Diversity promotes high-quality decisions and growth, says Gap

Modica, who is also head of equality and belonging at the retailer, spoke to Retail Week as part of our in-depth report, The True Value of Diversity. Produced in association with Google, the report investigates the links between diverse boards and inclusive teams and employee productivity, revenue and profit growth. 

In 2014, Gap became the first Fortune 500 company to validate that it pays men and women the same for the same work on average across its global organisations. 

“We believe diversity increases creativity and innovation, promotes high-quality decisions and enhances economic growth. 

“Our business success depends on our people, which is why it is so critical to cultivate a culture that attracts and engages talented employees and gives them opportunities to achieve their work and life goals,” said Modica.

“Our business success depends on our people, which is why it is so critical to cultivate a culture that attracts and engages talented employees”

Kisha Modica, Gap

The retailer launched its ‘Be one. Get one.’ mentorship platform in 2018, which encourages employees to take active roles in their development and the development of others. It has also been stepping up efforts to get store employees to apply for head-office roles.

“By 2020, our goal is to fill 20% of entry-level headquarters roles with employees from our stores,” said Modica.

As part of the report, Retail Week also spoke to Carpetright chief executive Wilf Walsh, who revealed that the company is advertising all non-store manager positions as being available on a part-time basis.

Carpetright has also managed to reduce its gender pay gap from a median of 6.5% last year to 3.6% this year.