Ten Ways the World Has Been Turned Upside Down: Part 2

In my last post I offered  five ways businesses are finding that the world is upside down. Here are five more changes of historic proportions transforming the economic, political and social landscapes in which we do business:

#6 To have a disability is to be differently abled. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, one in five Americans (54 million) has some form of disability, making this the largest minority group, and an increasingly vital sector of the workforce. As I discuss in The Inclusion Paradox, the U.S. Department of Labor has found that more young people with disabilities are graduating from high school and college. And according to the Job Accommodation Network, workers with disabilities have performance and retention ratings comparable to those without disabilities.

#7 Women are losing fewer jobs than men in the recession. According to USA TODAY, men lost 74% of the 6.4 million jobs erased between December 2007 and June 2009. Partly as  a result of the shrinking male-dominated construction and manufacturing markets, women became a majority in the U.S. workforce for the first time in 2009.

#8 Corporate Social Responsibility is about giving AND receiving. Companies around the globe are recognizing that diversity and inclusion are not only social values, but business values–vital to sustained, long-term profitability. Case studies of Bank of America, IBM, Allstate, Sodexo and other corporations tell this story again and again.

#9 White men must be included in diversity efforts. Businesses who successfully leverage diversity as part of their strategy to remain profitable have come to understand that white men are also members of a nuanced cultural group, and that they are integral to helping diversity efforts succeed. Consulting firms such as White Men as Full Diversity Partners, as well as the successful diversity efforts of companies such as Georgia Power and Coca-Cola bear witness to this trend.

#10 Green is the new black. As consumer attention begins to shift more toward environmental concerns, companies are increasingly “going green”. Even more significant, many companies have discovered that there are solid economic incentives for reducing waste and moving toward more sustainable business measures. By “going green” companies have already succeeded in reducing costs and increasing sales.

How is your company responding to these monumental changes? I invite you to respond on this blog with your comments and questions. And if these topics interest you, follow me on Twitter as well, where this list first appeared in abbreviated form.

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