Why does diversity & inclusion in the workplace matter?

To mark the beginning of National Inclusion Week 2024, Lincolnshire Police NPAA Coordinator Andrew Woodcock looks at the proven advantages of diverse and inclusive workplaces

My passion and interest through my own neurodivergence is championing awareness across the organisation of neurodiversity. However, my research has led to the wider subject of diverse teams, and their importance and relevance to all the staff networks within Lincolnshire police.

For many years in policing we have been required to undergo diversity training. Much of the focus from this training was initially around race, understandably due to high profile cases such as the Stephen Lawrence murder. Back in 2002, my university dissertation examined the progression of policing following the Macpherson report into the failings identified following the investigation, which identified fundamental issues with institutional racism and police culture.

The impact of Macpherson on public confidence decades later is still felt. More recently policing has gone through a series of further scandals relating to non-disclosure (Liam Allen), misogyny (David Carrick and Wayne Couzens) and also issues over police officers’ conduct on social media platforms such as WhatsApp. Public confidence in policing has taken a massive hit, and this has reflected on a local level in policing across Lincolnshire.

So why am I talking about all this? Here are some key statistics with links referencing the original articles:

  • Diverse teams are 35% more likely to outperform their competitors (McKinsey)
    Although police forces are not in a competitive market, we are inspected and benchmarked against other Forces – so naturally if we have more diverse teams we are likely to stand up better to independent scrutiny.
  • Diverse teams are 87% better at making decisions (People Management)
  • Decisions made and executed by diverse teams deliver 60% better results (Forbes)
    We have to make decisions in policing every day. Some of these decisions will have lasting impacts on people’s lives. Therefore having a diverse team which reflects society is likely to lead to better decisions being made.
    Part of debriefing where things haven’t gone well should consider is the team involved in that situation diverse? Did lack of inclusion in a team and recognition of diversity lead to poor decision making? How can this be rectified?
  • Diverse teams have 19% higher rates of innovation (Forbes)
    It is well documented that Lincolnshire Police is one of the worst funded Forces in the country. This has been the case for decades, despite the determination to change funding formulas which remains ongoing. Building diverse teams is likely to lead to us making more efficient use of our resources – innovation may also even lead to greater resources via the Home Office STAR funding stream.
  • Diversity improves team performance by 30% (Gartner)

How do diverse teams benefit our workforce wellbeing?

  • Inclusion increases employee engagement by up to 83% (Deloitte)
  • Employees who feel their organisation is inclusive are three times more likely to be happy in their job (BCG)
  • Inclusion reduces absenteeism – a 10% increase in perception of inclusion adds one working day per year per employee (Catalyst)

Diversity and inclusion boosts recruitment and retention:

  • 62% of employees would reject a job offer from an organisation with a culture that wasn’t inclusive (People Management)
  • 39% of jobseekers won’t even apply for a role if they don’t consider the organisation to be inclusive (McKinsey)
  • 76% of candidates consider diversity to be an important factor in their choice of employer (Glassdoor)
  • Inclusion increases staff retention by 50% (Harvard Business Review)

As you can see, there is clear evidence that diverse teams impact on external recruitment into policing, and also on internal progression.

Work is ongoing nationally including the recent amendment of the Code of Ethics and updated Competency Value Framework (CVF) to improve representation of neurodiversity in higher ranks.

Having a diverse workforce impacts on whether members of the public may choose to engage with the police and provide information. If the public see the police as unrepresentative, they are likely to be distrusting and less receptive to providing information which we rely on in a policing by consent model. This is most notable in communities across the UK where murders involving gun crime and gangs has been met with a wall of silence.

The inspirational speaker Simon Sinek argued eloquently about why people buy Apple products as an example of the power of ‘communication from the inside out’. (His viewpoint I must add is not universally accepted.)

“Here’s how Apple actually communicates. Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one? Totally different right? You’re ready to buy a computer from me. All I did was reverse the order of the information. What it proves to us is that people don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it.”

The Golden Circle: Why Does Apple Command Loyalty?

Here are some figures you need to know about the competitive impact of diversity and inclusion.

Diversity and inclusion increase revenue:

  • Diverse management teams achieve 19% higher revenue (BCG)
  • Diverse companies generate 2.3 times higher cashflow per employee (Deloitte)
  • Diverse companies are 36% more profitable (Gartner)
  • Diverse companies are 70% more likely to capture new markets (Harvard Business Review)
  • Diverse organisations generate a 66% higher return on equity (Deloitte)

Diversity and inclusion attracts customers:

  • Up to 50% of customers’ purchasing decisions are influenced by an organisation’s support for equality (Deloitte)
  • Consumers are four to six times more likely to buy from and champion a brand with a strong sense of purpose (CSR Wire)
  • 57% of consumers are more loyal to brands that commit to addressing social inequalities (Deloitte)
  • 64% of consumers were motivated to take action by an inclusive ad (Google)
  • Inclusive ads increase purchase intent by 23% (Microsoft)
  • 53% of UK people say their purchase decisions are influenced by a brand’s diversity and inclusion efforts (Kantar)

If you’re considering whether diversity and inclusion is a worthwhile investment for your organisation, or you’re trying to make a business case to the senior leadership for diversity and inclusion work, there is plenty of evidence out there to help you.

Please take time from your busy working days to consider these examples and understand how we can all impact on making our teams more diverse. ∎

This blog was originally published on the Lincolnshire Police intranet – it is reproduced here with kind permission of the author