It’s time to focus on talent rather than gender

Diversity and inclusion programs are booming, but don’t always produce the required results. Here are four ways to make them work. 

Diversity and inclusion (D&I) programs have been a booming field within organizational management for the past decade, particularly in gender-related initiatives, which are a big business priority across geographies. In general, these programs focus on increasing female representation in leadership roles are driven by: 

1. External societal pressures, the fear of reputational damage or losing clients, for example. 
2. Social fairness and justice, perhaps a genuine desire to increase equity and drive progress in society. 
3. The so-called business case, the belief that having more balanced leadership teams, or more women in leadership roles, will boost organizational effectiveness metrics, or lead to an inherent return on investment.

These motives are not mutually exclusive and may coexist, even though the public perception often assumes that focusing…