For the past two years, the devastating COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc across the world, and the resources of health officials have been severely stretched. 

While COVID has hit health care the hardest, we’ve all felt the very real impact it has had on our lives and those of our loved ones. For professionals in any industry, changes to our working patterns and the way we interact with our colleagues have been immense. 

Such existential threats underline why diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) must be at the forefront of our priorities. An organization with a diverse workforce, filled with unique experiences, ideas, and perspectives, is one that is more innovative and therefore more future-proofed. 

Embedding DE&I in the workforce will go a long way to ensuring organizations are equipped to identify, respond, and react to the most pressing challenges. Without it, innovation will falter. And without innovation there will be no solutions. 

Cutting-edge study of inclusion

There’s a tendency to treat the matter reluctantly, with a kind of ‘eat-your-greens, they’re good for you’ mentality. But building an inclusive culture with a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do, it also makes perfect business sense. It enables us to be more innovative and therefore more effective in our ambitions. 

Still, the first challenge for any company is to see the real picture. That’s why, one year ago, we commissioned a cutting-edge academic study on measuring workplace inclusivity. 

The report, Inclusive Future, was carried out by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) and sponsored by Philip Morris International (PMI). Using best practice research methods, IMD examined a range of qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as tools businesses can use to measure and drive inclusion. 

In the past, many companies — PMI included —have measured their progress towards a diverse and inclusive culture mainly through female representation. This doesn’t reflect the complexity and various aspects of inclusion. Better methods are required. 

Separately, we also commissioned a survey that polled over 5,000 employees of companies across six countries. It found that 51% of respondents have felt personally excluded in their current or former workplace, while a quarter of employees (27%) say that they do not feel safe and comfortable speaking up on inclusion issues. This number increases to over one third (36%) among employees in non-management positions. Additionally, 73% of respondents said they would be more likely to stay with their current job if they felt ‘more included at work’, clearly putting DE&I at the top of issues felt by employees.

Turning learnings into actions

What we have learned from the IMD report has important ramifications for all businesses, including those in health care. Their research notes that while many organizations track some areas of inclusion in employee engagement surveys, there is a need for a more comprehensive approach that examines all six key dimensions of inclusion: psychological safety, uniqueness, fairness, participation, belonging, and authenticity. 

Furthermore, it recommends a new pulse tool, the Inclusion Net Promoter Score (iNPS), which we will test over the next year. To source richer, more detailed information, the research also suggests qualitative methods such as face-to-face open-ended conversations with employees.

This rigorous research has provided the methods and tools to progress our aim of fostering a culture where everyone is accepted and celebrated for who they are and the experiences they have had. At PMI, we know that an environment ripe for collaboration and innovation is critical if we are to achieve our vision.

Innovation for a better future

Ticking diversity boxes is a relatively simple step, but will not yield sustainable results unless we are able to drive inclusion. It is inclusion that makes diverse teams work, cultivating the right culture for innovation to flourish. This is where we should all focus our attention, making a concerted effort to engage with people outside our networks and colleagues who are different from us. 

Yes, the impetus may be on leadership to facilitate this change, but we all have a central role to play: calling out microaggressions, tackling unconscious bias, and respecting the views of all.

For every company and industry, not just health care, there is a pressing need to help drive progress for society. To be successful and sustainable requires every employee to be involved. This is the conversation we are now having at PMI, but our ultimate goal is to amplify this message outside our four walls to help drive meaningful change for a better future. 

DE&I is not just a box to tick, but a means to improving productivity, driving innovation, and responding better to the challenges directly facing us and those inevitably waiting around the corner.