Want An Innovative Business? Start With Gender Equality.
by Michelle King
Originally published by Forbes
"If you don’t have diverse talent within your organization, or if women aren’t playing a key role in driving innovation, you will not keep up with the external pressures and demands of an increasingly diverse and dynamic customer base,” says Nate Hurst, Chief Sustainability and Social Impact Officer at HP.
Hurst, who leads the global technology company’s sustainability and social impact work, says the current lack of gender equality worldwide hinders business performance and growth across all industries. This is supported by a 2018 McKinsey Deliver Through Diversity report, which found that increased diversity leads to stronger financial performance.
In this interview, Hurst shares why advancing women in innovation and technology is critical to unlocking business growth and what every leader can do to make this happen.
Michelle King: Why do you think gender equality is a critical business issue?
Nate Hurst: Diversity is really core to innovation. In today’s business environment, true innovation really comes from businesses with a diverse employee base. We rely on top innovation talent to survive. Our diverse group of employees help us to identify opportunities as well as blind spots so we can serve a diverse customer base. Women make up such a large portion of our customer base now. Having diverse talent just makes our business stronger.
