Visionpath was founded on the simple belief that social mobility is good for young people and good for business. Need hard evidence? According to McKinsey, organisations that are more diverse can outperform other less-diverse businesses by as much as 36%. Plus, research shows improved social mobility could add 4% per year to the UK's GDP.
Clearly, there’s value to be gained from supporting social mobility within your business. But why? We unpick some of the benefits.
1. Discover untapped talent
Struggling to find candidates for your early careers pipeline? There could be a whole group of talented young people with stacks of potential you’re not even reaching, simply because of their social background. Widening your net with targeted outreach among disadvantaged school-leavers not only unlocks an invaluable resource for hiring, it could also inject new energy into your business.
2. Improve your customer experience
How can you truly serve your customers if you don’t understand them? Growing a diverse team with first-hand experience of all your customers’ needs and challenges, attitudes and values – including those from socially diverse backgrounds – helps you tailor your products and services to create a great customer experience for everyone.
3. Build your employer brand
According to a Monster poll, 83% of Gen-Z consider an employer's commitment to diversity and inclusion when deciding where to work. But true diversity is intersectional. Incorporating social class into your EDI strategy helps attract the attention and loyalty of socially aware candidates (and consumers) who increasingly want their work (and spending) to align with their values.
4. Create an inclusive company culture
Investing in social mobility education and empowerment among your management and teams helps to increase awareness, understanding, acceptance and championing of people from disadvantaged backgrounds. As well as creating a more welcoming environment for new socially diverse hires, you may also give a voice to existing team members who’ve previously felt they had to hide their social class.
5. Increase social value in your ESG strategy
Is the ‘Social’ section of your ESG strategy looking a little… thin on the ground? Doing social outreach and committing to levelling up social equality in your early careers not only serves your community, it also helps you generate stakeholder buy-in by demonstrating that your support of diversity, inclusion and social mobility is more than just social washing: it’s a fundamental part of your business’ DNA.
Here at Visionpath, we want to see social diversity embedded in every business. Want to find out how we can help your business support social mobility? Get in touch.
