As day-to-day life becomes more closely coupled with digital technologies, there is a need to consider how these developments cater for “all”, not just “some” consumers or businesses, and avoid bias which can creep in as more AI is applied across technology design. It hence becomes imperative for companies to understand the role of inclusivity and diversity when thinking about their innovation agenda, and how that agenda is executed across the organisation. In the latest Capgemini Research Institute report, The key to designing inclusive tech: creating diverse and inclusive tech teams this theme is explored.
The core key takeaways from the research are as follows:
- Where organisations have a stated strategy on becoming more inclusive and diverse, they are four times more likely than their peers to create inclusive products. This covers having an agreed definition of inclusive design, with this practice understood across all levels of the organisation, and is also understood why this is an important part of design thinking
- However, there is a prevailing discrepancy in the views of Leadership teams across organisations that have set up inclusion practices, where senior stakeholders perceive processes and practices to be inclusive, but employees across technology teams disagree. The most significant variance of opinion is “equitable opportunities for career development and promotions”. Where 85% of the leadership teams versus 18% of technology teams believe the statement to be true in practice. Much work is needed to narrow the gap if progress is to be made
- A similar discrepancy in leadership versus team perception also exists across inclusion and diversity training, as well as data-driven talent management. Other behavioural dimensions also show similar levels of non-aligned including the toleration of discriminatory comments in the workplace
The overall message of the research highlights that much is to be gained from looking at inclusion and diversity as a critical design principle, and failure to act appropriately will only seek to widen the comprehension gap at the leadership level versus the team level. For more information, download the report here.
