Case study: Mercer

Leading global consultancy firm Mercer believes diversity and inclusion in the workplace are imperative for both the wellbeing of its employees and continued success of its business.

Joanna O’Riordan, partner, Women@Mercer leader explains: “Diversity and inclusion are embedded into our core values and we continually strive to make progress in key areas. We have a sustained focus at looking at key metrics related to diversity and inclusion and monitor those regularly. As a result, we have been able to develop some targeted goals to improve both. It’s not a situation where Mercer – or any organisation for that matter – can say ‘we’ve made it’ and simply stop. It’s an ongoing commitment that is at the heart of our overall business and people strategies.”

What measures is Mercer taking to achieve a diverse and inclusive atmosphere for its employees across all sectors?

“We approach diversity and inclusion broadly – gender, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, generation, etc – to ensure that we’re engaging the entire organisation,” says O’Riordan. “Mercer formally recognises and funds six business resource groups, each of which has chapters all over the world. The BRGs provide an engaging forum for employees to increase their awareness as well as provide those networking opportunities that are so critical to an inclusive workplace culture. We’re also committed to visibly supporting our commitment to gender equality and are very proud that we have achieved EDGE certification in both the US and UK. We also develop our leaders and managers to fully leverage our people through an intentional approach to our talent management practices by addressing bias in talent/performance reviews, hiring, promotions and staffing of client teams.”

Team performance

Research has shown that team performance can increase by up to 50 per cent in diverse and inclusive working environments, what does she believe are some of the ways Mercer benefits from fostering this type of culture?

“We’ve actually done our own research in this area and found that our sales teams that have a higher level of gender diversity outperform those that don’t. That’s very likely because our clients reflect a broad range of diversity and it’s essential that we’re able to match that to truly understand and address their needs,” says O’Riordan.

Research suggests that this is, in fact, being experienced by many large companies, with diverse sales teams reporting a significant impact on a company’s bottom line. So when it comes to the particular needs of those teams and employees, how does O’Riordan feel highlighting diversity and inclusion within the company benefits them?

“An inclusive environment signals to employees that it’s not just okay, but encouraged, to bring your whole self to work. When employees are able to be their authentic selves at work, it fuels career growth and performance. It also fuels that personal sense of belonging which boosts engagement and retention. As most employers well know, there is a real shortage of talent globally so ensuring that you’re nurturing your current talent is critical and fostering inclusion is foundational to making that happen.”