Firms which take steps to improve diversity in the workplace earn real business benefits, a joint report from the CBI employers organisation and the Trades Union Congress suggests.
Companies which look beyond the usual suspects' for staff and employ people on the basis of their abilities and potential, regardless of their sex, race, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion can benefit in many ways, including: higher morale and productivity, improved retention rates and lower recruitment costs; better understanding of customers' needs and greater insight to reach untapped markets; help in addressing skills shortages.
The report, Talent not Tokenism, shows that promoting diversity need not be expensive, complex or a legal minefield for business.
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And it identifies some key ingredients for bringing about change, including leadership from senior management and employee involvement, especially through unions and other workforce representatives.
It also makes clear that diversity can be improved through positive action - such as removing bias against older workers, developing strong links with local communities and offering flexible shift patterns to help working parents - not positive discrimination.
The report contains a dozen case studies featuring businesses of all sizes that have developed a more diverse workforce.
They illustrate how companies, from small familyrun firms to multinationals like IBM and GSK, have improved their workplace diversity and the advantages in doing so.
It also contains tips and advice from senior executives at 10 leading companies, including BT, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Barclays, and Shell.
Richard Lambert, directorgeneral of the CBI, said: "Employers who take steps to encourage a more diverse workforce notice huge benefits from doing so, whether it is hiring skilled staff, understanding their customers' needs better or more fundamentally through improved morale and productivity.
"It does not have to be hard work or legally complex either - simply making the effort to work out your precise needs, reaching out as widely as you can then
hiring, training or promoting the best person on merit."
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "The need to unlock the talents of all - to create a truly representative workforce - is even more crucial at a time of economic uncertainty.
"The issue is not whether business can afford to diversify, but whether it can afford not to.
"Employers wanting to diversify the workplace will always find unions a willing ally. Diversity policies work best when the entire workplace is involved."
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