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Why diversity is essential for business success in the 21st Century

Named in the Powerlist 2010, a compendium of the 100 most influential black Britons, Piers Linney says it’s about time diversity was truly embraced by business

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Named in the Powerlist 2010, a compendium of the 100 most influential black Britons, Piers Linney says it’s about time diversity was truly embraced by business

Earlier this year, I was a regional finalist in a well-known entrepreneur competition and was invited to an event for a reception and interviews with the judges. On arrival, I was directed to the cloakroom to hang up my coat. As I turned to leave, another finalist handed me his coat and bag. I wouldn’t have minded, but no tip was offered! What was it that made him immediately assume that I worked in the cloakroom and was not one of the other jean-wearing finalist entrepreneurs? Now such mistakes can easily be made, but this is nothing new to me, and after many greetings and handshakes, I have often been asked: “So, when will Piers be arriving?”

In my view, these many uncomfortable moments are the result of a lack of diversity in the sectors in which I have worked. Those who have put their foot in it over the years just didn’t expect Piers to be, well, me. They had a preconceived image of what a young lawyer, investment banker, corporate finance adviser, hedge fund manager and CEO looks like – and I clearly didn’t fit their expectations. In contrast, my experience in the US and on Wall Street hasn’t been the same. The black guy in the room there is now the president.

Facing facts

Recent research by the University of Leeds, which analysed 16 ethnic groups, estimated that the ethnic minority share of the population will rise from 8% to 20% by 2051. The ‘mixed race’ population, the fastest growing ethnic group, will grow from 1.2% to 4.2% as the melting pot our society has become grows. According to the Office for National Statistics, at the end of 2009, the unemployment rate for black and minority ethnics (BMEs) stood at 40.4%, compared to 25.7% of the white UK population.

However, diversity involves far more than race and skin colour. It includes differences based on ethnicity, religion, national origin and sexuality. Within this there are many further layers of diversity, including life experience, communication style, career path, educational background, geographic location, income level, marital status, parental status, hobbies and other variables that influence an individual’s approach to life and work. As a result, classifying diversity on a purely ethnic basis is always going to be clumsy.

Business boost

I strongly believe a diverse society underpinned with equal opportunities and access to education will lead to a representative and diverse workforce, which will result in stronger businesses that generate competitive advantage and, therefore, a stronger economy. We are all individuals with something unique to bring to the table. There is no longer any place for the old school tie or class barriers, and any business owner who looks at their team and sees a group of people with similar heritage (whatever that may be) and socio-economic beginnings isn’t maximising the value of the labour market or their business opportunity.

Your customers are a reflection of the increasingly diverse population, especially if you do business overseas. A diverse workforce will enable businesses to develop products and deliver services that resonate with a wider potential customer base.

However, skills developed through education, training and experience will always be a requirement for any employer. The real challenge for society is to ensure that our increasingly diverse population has equal access to training, education and opportunity. This would lead to a representative pool of skilled labour available to UK businesses able to make recruitment decisions based on ability alone, resulting in the creation of diverse workforces as a matter of course.