2.10.1 The Bersin by Deloitte Diversity and Inclusion Maturity Model
Bersin by Deloitte Diversity and Inclusion Maturity Model brings quite an interesting perspective to where the desire regarding D&I goals meets the reality. Bersin by Deloitte conducted a study with 245 global companies in 2017, dealing with how companies should move from just emphasis on D&I to a strategic focus, to create a truly inclusive culture (Kaufflin, 2017). The model is beside other outputs focusing on the level to which inclusion is implemented in organisations. Shockingly, the study discovered that although 72% of companies would like to have inclusive culture, only 12% of them meet the goal. The report then further explains the main findings, which are visually displayed in the model below.
Picture 2 - Diversity and Inclusion Maturity Model Source: Deloitte, 2018
In the picture above, four levels of inclusion in companies can be seen. By starting from the bottom one, Level 1 shows diversity that is called Compliance-Focused. If companies have this
33 level of D&I, it means that they have diversity in place for compliance reasons, i.e., that the parent company told them to do so (Tikalová, 2020) or to meet legal obligations such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Laws (Kaufflin, 2017). 42% of companies are at this level, which is a disturbingly large number. The second level is then formed by Programmatic D&I, which is present in 31% of organisations. At Level 2, diversity and inclusion programs are employed, but not even leadership is convinced by them, which makes an extremely hard buy-in for the rest of the layers buy-in the company, as leadership level itself does not believe buy-in such D&I practices and its effects. Level 3 is called Leader-Owned D&I and in companies at this level, leaders not only advocate D&I, but also take responsibility for it. This level of inclusion is present in 15% of companies. The top level of this Maturity Model is Level 4. Finally, 12%
of firms reach the stage where all employees take the responsibility for D&I and therefore it is visible that diversity and inclusion processes are successfully implemented throughout the organisation. (Deloitte, 2018)
Apart from the outputs of the research described above, other compelling results have been revealed. For instance, inclusive companies are six times more likely to both anticipate and react to change as well as to be innovative. Also, firms with such a culture are twice as likely to meet their financial targets. The main message of this study is that inclusive firms that outperform their competitors have inclusive practices implemented at all levels in the organisation (Cision Distribution, 2017).
2.10.2 The Korn Ferry Diversity and Inclusion Maturity Model
A slightly different view on the Maturity Model is proposed by the Korn Ferry model (Korn Ferry, 2020), which instead of looking at the models from a linear perspective offers another approach. The authors claim that in these linear models, the company is believed to make the same level of progress in all the dimensions of its business at the same time. On the other hand, as the main advantage of this model is seen, it takes into account, similarly to people, organisations are also at different levels in their D&I journey in different dimensions.
Therefore, the Korn Ferry D&I Maturity Model 2.0 breaks the model into five dimensions:
Compliance, Awareness, Talent Integration, Operations Integration, and Market Integration.
Further, in each of those dimensions, we can find two categories of inclusion, which are behavioural and structural. Behavioural inclusion refers to individuals and reflects their path of becoming more aware of their biases. Structural inclusion, on the other hand, looks at the processes in the company, which then in return leads to the prevention of the above-mentioned biases.
34 In the chart below, the model is visualised. The aspect of this model being in a wheel is important, as it suggests that it does not represent a linear model.
Picture 4 - The Korn Ferry Diversity and Inclusion Maturity Model Source: Korn Ferry, 2020
As explained above, the model consists of 5 dimensions, which will now be described in greater detail. Firstly, the Compliance dimension focuses mostly on how wellrisk management works.
In other words, it looks at how many various types of assets an organisation has to mitigate risks that relate to diversity and inclusion. While behavioural inclusion focuses on the extent to which stakeholders know of the risks, structural inclusion analyses and is fully achieved when all D&I risks are properly monitored, as opposed to solely dealing with one-time cases.
Secondly, the Awareness dimension examines the level of commitment to D&I of both upper and lower-level positions in company. In behavioural inclusion, especially the shift from D&I passion and an unconscious bias towards D&I competency and a conscious bias is crucial. As for structural inclusion, it is looked at how strong basis the D&I initiatives have and also at an external appreciation of those initiatives. The third dimension is then formed by Talent Integration, which measures the integration of an inclusive approach into everyday actions as well into the behaviour of all levels of employees. Behavioural inclusion is performed when such actions are reflected in talent decisions. Structural dimension is about being held accountable for those behaviours.
35 The last two dimensions are Operations Integration and Market Integration. Whereas Operations Integration focuses on the bottom line, in which behavioural inclusion examines how lower-level managers serve as a good example, and structural looks at benefiting from D&I throughout all processes, the Market Integration dimension is interested in the top level, a part of which, for instance, is acquiring new customers and markets. In the Market Integration dimension, behavioural inclusion is achieved when everyone in an organisation, both the CEO and high-level management, as well as bottom-line employees understand the importance of D&I and inclusion is reached throughout all levels of the organisation and, furthermore, when they feel the need to educate themselves on the topic. Structural inclusion then measures if those processes are included at all levels and in the markets within which the company operates. Part of this dimension is also the company’s drive for innovation and the creation of internal communities within the company, as well as communicating with external ones.
All the dimensions are then evaluated based on the level at which the company currently is. The levels go from basic, through progressing to advanced and to leading edge, based on how strong the given business is in each of the previously described dimensions.