Europe: Companies Not Meeting Diversity Challenges, Particular of Aging Workforce

A study by The Boston Consulting Group and the European Association for People Management of European companies reports that major European organizations display little diversity in the ranks of their top management. In a Focus report "Hard-Wiring Diversity into Your Business," the two groups analyzed how 444 executives responded to survey questions about the challenges in diversity management and, among other things, found that the business risk caused by demographic change (aging) was cited as the greatest diversity challenge by 48% of the survey respondents.

"Our research has shown that the business case for diversity is clear and that HR needs to integrate such measures into its broader people policies. A modern workplace must represent its customer base in order to be truly effective and to deliver products and services that drive it to the competitive edge in a global environment," explained Stephanie Bird, an author of the report and the director of HR capability for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

The report explains how employee diversity can be increased to advance business imperatives through several steps: (1) creating transparency, (2) redefining recruiting, (3) promoting diversity, (4) building leaders for the 21st century, (5) retaining employees, and (6) making progress visible.

Sources: The Boston Consulting Group Press Release (June 8, 2011); European Association for People Management News Release (June 8, 2011)