The Great Diversity Departure

At every level, women and minorities are significantly more likely to say they need to change companies to advance in their careers. As we looked at the underlying factors of those who intended to leave, there was little evidence that women and minorities were receiving significantly different experiences. In fact, there was little difference in how satisfied they were with their advancement rate, the development opportunities they were given, performance expectations, or work-life balance. And in many cases, minorities reported more favorable rates in these areas.

Rather, the underlying factors behind their intention to stay or leave were primarily related to the environment created by their company’s leaders. In order of impact, these are the top drivers of why leaders from diverse backgrounds stay to advance their careers:

Having senior leaders who build strong trust with employees is even more critical among mid-level leaders and executives. Among the 2,155 mid- and senior-level women and minority leaders in our study, 64% of those who did not trust their senior leaders said they felt they had to leave to advance. By comparison, only 27% of this group said they intended to leave when they trusted senior leaders at their organization.

The data creates a clear picture that companies cannot retain talented women and minority leaders through piecemeal approaches. Rather, they need to create a stronger leadership culture and environment that has inclusion woven into it.