Resilience and innovation begin when everyone joins the dance – 30 Years of GUBERNA - Future of the Workforce
What does tomorrow’s workforce expect from today’s leadership? The labour market is changing faster than ever, and employees are presenting increasingly new and diverse expectations to their employers. How can companies continue to respond to these demands? And what role do DEI principles play in this? Are they a strategic lever or just a buzzword? Six experts discussed these questions during the “30 Years GUBERNA – Festival of Governance.” Here, you can discover the key insights from that conversation.
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1.“Diversity only creates value when every voice actually counts, not just when every seat is filled.” It is inclusion that determines whether diversity pays off in companies and boards of directors. In the survey conducted during the event, 56% of the audience believed that inclusion is more important than representation. The remaining 44% saw them as two inseparable conditions. Despite the different perspectives present on the panel, the ideas expressed both in the room and on the panel were unanimous: without an inclusive culture, diversity remains an empty shell.
2. For “diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance.” With this, the panellists wanted to emphasize that inclusion is a matter of culture, not a compliance exercise. Boards of directors therefore need to learn to look beyond the numbers, which they can do by examining the culture that exists throughout all layers of the organization. The board can ask questions such as: How is inclusion experienced on the workplace floor? How are the smaller voices heard?
3. Furthermore, “what matters in the boardroom is not (only) diversity in characteristics, but a variety of perspectives.” Debates on diversity still too often focus on male/female ratios or other visible traits. But, as the panel pointed out sharply, the variation within the group of women or the group of men is greater than the variation between the two groups. A quota on this characteristic alone is therefore insufficient to escape groupthink or achieve diverse perspectives. It requires more than quotas—it requires the ability to truly listen.
4. Because too much diversity does not exist, but poor leadership does. It is not always easy for a leader to listen well. Companies want to move fast, but sometimes they must dare to slow down if they want to hear voices that would otherwise go under the radar, especially from groups that are less linguistically proficient or less represented.
5. Leadership also faces other challenges regarding the future of the workforce beyond just leveraging diverse perspectives. “Boards and leaders still too often reflect the past rather than the future.” In the kindergarten classes of our urban areas, 70% of our future leaders now have a non-European background. When speaking about strategy and value creation, companies should speak about the society of the future, and that society is highly diverse.
6. Global changes are also occurring at a rapid pace. The question, “What can we learn from global changes in DEI?” was therefore inevitable. A first observation is that multinationals increasingly invite directors who represent home markets in other continents. These perspectives enrich strategic discussions. Europe, with its changing demographics and markets, has some catching up to do. But despite this positive message, the panellists cannot ignore that DEI is under pressure—and that is exactly why companies need to take a stand. Pressure on DEI leads to two trends: companies that cut DEI budgets out of fear, and companies that invest more to send a clear signal. Once again, a call for boards to ask: What culture does the organization want to achieve?
7. Finally, in a discussion about the future of the workforce, technology and AI cannot be ignored. According to the panel, AI is transforming the workforce, but not the need for talent. “People who cannot work with AI risk being replaced by those who can.” This means organizations must invest in the skills of their employees, especially the younger generations, to prevent talent loss. Ultimately, it is the people working with technology who will make the difference, not the technology itself. It is important that this philosophy also penetrates the boardroom. Boards of directors are responsible not only for shareholder value but also for stakeholder value. Those who want to move forward must ensure that the organization and the community in which it operates evolve together and have opportunities to engage with technology.
The essence of the debate is clear: diversity and inclusion are levers for both resilience and innovation, with inclusion being the key that turns diversity into impact. Organizations that structure diversity and cultivate inclusion build resilience, make better decisions, and create value for all stakeholders.
