Increased Diversity Means Higher ROI for Plastics Companies

Your workforce is aging. On average, plastics industry employees are 46 years old and may be eligible for retirement in less than a decade.

Who will you choose to take their place in your organization?

Savvy plastics industry leaders have already turned to diversity and inclusion hiring practices to prepare a new workforce and strengthen talent teams.

You may not realize it, but plastics companies can reap significant benefits from diversity and inclusion. Here’s how you can implement greater diversity at your company and why it may lead to increased productivity and profitability.

Diversity Strategies for a Higher ROI

No one-size-fits-all strategy exists regarding hiring for diversity, especially in the plastics industry. As this $600b industry is changing, so must your diversity strategies. Use these tips as a springboard:

1. Identify diversity gaps in your organization.

You can only hire for diversity when you know what to look for. Taking the time to identify diversity gaps will reveal areas to enrich.

2. Offer ongoing and continuous diversity training opportunities for your leaders.

The key here is to offer these opportunities to people most interested in diversity training. Ensuring that the training permeates the calendar year sends the message that diversity is here to stay.

3. Watch how you say it.

The language in your Policy & Procedure manual may say the right things, but unless the verbiage permeates your corporate culture, these keywords are meaningless buzzwords meant only to placate feelings rather than create shift. To make a difference:

• Capitalize words used for race or ethnicity.
• Be mindful and respectful of pronoun preferences in your speech and written communications.

4. Shift your practices for searching for screening and supporting candidates.

• Although you may post jobs publicly, four out of five candidates are hired internally or through employee recommendations. If your talent team isn’t diverse, you risk hiring an equally non-diverse workforce based on their recommendations. That’s because employees tend to reach out to their circles of influence and no further.
• The talent pool hoping to interview with you considers diversity an imperative when vetting organizations for which to work.
• Consider vetting applications with software apps that scan for bias and push non-bias applications to the top of your interview pile.

5. Develop supportive processes that will help diversity thrive in your organization. 
   • Holidays and PTO: Instead of recognizing culturally specific holidays, offer a Paid Time Off policy that encourages employees to take time off they want for celebrations.
   • Cross-train your employees. Create opportunities for employees of diverse backgrounds to step in and learn various organizational roles.
   • Close pay gaps. Scrutinize your payroll to determine if you are enabling discriminatory salary practices according to ethnicity, gender, or other qualifications.

Plastics companies can no longer hold out when it comes to hiring.

As reported in Forbes, McKinsey and Company “discovered a correlation between ethnic diversity and financial performance, pointing out that for every 10% increase in ethnic diversity on the senior-executive team, earnings before interest and taxes increase by 0.8%.”

The North American plastics industry will grow only when leaders recognize and respond to the need for diversity.

Are you a top-producing salesperson considering a new role in the plastics industry? Contact us to discuss your career path or browse our open positions.