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O P I N I O N
Plenty of fish in the sea
Diversity and inclusion are good for your bottom line. To get the right people, you have to cast your net in the right places, and jettison the bias.
I t’s alarming. According to 100 percent of the women surveyed in Zweig Group’s 2018 Principals, Partners & Owners Survey , there is a lack of diversity – across age, race, and gender – in their firms. Even more alarming, 100 percent of the women surveyed have considered leaving the AEC industry for another field. Only 49 percent of the men surveyed have considered leaving the industry for another field. Are women seeing the opportunities to advance in our field? And, if not, what can we do about it?
Lisa Kay GUEST SPEAKER
to have at least one woman on their board of directors by the end of 2019 – or face penalties. The more board members a company has, the “100 percent of the women surveyed have considered leaving the AEC industry for another field. ... Are women seeing the opportunities to advance in our field? And, if not, what can we do about it?”
The January 2018 McKinsey report, Delivering Growth Through Diversity , found that the most gender diverse companies – top quartile – were 21 percent more likely to experience above average profitability. For ethnic and cultural diversity, they found a 33 percent higher likelihood of EBIT margin outperformance. It’s widely thought that divergent thinking coupled with the synergies that come from cultural, ethnic, and gender diversity are what drive this business success. In the first law of its kind in the U.S., California is legislating diversity. California requires every publicly traded company incorporated in California, or with headquarters in the state,
See LISA KAY, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER December 17, 2018, ISSUE 1276
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