School of Business
- Carmine di Sibio, Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ernst & Young.
Caroline Casey called it the "decade of disruption," and as such, emphasised that there was no better time to "build back better."
AND has captured some of the key learnings and best practices these leaders discussed to create a diverse and inclusive future.
It starts at the top
"Today its extremely important that all business leaders from the top have the right sense when it comes to diversity and inclusion," -- Carmine di Sibio.
An accessible and inclusive workforce thrives when leaders set the standard. For our panel, diversity and inclusion begins with leaders. This ensures that diversity and inclusion is prioritised throughout the business.
"I think the responsibility of leadership is to identify and lead and execute as we go forward." –Peter Grauer
Leadership is also incredibly important, Ashleigh Shelby Rosette noted, in reflecting the culture, belief and values of an organisation. For businesses wanting to successfully achieve diversity and inclusion, Ashleigh says,
"It has to come from the top, and it has to be this integrated notion."
While our panelists were discussing issues on a global scale, individual organisations may want to consider this when trying to achieve disability inclusion.
Our members are reflecting this learning through the Champions Networks. At AND, we see the appointment of a Disability Champion as a key strategy to make progress.
Disability Champions can ensure that inclusion of people with disability remains on the agenda during times of change and contribute to culture change by enhancing the 'authorising' environment to do more.
It's an ongoing, evolving process
While there are good intentions for many businesses trying to achieve diversity and inclusion, looking at the end result without considering the journey along the way can often be a barrier to achieving this goal. Ashleigh noted that organisations often look first at the output, but do not consider the actions and steps needed to make the output a reality.
"Organisations say – we want to make sure we have a diverse organisation,...if you hire individuals and you bring them into an organisation that does not value diversity, representation, equity, inclusion…it's not going to work." – Ashleigh Shelby Rosette
To achieve real change and to have a positive impact, there needs to be consistent policy, strategy and analysis occurring.
"Just as every year we set revenue goals for our organisation, we need to set diversity, equity and inclusion goals. And just as we have tactics and strategies that accomplish our revenue goals, we have tactics and strategies that accomplish our diversity and inclusion goals." – Ashleigh Shelby Rosette
For many organisations, developing an Accessibility Action Plan (also known as Disability and Inclusion Plans) is an effective and proactive tactic in understanding where they are and where they want to be.
AND's own Access and Inclusion Index can assist organisatons in developing the best strategies for their access and inclusion goals, and benchmark their progress each year.
It takes time
Our panelists touched on the challenges of short-term goals. While a diverse and inclusive future is the desire, they argued that many businesses made the mistake of setting only short term goals that made no long-term impact on their diversity and inclusion journey.
To implement the previous key learnings to be successful, it takes time.
"This is a race without a finish line," said Peter. "We should not expect things to change overnight, but we should be judged on these long term critical issues."
Businesses may want to pace themselves for the results they are aiming to see. It might be a slow process, but that's okay. If it's going to be a successful venture that is truly reflected within the company culture, it often can't happen overnight.
The panel discussed the need for a collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach to fully address diversity and inclusion issues.
"It's going to take time," Peter said, "but we've got to be persistent. And we've got to get it done."
Hear more great ideas on how to build back a better future, watch the Delivering Social Justice in the New Economy panel.
