To future proof any organisation, business leaders need to think about how to include different people, perspectives and ideas to create cultures where people feel they can belong. We want to live in a world where everyone has opportunities to progress their careers. It’s the right thing to do, but there’s also a proven business case to show why this is important for the future of businesses.

• Diverse teams output around 19% more innovation

• Teams that follow an inclusive process, make decisions twice as fast with half the number of meetings

• Decisions made and executed by diverse teams deliver 60% better results

• Faster decision making is 95% linked to financial performance

• Teams from diverse backgrounds are more effective at solving problems…but there will be disagreements along the way

• Diverse teams display better management styles in areas such as communications, goal setting and planning

companies where they believe in the culture, where they can see diverse perspectives and they can see they can belong. And more and more people are turning away from traditional companies, choosing to start their own ventures instead of trying to fit into companies and cultures where they face discrimination.

And here in Sussex the impact of that is young people choosing to work for companies in other locations where things are different. The pandemic has only accelerated this, with remote working giving people more options.

That’s why we have joined Diverse Sussex. We want to create companies and cultures where a wide variety of people can see they have a future and a place to build their careers.

Joining is really simple, just follow the instructions below to become a signatory.