Many organisations talk about the benefits of diversity management in terms of better working conditions, improved productivity and increased profits – but few have actually collected data to prove the point.

Swiss multinational banking giant Credit Suisse has tried to measure the impact of diversity on profits by examining the mix of employees, working conditions and financial performance of large businesses.

“Leading companies across the world today devote considerable resources to promoting gender diversity and better working conditions. Conventional wisdom suggests that improved diversity and working environment have an impact on profitability,” said Christine Schmid, head of banks and financial services research and Juliette Lim-Fat, head of thematic and derivatives research at Credit Suisse, writing in the Gulf News.

A key measure was how many women participated in senior levels of decision making.

Credit Suisse reviewed data gleaned from the most recent annual reports from the largest listed companies in Scandinavia, Germany, Italy, France and Switzerland.

The Nordic countries rated high on the number of women in senior management, with some countries insisting large companies have boards comprising at least 20% women.

German DAX 30 companies have established a voluntary quota for senior women managers this year and will publish the quotas for different management levels.

The bank also scrutinised the performance of companies that scored high for diversity from 2008 to the end of March, 2011.

Scandinavian countries again topped the lists for companies with women making up at least 10% of senior management and 20% of the total workforce.

A specific result of including more women at senior decision making levels was identified as the effect on the Scandinavian banking sector during the downturn.

Overall, Scandinavian countries had less economic problems than most – although Credit Suisse noted this could also be due to less exposure to US markets and a more ‘defensive’ financial outlook.