Grant Thornton

How DEI Principles Can Help Your Organisation Succeed

Trendy ideas and buzzwords pop in and out of existence with regularity, with the moderately successful ones circulating around the business world just long enough to drain time and attention away from business leaders. Occasionally, however, the hype is justified by the results – opening the door to genuine improvements whose benefits accrue over time.

Despite scepticism from certain quarters, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion are by no means merely a feel-good solution to a peripheral problem. As we will see below, DEI gets at the heart of much that ails modern businesses. By examining the philosophy behind it, and how it works in practice, our audit firm in Thailand can share three ways in which DEI-friendly companies do better than their competitors.

DEI and why it works

In this context, diversity involves welcoming people whose personal characteristics vary. From age and gender all the way to ethnicity, religious beliefs, socio-economic background, sexual orientation, disability status, and even career background, diversity means finding strength in our differences.

Inclusion is how an organisation embraces these individual differences, and allows people with different backgrounds and characteristics to make real contributions to the direction of an organisation.

Equity grants everyone access to the same opportunities. By carefully reviewing workplace policies and behaviour, companies can address systemic roadblocks to ensure that everyone is given the same opportunities for advancement.

Note that, in a business that genuinely follows DEI principles, it is not enough to simply implement a quota system so that all social groups are present; the end goal must be to give them a meaningful voice within the organisation.

Surveys show that one-third of women still do not feel comfortable voicing their opinions in the workplace. By letting this situation stand, businesses lose out on valuable ideas and contributions from their team. Studies across the business world confirm that companies with higher female representation at the leadership level are more likely to outperform those with less.

The same lesson holds across other demographics as well, suggesting practical implications which go far beyond issues of basic fairness. Hiring is also made easier through DEI, as a welcoming company culture can attract more and better talent.

Of course, DEI does more than merely enable positive business outcomes, it also prevents negative ones. If employees of diverse backgrounds don’t feel valued, or sense that their contributions don’t matter, they will eventually leave – creating added costs and lost opportunities through staff attrition.

From this perspective, the benefits of DEI are easy to see. By welcoming, respecting, and including people from all walks of life, your workforce will feel more at home, and will also recognise the company’s deep commitment to positive community values. As people notice their own values reflected in the actions of their employer, turnover will begin to decrease, while morale and engagement rise.

Yet the process of implementing DEI policies, and communicating their advantages to employees, is delicate work. Our audit firm in Thailand can help you along the DEI pathway, helping you establish an improved company culture. Contact us to learn more about how your company can implement DEI principles, for lasting success in the years ahead.