6 ways embracing diversity helps your company grow

Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessilibity “aren’t buzzwords or burdens, they are key strategic enablers for growing our businesses,” writes Walter Barnes III, president of PM Consulting.

Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessilibity “aren’t buzzwords or burdens, they are key strategic enablers for growing our businesses,” writes Walter Barnes III, president of PM Consulting. Courtesy of PM Consulting

Federal requirements for diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility offer contractors the chance to expand their capabilities, win new business, and help the country.

Last June marked the one-year anniversary of the White House’s Executive Order 14305, which announced that the “Federal Government should have a workforce that reflects the diversity of the American people.” The order laid out the Biden Administration’s goal to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) throughout the federal workforce.

With the current fiscal year winding down, we federal contractors are already planning for the next one. New DEIA requirements are in place, and we will have to meet them. As we do, we should remember that DEIA aren’t buzzwords or burdens – they are key strategic enablers for growing our businesses and serving our country.

The White House’s Government-Wide Strategic Plan for DEIA states, “A growing body of evidence demonstrates that diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible workplaces yield higher-performing organizations.” Speaking from experience, I can vouch that valuing diverse experiences and perspectives makes great business sense for federal contracting firms. For example, my company PM Consulting Group employs more than 150 people – of whom 73% are women and 61% are minorities working at all levels, including executives, directors, and senior program managers. As a highly diverse and inclusive company, we are not just growing – we are thriving.

Having a company culture that supports DEIA integration provides many opportunities to grow both internally and externally, including:

  • Easier Staff Recruitment and Retention – Providing an exceptional employee experience that offers genuine, thoughtful appreciation for employees’ priorities, especially those related to DEIA, is a great way to find and keep good talent.
  • Happier, More Motivated Employees – Expanding opportunities for employees to participate in exciting projects that matter to them taps into their passion to deliver exceptional service to customers. It also inspires employees to collaborate, innovate, and invest in the company’s goals and success.
  • More Experienced Leadership – Hiring for talent and fit and promoting from within the ranks help ensure leadership teams and managers reflect and reinforce a self-sustaining culture even as the company pursues exponential growth.
  • Better Service Delivery – Long-term employees’ institutional knowledge and strong working relationships improve their work with clients, enabling the company to ramp up quickly on new projects and deliver unparalleled service over time. Achieving exceptional performance on contracts leads to re-awards, which for us contractors is the highest form of praise.
  • New Contracting and Funding Opportunities – Federal agencies released their own DEIA strategic plans last March, leading to new DEIA-related contracting opportunities for smaller companies looking to expand partnerships and grow their customer bases.

Another financial avenue of opportunity is private equity. As equity firms continue to diversify their portfolios and investments, expect to see realignments toward organizations whose missions align to cultural norms and values – much the way we’re seeing an expansion of green investments. At PMCG, our approach to diversity has been a significant advantage in attracting investment, which is critical for our planned growth in the coming years.

  • Expanded Partnerships – The government-wide plan also recommended that agencies “engage with a wide range of contracting sources beyond those focused solely on recruitment to extend the reach of government in sustaining relationships with underserved communities.” Companies have the chance to collaborate with small businesses – including 8(a), disadvantaged, woman-owned, and HUBZone – to create a mutually supportive network of small businesses with synergistic strengths and a shared commitment to federal excellence.

Now is the time for all federal contractors, large and small, to be bold in embracing DEIA. With such a wealth of perspectives and experiences, we can create invigorating and truly inclusive cultures that will empower us to deliver for federal clients and grow our businesses like never before. Helping bake DEIA into federal missions, operations, and communities will truly enable the government “of the people, by the people, for the people” that all Americans deserve.


Walter Barnes III is the founder and president of PM Consulting Group, a provider of program and project management services.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.