Four ways to use diversity to save your company

U.S. Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, a woman, invented the first computer language compiler. Hopper's leadership led to the development of COBOL, which was the first common business language for computers and is still in use. Without her pioneering work, the tech industry of today could not exist.

Despite their early innovative work, women were squeezed out of the technology industry and education by restrictive social norms. It has been said that pioneers often end up with arrows in their backs.

One legacy of this exclusionary policy is that today woman make up only 17 per cent of Australia's qualified STEM population. And when brave individuals do pursue careers in science, engineering, or IT, they are paid as much as 20% less than their male counterparts, the according to data from the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources.

When you look at the critical skills of the future, the gap is even worse. Only about one out of fiveglobal AI professionals are female.

All leaders should invite both genders to participate equally in leadership teams and the wider workforce. Doing so will not only rectify the record of exclusion but also make available all of the best minds for any given role. Your advantage will compound because many others still ignore this immensely deep talent pool.

At Juwai IQI, we still have work to do, even though we have gone some way towards creating a diverse workforce and leadership. When it comes to gender, our staff is 77% female, two out of six board members are female, and we have equal pay for equal work.

Our most recent former CEO is a woman. It might interest you to know that S&P Global Market Intelligence reportsthat female CEOs produce on average a 20% increase in stock price momentumin the 24 months after taking their role.

The gender diversity road map

We are proud of the progress we have made, although we still no doubt have much to do. What advice can I give to other business leaders who are even further behind?

No magic button will transform an insufficiently diverse business into its opposite. For most companies, the change will take a cultural shift, sustained focus by the leadership, and committed implementation.

I believe there are four pieces of advicefrom which most businesses can benefit.

Make a business case for diversity. For diversity to stick, leaders and staff need to understand the payoffs. One needs to emphasize the benefits it will bring, including human resources cost reductions, a more productive workforce, and reputational gains.

Understand the starting point. There are vast differences among industries, companies, and even individual workplaces. Gathering data and insights from across the organization will make it clear where the challenges lie. That survey enables leaders to establish the specific policies and goals that will lead to a more successful and diverse future.

Create a roadmap. Someone once said, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else." A diversity strategy should assign responsibilities to specific team members and include metrics to measure progress.

Stay focused. Even the best-designed diversity strategy will face challenges during implementation. Changing company culture can be like pushing a boulder uphill. The moment one takes a break, the stone starts rolling backwards.

No one should be intimidated by the challenge of implementing such a far-reaching workplace change. Every positive step takes a company closer to its destination. The rewards will come in terms of both personal fulfilment and financial success.