SAP is the top large employer for diversity, according to a Forbes and Statista survey and ranking, followed by Henry Ford Health System and Procter & Gamble. SAP's chief diversity and inclusion officer, Judith Williams, said, "We've moved from activity measures to outcome measures, from building programs just for the sake of it to first asking what problems that program is trying to solve and how do we validate that that's happening?"

Many employees are working past the traditional age of retirement, and businesses should adapt to accommodate older workers and benefit from the knowledge and experience they bring to the table, Gene Marks writes. Ensure company benefits take the needs of older team members into account, communicate with them in a method that suits them and don't underestimate the willingness of older employees to learn and change, Marks suggests.

Employers who encourage workers to stay home when they're sick could cut the spread of the flu, according to a study by three economists. Because public transportation, shared workspaces and children in day care contribute to transmission of the virus, "firms should consider more generous sick day policies, particularly during the flu season," researcher Erik Nesson says.

Student debt disproportionately affects racial minorities, and employers should consider implementing debt-relief assistance benefits as part of efforts aimed at increasing workplace diversity, write Kristal Cobb, manager of diversity and inclusion at Chegg, and John Fillmore, Chegg chief business officer. Employer assistance with repaying student loans "is a concrete, eminently achievable step that, if well-advertised, may also help raise awareness of the severe impact of education debt on young Americans -- and the particularly unfair burden it places on African-Americans," Cobb and Fillmore write.

Workplace gender equality can counterintuitively be improved by focusing less on women, which means ignoring stereotypes and thinking about solutions that affect all employees, write Procter & Gamble Chief Sales Officer Carolyn Tastad and Deanna Bass, director of global diversity and inclusion. "It's time to acknowledge that gender inequality must be fixed -- but women don't need to be," they write.