Diversity and Innovation

INSEAD, one of the world’s leading graduate business schools, has recently published its 2018 Global Talent Competitiveness Index Report*. This index assesses the policies and practices that enable a country to attract, develop and retain the skills associated with innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership.

As in previous years, Switzerland maintained its number 1 position, followed by Singapore and the United States; European countries held 15 of the top 25 positions, while Australia scored well, coming in at number 11.

In light of the Australian Government’s recent announcement of a pilot Global Talent visa, and recent changes to the temporary visa programs, the following observations are interesting:

• Strong link between openness, talent competitiveness and sustainable prosperity. “Openness” means being open to the necessity for collaboration, openness to gender, identity diversity, providing opportunities for individuals regardless of socio-economic background;
• The importance of encouraging individuals to gain international experience, otherwise known as “brain circulation”; learning through exposure to different cultures, and being challenged by different systems stimulates deeper and more complex thinking, problem-solving, flexibility, creativity;
• Need to create a culture of inclusion – at home, at school, in the workplace, in our cities. Political leaders need to focus more on innovative education policies;
• Surprisingly high percentage of entrepreneurs are immigrants on a global basis.

The Report cautioned that the increase in nationalism in many countries (including the US) has given rise to negative notions of diversity and that these must be overcome. It describes “talent diversity” as the core pillar of competitiveness in a rapidly growing digital economy.

The Report is very readable and may be found here: https://www.insead.edu/news/2018-gtci-talent-diversity-competitiveness-fuel-future-of-work

*2018 Global Talent Competitiveness Index: Talent Diversity and Competitiveness will fuel the future of work, 22 January 2018.

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