How BCG’s business-building arm created a diverse and inclusive workplace

Despite being one of the most culturally and religiously diverse regions in the world, Southeast Asia has a relatively homogenous corporate landscape.

In fact, only 58% of companies in Southeast Asia have programs for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), as opposed to the global average of 96%, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

This could change, however, as soon as companies realize the importance of having a workplace that welcomes a range of people. For instance, it’s been shown that diverse leadership teams can drive 19% more revenue based on innovations and 9% higher EBITDA margins.

BCG Digital Ventures (BCGDV), the business-building arm of BCG, is one company that’s looking to lead the way in this area. As a corporate venture studio, BCGDV works with leading corporations to invent, launch, and scale innovative businesses. Since its founding in 2014, it has implemented a slew of measures on the DE&I front.

“The more people we can have at the table that feel comfortable to speak, have a different background, or a different viewpoint, the bigger the impact we’ll be able to have as a company,” says Stacey Beard, director of people and operations at BCGDV.

Step by step

As BCG is based in the US – where DE&I practices are more prevalent – the importance of diversity is something that was ingrained since the inception of BCGDV, Beard notes.

“There’s a real push at the leadership level,” she adds. “And that has trickled down to all the countries we have [offices in].”

Stacey Beard, director of people and operations at BCGDV / Photo credit: BCGDV

For the company’s Singapore office, it approached DE&I through three key areas.

The first was making sure the hiring process was inclusive and that clear targets were being set around recruitment. This meant that the company’s HR team had to work toward fair representation across different aspects such as culture or gender.

One method it used to achieve this was altering the way that job descriptions were written. For instance, it’s been shown that certain words or phrases – such as “highly motivated” or “rockstar” – can affect the likelihood of women applying.

In a study published by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, researchers found that job descriptions using what’s seen as more masculine wording were perceived by women to be less appealing than those using typical feminine words.

Another measure that BCGDV implemented was conducting DE&I training. This included unconscious bias training as well as other efforts such as a global DE&I week, with sessions and panel discussions to help employees expand their understanding of different cultures and viewpoints.

The company also sought to carve out a strong internal cultural system so that its clients could look to it as a role model.

“We can say all these things and talk to our clients, but if we’re not role modeling that ourselves, then we know we’re not doing our best work,” Beard points out.

In this regard, the firm placed equal emphasis on all religious festivals. Instead of only having a big year-end Christmas party, for instance, the company celebrates other major religious occasions such as Hari Raya, Diwali, and Chinese New Year with its own events as well.

Getting it right

According to Beard, BCGDV’s efforts to implement DE&I practices have received a warm welcome from employees.

That’s because from the very beginning, BCGDV’s earliest hires already prioritized DE&I. As such, the firm bred a strong culture of acceptance toward DE&I initiatives, with people wanting even more training as the company grew.

BCGDV’s Singapore team / Photo credit: BCGDV

That said, the firm did have challenges in other areas.

For one, it realized that simply positioning itself as a champion of inclusivity was not enough to attract diverse applicants. For instance, it found that very few women were applying for its advertised roles – it took BCGDV’s recruiters roughly three to four more individual outreach attempts to get female candidates to respond.

That’s why BCGDV is now choosing to take a more proactive approach by developing branding campaigns that feature female talent discussing how they made it in the tech industry.

Additionally, the company had to be cautious in its DE&I initiatives, as using the wrong methods could backfire on the its internal culture.

Unconscious bias training, for instance, has been shown to lead to more discrimination if approached incorrectly, as people in majority groups may end up seeing bias as unavoidable and fail to take steps to correct it.

To ensure that the company doesn’t fall prey to this, BCGDV’s Singapore office has spent time researching and understanding best practices. It also regularly connects with the other BCGDV offices across the globe to discuss how they can learn from each other to innovate their DE&I approaches.

Overall, these measures have come together nicely for the eight-year-old company. According to Beard, more than half of the employees in its Singapore office are women, much higher than the regional average of 38%. Further, it counts more than 14 different nationalities among the employees of its Singapore campus.

Taking it to the next level

Having started with a strong DE&I baseline, BCGDV now hopes to take its efforts to the next level by engaging more with local universities and focus groups to help channel more diverse talent into its workplace in the coming years.

It’s also looking to run more workshops for women in tech, with the hope that such efforts will ultimately lead to not only a better working environment, but also a strengthening of innovation across Singapore and the rest of the region.

“We know having a diverse talent pool changes ways of thinking, allowing people to have more impact and the region to flourish as an entrepreneurial hub,” Beard says. “The more we can get out there and encourage that, the greater the impact we can have.”

BCGDV is the dedicated business-building firm of BCG. Through its end-to-end approach to innovation and business building, it provides clients with the skills, tools, and knowledge needed to create a thriving business.

If you’d like to learn more about BCGDV’s innovation approach or are looking for opportunities to join its diverse team, visit its website.

This content was produced by Tech in Asia Studios, which connects brands with Asia’s tech community. Learn more about partnering with Tech in Asia Studios.