Topics
Workplace diversity can lead to increased revenues, reduced costs, greater innovation, and increased employee engagement, productivity, and commitment . But in order to reap these benefits, organizational leaders must clarify the connection between their diversity efforts and their business goals.
Leadership at the top of corporations shapes companies, communities, and societies. A gender-diverse board of directors and senior leadership team (C-suite) will help corporations lead and manage sustainable, effective business strategies, role model employee opportunities, and enhance their reputation.
Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are voluntary, employee-led groups that serve as a resource for members and organizations by fostering a diverse, inclusive workplace aligned with organizational mission, values, goals, business practices, and objectives. Other benefits include the development of future leaders, increased employee engagement, and expanded marketplace reach.
Sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression—not to be confused with sexual activity or behavior—are personal characteristics that everyone has. Including LGBT employees is a vital component of a comprehensive diversity and inclusion strategy. Successfully recruiting, retaining, developing, and advancing LGBT employees helps organizations compete effectively for talent, minimize attrition costs, and better access LGBT consumer markets.
Gender equality is not just a women’s issue—men also lose out when workplaces are gender-biased. Catalyst’s ground-breaking research on men offers unique insights about men’s career experiences, how to engage them as full partners in creating gender-inclusive workplaces, and solutions rooted in a holistic understanding of how gender affects men’s and women’s behaviors and outcomes in the workplace.
Organizational change and effectiveness refers to strategies for change management and the means by which organizations can most effectively implement and sustain efforts to create inclusive workplaces. The most effective environment is one where all employees are welcomed, valued, and respected.
Sponsors are advocates in positions of authority who use their influence intentionally to help others advance, while mentors provide advice, feedback, and coaching. Both are important to advancement as employees navigate the workplace and earn opportunities for growth.
Talent management is an integrated strategy for successfully recruiting, developing, retaining, and advancing employees to improve business performance. It includes performance management, succession planning, competency management, career development, systems integration, and leadership development. An effective talent management system produces and sustains a gender-diverse workforce.
High-potential women advance more slowly than their male peers, in terms of both career progression and pay, even though they employ career management strategies similar to men’s. Organizations that neglect this critical talent-management issue risk lagging their competitors in attracting, developing, and retaining the best candidates to serve as the next generation of leaders.
In the United States, women of color refers to racially and ethnically diverse women. In Canada, visible minorities is the legal term for people who are non-Caucasian in race, non-white in color, and not Aboriginal. These historically underrepresented groups comprise an important workforce demographic, and the best diversity and inclusion initiatives and talent management practices account for the unique career challenges they experience.
Work-Life effectiveness is a talent management strategy that fosters strong performance for both individuals and organizations over the long-term by promoting work environments that are capable of responding to changes in business needs quickly, creatively, and efficiently while providing employees the control they need to work smarter, address their non-work priorities, and be resilient and effective.