The Global Business Case for Diversity & Inclusion is Also Profoundly Personal

People are fascinating. And I do believe that people have a great deal in common. But the beauty in the landscape of the world is that people are inherently different.

Recently, I attended Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C., and it was a reminder of the extraordinary contributions women are making to the business community.

In particular, hearing leaders such as Carla Harris (Vice Chairman, Global Wealth and Senior Client Advisor, Morgan Stanley) and my own Johnson & Johnson colleague, Wanda Bryant Hope, Chief Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Officer, share their perspectives on going Beyond the Business Case for Diversity & Inclusion reinforced – even reinvigorated – my own commitment to ensuring that diverse talent can and does thrive in our workplace. 

That panel discussion reminded me about the overall value and the business case for diversity and inclusion, including its importance to all business people, especially those of us in global functions. 

My Global D&I Journey

I spent the first decade or so of my career in a U.S. commercial organization, then took a position in Europe. It was remarkably developmental for me, as it genuinely expanded my business perspective. It was the first time I had been in a global organization, and I was based on a different continent. I worked closely with R&D and the commercial regions and came to understand the European, Asian, and Latin American markets in a deeper way, including the innovation that they were bringing every day.

It was also the first time I intentionally placed myself holistically into a different culture. There's something very meaningful and profound in that experience. All the intrinsic things that make up your day-to-day life, all the cultural touchstones – it all changes overnight, and you get an acute sense of the differences, the similarities, and the richness in other cultures, as well as the ability to see your own culture through the eyes of others.

Cultivating a Powerful Vibrancy

It’s that same powerful vibrancy that we need to cultivate in business today. At the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, we seek to deeply understand the populations we serve and garner broad insights: first with patients, and also with the doctors, nurses, mothers, fathers, and others who care for them. At Janssen, we see the business case for diversity - we need strong, diverse teams to make our innovative, transformational medicines possible. At Johnson & Johnson, we are sharing our approach in our You Belong: D&I Impact Review.

In a recent CNN feature, JPMorgan Chase’s CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon, with board member Melody Hobson, cited studies supporting this case – such as businesses with diverse leaders deliver 19 percent more revenue than their non-diverse counterparts, and nearly 70 percent of millennials would remain at a diverse company for at least five years. “We know employees from diverse backgrounds offering different perspectives drive better corporate outcomes,” they noted. “Businesses of every size have an important role to play in expanding opportunity. By working together, we can give people a fair and equal chance to succeed, no matter their zip code or skin color.”

D&I Needs for Global Organizations

Global organizations must be especially mindful of considerations such as gender and racial diversity, while also embracing geographic diversity. We need people who understand and have lived and worked in the markets that we serve. It’s more complex, but it also brings us a spectacular mosaic of talent, and the potential to build stronger teams who can deeply understand our customers and relate to their diverse points of view.

From a global recruiting standpoint, it's critically important that we have diversity both within our hiring practices and among the people who are interviewing the candidates. At every level, we need to focus on ensuring that we welcome a diverse slate of potential employees.

From our employees’ standpoint, we must be mindful of career development and ensure a feeling of inclusion. When local functional teams reflect the stakeholders they serve, and new and transitioning employees are appropriately onboarded, then everybody’s voice and contributions can be meaningfully heard.

We must also create broader networks of individuals whom we are mentoring, supporting, and counseling. If you’re a senior leader from the U.S., then you shouldn’t just be interacting with U.S. talent. It’s important that we capitalize on that benefit of being a global company, and that we ensure a diverse group of employees feel included in global organizations and enthusiastically share their best, unique selves at work every day.

It’s thrilling to get to know people who aren’t like you, and who don’t think like you. When you’re getting insight from people who hold a very different perspective, and when you’re embracing and cultivating and interacting with folks who don’t think like you or have the same background as you, it creates a richer organization, a richer team, and a richer, more meaningful personal journey.

#diversity #inclusion #belongatjnj