Making diversity and inclusion the norm – not the exception

At JCW, we firmly believe in opportunity for everyone, and that our business is stronger when it embraces and celebrates all talent. And for us, diversity, equality and inclusion (DE&I) goes wider than our own internal targets. It’s about encouraging our clients and partners to make and fulfil their own commitments to a more equal workplace.

For example, we provide blind shortlists to clients that request it, and we will be increasing this as part of our DE&I activity. We want a happy, motivated, diverse business to be the norm – not the exception.

What are we doing?

DE&I is a fundamental part of our culture. We have a Diversity Council, which was formed to drive our DE&I agenda, ensuring we have industry-leading practices in place, and that everyone across the business has the opportunity to have their voice heard and shape our agenda.

In fact, we have made three pledges to give us clear targets to work towards:

• Our global management team to reflect the racial/ethnic diversity of our respective local communities by 2024
• A 50/50 gender balance and racial/ethnic diversity across all of JCW Group that is reflective of our local communities by 2022.
• Our candidates placed to be consistently diverse (gender) and racially/ethnically representative of our clients’ local communities by 2021.

One of the things that is most important to us is that our people reflect the communities we work in. With offices in seven global locations, including Los Angeles, London and Frankfurt, we know that our people and our clients want to work with businesses that are representative of the world around them. Building a talented, committed, diverse workforce allows us to deliver better service to our clients and our candidates around the world, and makes us a better business.

What does DE&I bring to business?

Much more than a ‘tick-box’ exercise, a thoughtful approach to DE&I, led from the top, brings a number of great benefits to your business:

• It widens perspectives – having a diverse workforce gives you the opportunity to listen to a lot of different perspectives, experiences and ideas. As a result, you can develop products and services that are equally diverse and accessible, increasing your reach and your brand reputation.
• It improves team relationships – research shows that when a workplace is diverse, team relationships are stronger. These teams are often more supportive and more collaborative, and more likely to listen to each other and work together.
• It increases employee engagement – diverse and inclusive work environments tend to result in more motivated people who enjoy their jobs. Engaged people stay with the business longer and are more likely to recommend it to others. So you attract the best talent and build a reputation for being a great place to work.
• It transforms mentoring programmes – role models are important in any business environment, and particularly so for encouraging people from all walks of life to apply to work in your business. Mentoring and buddying systems allow people to share experiences, encourage development and help individuals and teams to connect.

We believe in taking a stand. Inequality has been a fact of life for far too long – in our country, in our industry and in our own business. It’s up to each one of us to re-evaluate our conscious and unconscious biases and to make positive change that makes sure that every person can benefit from the opportunities we make available. That’s what we’re doing in our business, and it’s what we’re encouraging other businesses to do too.

Et Halstead, CCO, JCW