McKinsey report reinforces (again) link between diversity and company performance

Consortium corporate partner McKinsey & Company has released a new report further affirming the link between a company’s financial performance and its commitment to diversity and inclusion.

McKinsey’s latest research, released in a 40-page January 2018 report entitled “Delivering through Diversity,” measured the likelihood that a company’s financial performance would outperform others with lesser commitments to diversity and inclusion.

In the report’s summary, McKinsey reported a contrast between its results from a similar report using 2014 data and its analysis of 2017 data. The firm compared diversity efforts in gender as well as ethnic and cultural diversity.

“In the original research, using 2014 diversity data, we found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on their executive teams were 15 percent more likely to experience above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile. In our expanded 2017 data set this number rose to 21 percent,” McKinsey reported.

In terms of ethnic and cultural diversity, the numbers were higher: 35 percent more likely in 2014 versus 33 percent more likely in 2017.

McKinsey also found that there is a “penalty for not being diverse on both measures.” Thus, full diversity across multiple dimensions is more rewarding to the bottom line than singling out gender diversity, or ethnic diversity.

“In our 2015 report, our hypotheses about what drives this correlation were that more diverse companies are better able to attract top talent; to improve their customer orientation, employee satisfaction, and decision making; and to secure their license to operate—all of which we believe continue to be relevant,” the report said.

Read the full details from the McKinsey website, or review these media reports about McKinsey’s research:

Pictured above: Members of The Consortium class of 2019 gathered in Atlanta at the Orientation Program before the Schoen Dinner.