An inclusive workplace culture significantly impacts employees’ engagement, productivity, and loyalty. As a regression analysis shows, companies with equity anchored in their mission statement show a lower fluctuation rate than companies without. Further analysis of the Workplace Culture Survey reveals that employees who do not feel included, do not perceive themselves as having fair, transparent, and attractive development opportunities, do not feel respected and valued by their supervisor, and who experienced or observed discrimination are significantly more likely to consider leaving their employer for another one more committed to DEI.
A recent study conducted by Bain & Company in collaboration with Advance analyzed why women leave tech jobs at alarming rates: The study found that every 2nd woman is considering changing their employer or leaving the industry altogether. As the main reason, the authors identify a non-inclusive workplace culture. Women often feel isolated, lack a sense of belonging, and support.
27% of the survey respondents agree or strongly agree that they would consider leaving their current organization and moving to another that is more committed to DEI. Assuming additional reasons to change one’s employer, let’s deduct a general turnover rate of 10 percentage points and calculate with 17%.
For this year’s GIR sample, 17% corresponds to 64,000 employees. The cost of replacing an employee usually amounts to the yearly salary of the role. If we multiply the number of change-willing employees with the annual median income in Switzerland (2022) of CHF 81,000, being non-inclusive could cost companies up to 5 billion CHF!