The data is there. It's been there for a very long time. So why are companies slow to change? The economic advantage of having a diverse workforce, including higher profits, is not news. As far back as 2007, non-profit worn-en-in-the-workplace advocacy group Catalyst released a report, "The Bottom Line: Corporate Performance and Women's Representation on Boards," which concluded companies with the highest percentages of women board directors outperformed those with the lowest by: Michael Bach, founder of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion and former deputy chief diversity officer for KPMG International, notes that evidence of financial return has only increased since then. Updated statistics from McKinsey's 2019 report, "Diversity Wins," shows that "companies in the top quartile of gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to experience above-average profitability than peer companies in the fourth quartile. This is up from 21% in 2017 and 15% in 2014." And it's not just the profits that improve. "A diverse workforce is more innovative and better at problem-solving," says Carolyn Lee, president of the Manufacturing Institute, the research arm of the National Association of Manufacturers. "Research shows that a more inclusive workplace leads to increased hiring, higher retention rates, more engaged employees and an improved bottom line." With more than 800,000 manufacturing jobs open in the U.S. in September, Lee notes that manufacturers are looking to diversity to attract and retain a wider talent pool. More than 500 manufacturers participated in the Institute's annual D&I Summit in December 2021 to explore diversity and inclusion specific to the manufacturing workforce.
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