Raphael John-Lall
Businesses in T&T that fail to address workplace diversity could face higher employee turnover and recruitment costs and weaker innovation potentially undermining their financial performance and competitiveness, according to President of the Human Resource Management Association of Trinidad and Tobago (HRMATT) Cavelle Joseph-St. Omer.
Diversity and how to manage a diverse workforce has been an important discussion locally and internationally.
Her statement comes as there has been heated debate over the last few months over race and ethnicity in T&T. Last month, the local LGBTQIA+ community marked the close of Pride Month under the theme, “One Journey, Many Stories.”
Over the last few years, the Government and the corporate world have been debating how to deal with the large migrant workforce.
In an interview with the Business Guardian, Joseph-St. Omer said diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) should no longer be treated simply as a human resource initiative or a matter of corporate compliance.
Instead, she argued, it must be regarded as a core business issue capable of influencing an organisation’s competitiveness, profitability and ability to attract and retain talent.
“In 2026, a diverse workforce is our greatest asset. When corporate boardrooms and marketing strategies mirror our multi-ethnic society, businesses make better, more empathetic decisions.”
Her assessment of the local corporate landscape is that implementation of strategic diversity frameworks remains uneven across the business community.
She explained that while progressive companies and HR departments have embraced diversity as a driver of organisational culture and competitive advantage, many businesses continue to struggle to align their leadership structures and governance practices with the demands of a changing workforce.
She identified three major financial risks arising from inadequate diversity management: severe talent attrition and recruitment costs, stifled market innovation and operational friction.
At the same time, she added that HRMATT notes an important nuance frequently discussed in recent Wall Street Journal executive reports: true financial outperformance is driven by corporate leaders making genuine transformation.
“If a company simply hires people of different ethnicities or genders but forces them to conform to a rigid, old fashioned corporate culture, the business gains zero financial advantage. The financial return only activates when leadership builds an inclusive culture where diverse perspectives are actually listened to, respected, and woven into business decisions.”
Organisational evolution
Joseph-St. Omer said the challenge is becoming more significant as workplaces increasingly bring together employees from different generations, cultural backgrounds and demographic groups.
She noted that today’s organisations can have as many as five generations working alongside each other, creating different expectations around leadership, communication, flexibility and workplace culture.
“Workplaces now span up to five generations, requiring modern frameworks to manage diverse employee expectations and reduce friction.”
For employers, managing these differences effectively is becoming increasingly important to maintaining productivity and employee engagement.
Joseph-St. Omer said this means diversity and fair treatment are no longer matters confined to an organisation’s internal environment. They can directly influence corporate reputation and, ultimately, a company’s ability to attract talent and compete.
Workplace diversity
Joseph-St. Omer highlighted contemporary examples of different demographics in the modern workplace.
One area requiring greater attention is the integration of migrant labour. Some sectors have become increasingly dependent on migrant workers to fill essential labour shortages, but Joseph-St. Omer said formal integration strategies are often lacking.
“Management must move beyond reactive hiring and establish structured support to address language and cultural barriers,” she said.
That support, she suggested, is important not only for employees but also for employers seeking to maximise the contribution of workers recruited to address labour shortages.
Gender representation is another area where progress has been visible but incomplete. Women are increasingly prominent in middle-management positions, yet Joseph-St. Omer said structural barriers continue to restrict their progression into senior leadership, executive positions and corporate boards.
She called for clear and flexible frameworks that support women as they advance through the corporate hierarchy. Such measures, she said, are necessary if organisations are to build leadership pipelines that make full use of the available talent pool.
Ethnic representation also presents a contradiction for local companies. Joseph-St. Omer pointed to the strong representation of T&T’s multicultural society in corporate advertising and marketing, while noting that the same diversity is often less evident in boardrooms.
She said board recruitment should move away from closed and traditional networks towards transparent, competency-based selection.
“In this case it should be a matter of the best person or persons for the role, regardless of ethnicity.”
She added that the issue is particularly important for companies operating in a multicultural society, where understanding different consumer groups can be an important component of business strategy. A leadership team with a broader range of experiences can bring different perspectives to decisions about products, services, marketing and customer relationships.
LGBTQ+ inclusion remains another relatively quiet issue in the local corporate environment.
Joseph-St. Omer said multinational companies often rely on global policies, while some local organisations remain hesitant to address the issue because of wider cultural and societal norms.
She said creating an environment in which employees feel psychologically safe requires organisations to move beyond silence and establish clear expectations around respect and inclusion.
Meaningful change
Joseph-St. Omer advised companies to move beyond slogans and superficial marketing and to address this topic in a meaningful way.
One of the biggest obstacles to meaningful progress is the tendency to treat diversity as an HR checklist rather than a strategic business priority.
She argued that responsibility for diversity must extend beyond HR and be embraced by senior executives and boards.
“It only succeeds when viewed as a core business driver owned by the executive leadership of the organisation,” she said.
A major weakness among local companies, she added, is the limited use of diversity data. Organisations rarely track measures such as pay gaps or promotion rates by demographic group, making it difficult to identify and correct hidden biases.
Without reliable data, she said management may not know where inequalities exist or whether policies intended to improve diversity are actually producing results. Tracking recruitment, promotion, retention and compensation patterns can therefore provide companies with a clearer picture of where intervention may be required.
The business case for action is reinforced by international research. Joseph-St. Omer pointed to McKinsey & Company’s Diversity Wins research, which has found that companies in the top quartile for executive ethnic and gender diversity are up to 39 percent more likely to financially outperform their less-diverse competitors.
But Joseph-St. Omer stressed that simply increasing the number of people from different demographic groups will not automatically produce better financial results.
“True financial outperformance is driven by cognitive diversity, not just surface-level demographics.”
Greater inclusion needed
Greater San Fernando Area Chamber of Commerce President Kiran Singh told Sunday Business Guardian that T&T’s business community has made progress in recognising workplace diversity, but more must be done to achieve genuine inclusion.
Singh said having employees from different racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds does not necessarily mean a workplace is inclusive.
“We need to look beyond who is employed and examine who gets promoted, who gets leadership opportunities, whose opinions are valued and whether everyone feels respected and able to progress,” he said.
He urged businesses to consider inclusion across gender, disability, age, migrant workers and LGBTQ+ employees, while warning against reducing initiatives such as Pride Month to corporate social-media exercises.
Singh said diversity should also be viewed as an economic issue, arguing that businesses benefit from different perspectives, creativity and innovation.
“For a small island developing state like T&T, we cannot afford to exclude talented people because of their background or identity.”
