OREANDA-NEWS. September 27, 2016. Not long ago, SAP hired an external firm to conduct a study quantifying the results of employee engagement. What they found was a direct correlation between employee engagement and revenue.

The study showed that each percentage point increase in the employee engagement score drove \\$35 to \\$45 million to SAP’s bottom line. According to Nicole McCabe, senior director of Global Diversity at SAP, the company increased employee engagement by two percent last year.

“These findings position diversity and inclusion as a business imperative,” said McCabe. “SAP’s objective is to create a diverse and inclusive workplace so people feel that they’re bringing their whole self to work, and that we are also gaining the full potential from all of our employees because they know their experiences, perspectives and ideas hold value here.”

This virtuous cycle is particularly important for an organization in the rapidly changing technology industry. SAP’s numerous diversity and inclusion commitments are designed to empower contributions from people informed by different cultures, races, gender, ethnicities and other variables.

McCabe said SAP is on track to achieve its commitment of having 25 percent women in leadership positions by 2017 – with 24 percent to date. SAP is also committed to increase the number of women overall to 32 percent of its total workforce, and to hiring 600 individuals with autism by 2020.