Todd Sears, Founder & Principal of Out Leadership moderated a panel around the productivity benefits of inclusion with Lesley Slaton Brown, Chief Diversity Officer, HP, Amanda Pullinger, CEO, 100 Women in Finance, Jonathan McBride, Global Head of Inclusion & Diversity, BlackRock, and Allyn L. Shaw, Managing Director and COO of Global Information Security, Bank of America.
The panel discussed diversity as a value as well as a business imperative, and the power of visibility.
“When you talk about innovation, we are designing products and processes differently knowing that shareholders and customers are demanding this diversity,” Lesley Slaton Brown said. “It’s a values issue just as much as business impact.”
“We’re an industry that focuses on data and performance, and there’s actual data that says diversity promotes a better workplace, but they’re not a growth of more diverse teams or more female investors,” said Amanda Pullinger. “We think we’re relying on the data to determine this, but movement isn’t taking place.”
Panelist emphasized the importance of taking action.
“The price of inactivity has changed. In the past, you could sit back and wait because it was tricky or challenging, but the cost is simplicity. Inactivity is more of a costly and more risky place to be for your business,” Jonathan McBride said.
Read more at Benzinga.