Workplace diversity improves patient outcomes and community relations yet it has been difficult to achieve without the backing of healthcare leaders. But a new report provides 10 lessons to help hospital leaders foster a diverse workforce.
Over the past 12 years, PwC has crafted a comprehensive global strategy for diversity in the workplace, according to a report from the consulting service. “While we’re proud of the progress we’ve made so far, we recognize that our journey is not complete, and it has been slower than we would have liked,” wrote PwC Chairman Robert E. Moritz. “We still have so much more we want to do to foster an even more diverse and inclusive workplace culture.”
Over the course of the project, PwC has hit a number of milestones, including a 44 percent female Global Leadership Team and increasing Global Inclusion Index results by six points. Through the process, PwC has identified 10 overarching diversity lessons for healthcare industry leaders, according to the report, including:
- Design and promote the business case for inclusive policies
- Acknowledge that diversity problems won’t be solved overnight
- Recognize that leadership commitment is necessary for accountability, which is key for progress
- Game out a program based on data analytics
- Use those analytics to implement the program
- Recognize that cultures aren’t “one size fits all”
- Make diversity and inclusivity efforts part of the organization’s infrastructure
- Emphasize inclusion from the outset
- Focus on performance, not simply presence
- Engage as many people as possible
Research published last November found that while healthcare has made considerable progress on improving diversity in leadership in the past decade, far more white and male respondents think the gap has closed significantly than do their female and non-white counterparts, FierceHealthcare previously reported.