Almost 40% of UK firms lack ethnic diverse executive teams
More than a third of UK firms have no ethnic diversity on their executive teams, according to the latest figures from a new McKinsey & Co. report.
Shocking figures show that ethnic diversity within leadership exec teams is at 13% in the UK and US combined.
The numbers have improved by just 6% in five years, but the UK and US are still behind the rest of the world.
Having said that, ethnic diversity within UK and US boards has seen a percentage point rise of just 0.8% in the same period from 13% in 2014 to 17% in 2019.
This research draws on data from over 1000 companies in 15 countries, and reveals that slow progress is being made to diversify leadership positions.
In the UK and US, female representation in executive teams increased from 15% to 20% between 2014 and 2019. Globally, the number has only risen by one percentage point to 15%, with more than a third of companies having no females at all on their executive teams.
It is believed it will take the average UK company 24 years to reach gender equality on executive teams.
The report also claims companies with more ethnic or cultural diversity in their executive teams are 36% more likely to experience above-average profitability. In addition, firms
with the greatest gender diversity in executive teams are 25% more likely to experience above-average profitability.
On the other hand, companies that lack ethnic and gender diversity within their staff are
27% more likely to underperform on profitability.
McKinsey’s UK and Ireland managing partner Dame Vivian Hunt said: "Yet again, our research has shown that aside from the moral imperative for increasing inclusion and diversity, many companies are missing out on the opportunity to critically boost to their bottom line.
"We must remain vigilant, as our research shows, progress is too slow. While there has been great enthusiasm from many companies on improving inclusion and diversity, these efforts are not cutting through to employees on the ground or are the wrong set of interventions."
Source: Yahoo Finance