Leaders need clarity on what works to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our 2023 report shows success factors that contributed to significant, quantifiable, scalable, and sustainable DEI impact.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is at an inflection point: companies and institutions have demonstrated positive intent and increased discussion and activity, but data shows that progress is slow. In 2020, the global market for DEI—that is, dollars spent by companies on DEI-related efforts such as employee resource groups (ERGs)—was estimated at $7.5 billion and is projected to more than double to $15.4 billion by 2026.1 Yet, as just one example, at the current rate it will take another 151 years to close the global economic gender gap at all levels.2
Greater clarity on what works—and what does not—can help leaders effectively create sustainable change.
The Global Parity Alliance—a cross-industry group committed to advancing DEI—launched the DEI Lighthouse Program to identify initiatives that have resulted in significant, quantifiable, scalable, and sustainable impact and surface what those initiatives have in common. The ambition is that equipping leaders with these best practices will help focus DEI efforts on what works best, ultimately contributing to faster, scalable progress across the global business community and surrounding ecosystems.
For the full results of this work—including key success factors common across initiatives that yielded significant impact, real case examples of effective DEI initiatives in practice, and actions that employees can take at each level of the organization to support progress on DEI—read the full report written in partnership with the World Economic Forum.
According to McKinsey & Company’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Lighthouses 2023 Report, the report identified five success factors common across the DEI initiatives that yielded the most significant, scalable, quantifiable, and sustained impact for underrepresented groups. The success factors are:
