Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion (DEI) Practices and Organisational Outcomes: A Comparative Analysis of Innovation and Employee Retention in Nigerian Public and Private Sector Organisations (Published)
This paper undertakes a comparative examination of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices and their effects on two critical organisational outcomes, namely innovation and employee retention, across public and private sector organisations in Nigeria. Given Nigeria’s distinctive ethnocultural plurality and the structural differences between its governmental and corporate workplaces, the study interrogates how DEI frameworks operate differently within these two institutional settings. Drawing on a systematic review of empirical literatures and anchored theoretically in Social Identity Theory, the Resource-Based View, and Social Exchange Theory, the paper establishes that robust DEI practices yield measurably positive organisational outcomes when implemented with contextual intentionality. The evidence reveals that private sector organisations in Nigeria tend to exhibit more formalised and outcome-driven DEI strategies, correlating with higher innovation indices and lower voluntary turnover, whereas the public sector remains constrained by bureaucratic rigidity and the paradoxes associated with the Federal Character Principle. Significant research gaps persist regarding the longitudinal measurement of DEI outcomes in Nigerian organisations, the intersectionality of DEI dimensions within indigenous institutional contexts, and sector-specific implementation frameworks. The paper concludes with targeted recommendations and directions for future inquiry.
Keywords: Diversity, Employee Retention, Equity, Innovation, Private Sector, Public Sector, and inclusion (DEI), federal character principle.