Diversity Initiatives Pay

A report, "Harnessing Workforce Diversity to raise the Bottom Line" found productivity had increased in 40% of companies as a result of diversity initiatives

whilst nearly the same proportion reported improved customer satisfaction and retention; a wider spread of customers in different markets; and higher sales or market penetration. The report was produced by the Centre for Research in Employment and Technology in Europe (CREATE).

Its aims are:

· to highlight employers' recent initiatives towards creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce

· to uncover the nature of the forces that are driving these initiatives

· to underline good practices and the lessons learnt from them

· to provide an assessment of their impacts on business performance

· to identify the constraints that need to be overcome for better impacts

· to recommend actions that companies need to take to overcome the constraints