Benefits to a Diverse Workplace
Diversity and inclusion in the workplace is a big topic for companies to address now more than ever. Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace isn’t only important, but it also brings some serious benefits along with it. In this blog post, you will learn about the top 5 benefits of a diverse workplace.
When you are diverse, you open your company up to a wider range of unique individuals with different backgrounds and experiences, making it easier for your business to be more creative, better at problem-solving, and much more than your competitors. Here are some benefits of a diverse and inclusive workplace.
Different Perspectives
Diversity in the workplace means that a company employs a wide range of individuals from different backgrounds, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, languages, education, abilities, etc. When creating a diverse workplace, each individual will have a different story on how they got to your company. With a different story comes different perspectives.
Those employees with different backgrounds will have a different perspective. These different perspectives will be very beneficial when planning and executive a business plan.
More Creative & Innovative
With different backgrounds come different perspectives comes different creativity between individuals. Someone born in Australia is exposed to other advertisements, websites, movies, tv shows, etc., compared to someone born in the United States.
Also, according to Josh Bersin, diverse and inclusive companies are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders in their market.
Better Problem-Solving & Decision Making
Diverse teams are 87% better at making decisions than their counterparts. Diverse teams are better problem solvers because they bring many diverse solutions to the table. When many diverse solutions are brought to the table, you will choose the best solution quickly.
Increased Engagement & Productivity
The more an employee feels included, the more they are engaged. The more engaged an employee is, the more productive they will be. Workplace diversity and inclusion is a crucial step to increase employee engagement.
Diversity is a crucial element for worker engagement and productivity. With a more diverse and inclusive workplace, you will reduce turnover, boost profits, and grow quicker than your competitors.
Deloitte conducted research that captured the views and experiences of 1,550 employees in three large Australian businesses. The study revealed that engagement is an outcome of diversity and inclusion.
More Profitable
As you may already know, each of the benefits we already provided will result in increased profits. Diverse companies will have better problem-solving, decision-making, creativity, and productivity, increasing profits. Time is money, and the quicker you solve a problem, the more time you spend on other things.
McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, conducted research that included 180 companies in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. After McKinsey & Company completed the study, they found that the more diverse teams were more likely to be leaders in their industries.
Also, according to BuiltIn.com, diverse companies get 2.3 times higher cash flow per employee than less diverse ones.
How to Create a Diverse Workplace
Now that you know the benefits of a diverse workplace, are you ready to learn how to implement a new diversity policy? Here are some tips we have for you to create a more diverse workplace.
Do the Research: Educate others about Diversity
Whether you are an employer or an employee, do the research that is necessary to learn more about the topic of diversity. Let’s first talk about diversity as a whole. Diversity is not just based on race but includes gender, religion, age, disability, linguistic differences, socioeconomic status, and cultural background. With a wide range of diverse individuals with different cultures and backgrounds, you will be able to work together to solve complex business problems.
The benefits of a more diverse workplace are that they are more creative, better at problem-solving, and make better decisions as a whole. Racially and ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to perform better than their counterparts. Not only that, but diverse teams make better decisions 87% of the time.
Your business will reach its max performance if you do not have a good relationship with your employees. Whether you are a manager or owner, understanding that an employee that is unsatisfied with their job is usually caused by them feeling disconnected from their managers.
Teaching Employees/ Managers
Having great managers is also an essential step in creating a more diverse workplace. They are usually the first to communicate with employees when they have an issue with something. Managers should be understanding and easily accessible for employees to feel comfortable bringing concerns or mistreatment to their attention. Make sure you let your managers know that diversity is a priority. According to Forbes, almost half of the Fortune 1000 companies are “too busy” to incorporate more diversity into the workplace.
Inclusive Culture
One easy way to do this, which most companies already have, is a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination in the workplace. Some companies have a zero-tolerance policy in place but lack execution on these policies. Making this policy known to employees is an important step to ensure your workplace is friendly and enjoyable to work for.
Another step to make your business have a more inclusive culture is recognizing specific holidays in other cultures. This can be as simple as allowing employees to take off work for their religious holidays. Also, celebrate your employees’ diversity by having cultural events such as having a weekly cookout where each member creates a dish from their own country.
Lastly, making sure your office is all-inclusive is essential. That means having a non-gendered restroom available is a must. Gender diversity in the workplace is becoming more prevalent now more than ever.
The goal is not just to have a more diverse workplace but also to make sure everyone is comfortable expressing it.
Communication is key
The first two steps alone won’t help improve diversity at work. Making sure you communicate and follow through on these first steps is critical for creating a more diverse workplace. Regularly ask for feedback from employees. Maybe your company is missing something. The best way to find out what you can do better is to invite input from those who work for you every day.
One thing many companies do to improve diversity and increase performance is to have a retreat. This would be full of team-building exercises to help the team members meet other team members they haven’t talked to much before.
Lastly, encourage your team to look into professional development opportunities with continued education. Connect your employees with other resources outside your company. This will bring resources to some employees who don’t regularly access these resources compared to others.
Are you ready to continue to grow your company with diversity and inclusion in the workspace? If so, make sure to follow these key steps in the diversity process. You can make your workplace as diverse and inclusive as possible, which will result in happier employees and help improve your business. Improve your company’s overall satisfaction by creating a diverse workplace.
Need some more tips? Contact us! We are a staffing firm in RI that has worked with hundreds of clients to hire employees that will fit their companies’ culture!
Now that you know more about creating a diverse and inclusive workplace, are you ready to recruit diverse talent?
