Employees who feel they can “bring their whole selves to work” and are spending their days in inclusive environments are more engaged and, therefore, more innovative and productive. The question for multinational corporations increasingly is: How can we make that happen in all our global locations
It’s not an easy question, as the third year of our intense Global Diversity Research reveals. We surveyed more than 200 corporate officers in 46 countries in eight regions. We found wide discrepancies in attitudes toward inclusion of women; ethnic, racial and religious minorities; people with disabilities; and people from lower-income or -class groups. The greatest differences are in inclusion of LGBT people, which varies from U.S. and European corporate cultures where LGBT resource groups are increasingly common to Asian, Middle Eastern and African countries where being out means being ostracized, imprisoned or even killed.
Our in-depth interviews with more than 20 corporations on their best practices revealed that a few multinationals, all of which have led the way in diversity and inclusion in the United States, have jumped out front in their efforts to create inclusive cultures. IBM is at the forefront of working to change attitudes and laws in countries that discriminate against LGBT people. Other companies, such as Ernst & Young, Sodexo and Deloitte, are determined to create safe spaces within their corporate walls in all locations.
