By Jesse Lent

Some of the tech companies that we give our most personal information to, are not so forthcoming about providing such data of their own — particularly it turns out, when disclosing statistics on the diversity of their workforce.

In a recent CNN investigative report on the lack of woman and minorities within Silicon Valley, the cable news station requested a breakdown of the demographics of 20 tech companies. Only three of the companies responded.

By Melissa J. Anderson

Recently Deloitte released the results of a survey [pdf] of 215 board directors in 12 countries in an attempt to gauge attitudes toward “board effectiveness, how boards are functioning and the changing roles of directors.” The study, “Director 360,” reveals key information on what board directors are thinking during the current economic uncertainty as well as the other issues that are causing them concern.

In the report, Deloitte points out the while the board directors surveyed were scattered around the world, in many cases, their concerns were the same. The study says, “An interesting result was the similarity in the opinions of directors despite the diversity of countries surveyed. This confirms the view that the challenges facing boards across the world tend to be more universal than diverse.”

One of the key issues the board directors discussed was the talent acquisition at the board and senior management levels. According to the survey, succession planning and recruitment potential during a time of increased liability are have some board directors worried. Additionally, the report said the majority of board directors consider diversity a key concern – in fact, 60% “agreed or strongly agreed that increasing diversity of directors was a focus of the board.”

By Melissa J. Anderson

Until companies begin to take seriously the strategic value of diversity, efforts to increase gender and ethnic parity won’t get very far. Because businesses rely on numbers to make decisions, diversity practitioners should be prepared with numbers when they make the case for improving corporate diversity.

As Rich Goldberg, VP of Corporate Quality at Cisco says in Diversity Best Practices’ Global Diversity Primer, “Metrics and measurements are essential elements to driving change and raising visibility around the business value resulting from inclusion and diversity.”

He continues, “Metrics provide a common language we can understand and agree upon. Measurements give an objective perspective, allowing us to more easily spot, analyze, and then ultimately address problems. The focus is on the problem, instead of specific behaviors or people.”

And in fact, research into this area isn’t limited to anecdotal, intangible evidence. There’s plenty of cold, hard data on the business case for diversity.

As Jim Wall, Global Chief Diversity Officer for Deloitte said, “There is a lot of research that shows, and we believe, that diverse teams create better solutions to client problems than homogeneous teams.”