Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: Tesco's Approach Examined

The Business Case for Diversity

There are several elements to the business case for diversity. Bendick, Egan, and Lanier (2010) outline the typical business case for diversity, which consists of three elements: first, that it broadens the pool of employees; second, that it gives the company greater ability to serve the entire community; and third, that it will result in a more productive workforce. The authors do not draw firm conclusions from their study, however. They rely on anecdotal examples and then express their conclusions on that basis. While they claim to use empirical data, what little data they present comes from a single organization. There is no quantitative element to their research that would actually prove something substantive.

Further, in presenting a "typical business case," they are engaging in a straw man argument — defining their own terms of engagement. Whatever their worth, the conclusions that Bendick, Egan, and Lanier reach are not entirely coherent. They support "inclusion" rather than "diversity" and present tables outlining some of the differences between these two concepts. However, they cannot bring themselves to state clearly what their conclusions are. They do stand against buyer-seller matching, which they feel encourages discrimination rather than discouraging it.

Tesco's Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

Tesco's approach to diverse groups is to ensure that the company hires from different groups — not a tough challenge for a company that employs tens of thousands of workers. Internally, the company has established four working groups: Out at Tesco, Women in Business, Tesco Asian Network, and ABC Network, which represents African, Black, and Caribbean workers. These networks provide social networking opportunities within their respective groups and give those groups an organized voice within the company.

Tesco has also implemented partnerships with external groups to engage on different issues, such as workplace accessibility. This internal-external approach allows Tesco to examine diversity with ideas drawn from a broader external perspective, while also working within its own organization to improve conditions and raise awareness for those in minority groups.

Comparing Tesco to the Academic Argument

Comparing Tesco with the Bendick argument, we can see that Tesco renders the Bendick straw man largely irrelevant. Tesco does cite its belief that improving diversity will improve customer service, but its strategy is far more considered and comprehensive than what Bendick was arguing. For example, Tesco is aware that diversity comes with challenges that are difficult to overcome (Stahl et al., 2009), and it has taken steps to increase the level of employee engagement. It seeks to increase engagement and to provide context to its diversity efforts. Indeed, the claim that diversity results in better service may be little more than an attempt to provide context for pursuing greater diversity.

Tesco's approach is, overall, somewhat soft. While it has internal groups to encourage inclusiveness — something Bendick argued was more important than diversity per se — Tesco is relying too heavily on the assumed inherent benefits of diversity and inclusiveness. A growing body of research has challenged these assumptions using actual studies and quantitative techniques. Horwitz and Horwitz (2007) found that biodemographic diversity was not correlated with team performance, but that task-related diversity was. For organizations, this suggests that diversity in ways of thinking and in skill sets matters more than demographic variety. Interestingly, this has always been the underlying supposition of the basic "diversity is good" argument.