In this exclusive interview, Valuable 500 Founder Caroline Casey spoke to Paul Polman, former-CEO of Unilever, Vice-Chair of the UN Global Compact and Chair of The Valuable 500, about why inclusive businesses perform better, a CEO’s moral responsibility and how we can bring humanity back to the corporate world.


I honestly believe that you have to fight for the people that are left behind. I honestly believe that we have to bring humanity back into business and put it in the center. I honestly believe that to be a good CEO you first and foremost have to be a good human being. And that starts with fighting for the ones that are left behind.

Paul Polman

 

When asked about the role of business in the fight for disability inclusion, Paul Polman explains that while businesses have a unique opportunity to drive higher moral values than governments, as leaders, CEOs must drive the “tone of the top” and foster inclusion at the heart of their organisations.

And there are benefits for businesses that do so, he argues. “It is proven that a more diverse organisation, day in day out, outperforms other organisations quite significantly.”

As CEO of Unilever, Paul saw this firsthand, “on the top-line growth, on the profitability, on the shareholder return”, pointing out that increasingly shareholders are investing in companies on the basis of their culture and diversity. According to him, “the financial case is overwhelming.”

So why are we not seeing the traction that we want? In his view, we need to overcome a mindset problem. He believes some leaders are worried about cost, absenteeism, lack of motivation and even reputation issues. But from his experience these are merely myths.

“If you have people with disabilities in your organisation, they create an enormous loyalty amongst other employees, less turnover, their costs are negligible (if not any), their absenteeism or their rate of leaving is actually less than others and their productivity is higher.”

People want to work for companies that are inclusive and companies that are inclusive do better.

Paul Polman

 

And then there is the consumer market (worth over $13 trillion annually), to which Paul adds ‘it is kind of strange that you have more offerings of clothes for cats and dogs than you have for people with disabilities”.

As one of the first CEOs to speak out about the climate crisis, Paul knows the struggle involved in making change happen. “Any change or effort of magnitude starts with cynicism or scepticism, then rejection, then some resistance, craziness.” But ultimately he says, “you’ll get to that tipping point”.

And he believes that when it comes to disability inclusion, there is a lot to be hopeful about. He cites examples such as Starbucks creating sign language stores, Ikea designing furniture for people with disabilities and brands like Walsh employing high numbers of people with disabilities across the organisation. “And these companies are successful, and there is nothing better for business than showing business success out of what you do, to attract the others.” It’s already happening on the environmental front and with gender equality, and now he believes it needs to happen for people with disabilities.

Paul also has strong views about what will happen to fellow leaders who fail to champion disability inclusion. He asks “how can you run a company in today’s world where you have a mindset that you would treat different people differently?” adding that “if you want to live in a less inclusive society, if you want to drive people apart versus bringing them together, you probably aren’t worth being a CEO.” Ultimately, he states, it’s a choice about the human values that make the world function and the people who don’t make that choice will not be “long in their jobs”.

As co-Chair of the UN Global Compact, Paul is also deeply aware of the relationship between disability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 goals, which have the overall objective to ‘leave no one behind’ make at least 11 references to people with disabilities, including accessible cities and access to education. He explains that it was important to him to integrate disability into all of the goals, as opposed to having a separate goal for people with disabilities. So now, he explains, we just need to put it into practice.

“Increasingly you see companies understanding the power of the Sustainable Development Goals – the enormous economic opportunity that lies in it.”

Ultimately though, according to Polman, it is the young generation that holds the key to lasting change. He points to the concept of unity and purpose amongst younger members of society as a reason for positivity, pointing out that increasingly young people are asking  “am I working for an inclusive company, or an exclusive club?”

But he is still vehement that for the business leaders of today, change must happen now.

“If you belong to the lucky and have won your lottery ticket in life, then it’s your duty to put yourself at the service of others. And here you have a group of 1.3 billion people, and for some reason or another, this was the forgotten part of society…and it deserves all of our attention. But it also above all, deserves all of our support and commitment.”

Watch our exclusive interview with Paul Polman below.


In conversation with Paul Polman.

Paul Polman