If anyone still doubts that there’s a business case for diversity, then the recent global financial meltdown may give you cause for thought. “A lot of the companies that failed spectacularly recently were not very diverse,” says Ruth Spellman, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute. “If you can build a diverse workforce that you keep intact, you will do better in tough times. The top businesses in the FTSE 100, for example, have coherent systems in place for developing people and don’t take a red pen to those regularly.”

Nishma Gosrani, a management consultant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, says diversity is a “huge challenge” for any company: “Given the current economic situation, there is the fear that diversity could drop off the agenda for corporate organisations.” Sarah Churchman, the director of diversity at PwC, agrees that the recession may mean less money spent on diversity initiatives. But real diversity comes from the culture of an organisation, she argues, “and that costs no money at all”.

At PwC, a women’s leadership programme was set up in 2007 to address the unequal numbers of female equity partners in the advisory division. The scheme is now showing results. In 2006 and 2007 no internal female members of staff were made partners but in last year, 20 per cent of new partners were female internal admissions, a figure that has risen to 25 per cent this year. The beauty of the scheme, says Churchman, is that every woman is partnered with a senior male member of staff. “The initiative is to open their eyes and create in them a sense of responsibility. They are there to support the female staff member, but also to learn and to take lessons back to their own business units,” she says.

Gosrani, who joined PwC in 2002, says visibility is a great driver of diversity. “I have a very good female mentor within the organisation, and she’s very visible. And I’ve now made myself more visible to other junior members of staff. “ Gosrani is part of the Women of Achievement Ambassadors Programme, supported by Merrill Lynch, which sends women into schools to inspire young people.

At the Department for Communities and Local Government, representing the community is a galvanising mechanism for diversity. It participates in Leaders United, a 14-month scheme sponsored by the Cabinet Office that aims to put underrepresented groups into senior positions within the Civil Service.

Reflecting the community is also a key diversity driver for Jobcentre Plus in the West Midlands. The department has 71 per cent female employees but they are not resting on their laurels.Last year they created a new role for a diversity manager.

At Cisco, the business case for diversity is clear. “Diverse people bring in diverse thoughts. If we employ the same person again and again we will never grow the company,” says Silka Patel, an executive assistant. Patel helped to lead the firm’s women’s action network in London, and when she moved to Scotland last year she set up a new network there. There are 37 women’s action networks across Cisco globally, and they aim to support and retain female members of staff and attract new ones.

And at PepsiCo, the company is working to attract women into manufacturing, traditionally seen as a male domain. Jan Woods, PepsiCo UK’s chief personnel officer, says: “As a result of our efforts, our representation of female managers in manufacturing stands at 36 per cent, against a national average of 25 per cent.”

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