iversity and inclusion are buzzwords in the workplace. But what do they mean, and why are they so important?
A diverse workforce helps organizations learn from different perspectives, collaborate more effectively, and grow their businesses into innovative companies that appeal to customers around the world.
So, what are diversity and inclusion?
Diversity and inclusion are two terms that often get thrown around but are rarely defined. Let's fix that!
Diversity is the state of being different, while inclusion is the act of including others. You might be saying to yourself, "Well, duh!" But this definition can take many forms: it includes race, gender identity, and expression, age (and other age-related identities), national origin/ancestry, religion/spirituality/beliefs (or lack of), sexual orientation/gender identity and expression (or lack of), body type or ability level – and that list goes on.
Diversity and inclusion also include a diversity of thought. After all, it's impossible to create a diverse workplace if everyone thinks exactly alike.
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But why does diversity matter in the workplace?
Diversity is a strength. Diversity makes the world a better place. Diversity helps companies innovate, be competitive, and attract and retain talent.
It also helps companies retain customers through a more diverse workforce that understands customer needs and preferences better than ever.
Diversity in the workplace matters. It's that simple.
It's not only about gender, race, and sexual orientation – it's also about skills, experience, and perspectives. Diversity is how we think and act. It is our ability to include everyone.
Diversity brings balance to a team: every person on your team contributes something different than everyone else. A diverse group of people makes better decisions than a homogenous group because they are more likely to consider multiple points of view before making those decisions.
Diversity helps create better companies and better workplaces.
What does that mean? It means that when you have a diverse workforce, you have employees from different backgrounds, with different perspectives and experiences, who bring their own ideas to the table.
When they're working together on a project or product—and especially when they're making decisions – the result is richer, more creative output than if everyone had been thinking in lockstep.
Diversity makes our companies stronger because it allows for more ideas, perspectives, and solutions to emerge (and the best ones will be ours).
It also helps develop leaders who can navigate complex situations effectively. This is increasingly important as we face global challenges like climate change or refugee crises.
Diversity is necessary to drive innovation.
Diversity of thought, experience, and perspective are all important. The more diverse our team is, the better it will be able to work together. Improve communication skills and find solutions to problems that would have remained unsolved had everyone been from similar backgrounds.
Diversity leads to innovation because it encourages people to challenge their own assumptions. These assumptions may have previously gone unchallenged due to a lack of knowledge or experience on the discussed topic by members with different backgrounds than you or I.
But diversity also allows us as human beings to learn from one another's life experiences so we can become better versions of ourselves. This makes our companies stronger because they are able to draw upon a wider variety of sources while making decisions about how best to move forward in their respective industries/fields (e.g., marketing strategy).
We need diversity to reflect consumer behavior and consumption patterns.
Diversity in the workplace is important because it helps companies understand their customers and employees better. Diverse markets are growing at a faster rate than non-diverse ones.
Companies need to take note of these trends if they want to continue thriving as a business enterprise. And diversity isn't just an ethical decision or something that makes employees feel good about their jobs – it's also good business sense.
Companies with diverse employee bases tend to perform better financially.
Companies with diversified teams have a better understanding of their customers and the markets they serve. This makes them more agile, responsive, and innovative.
Diverse teams are also more likely to be creative and think outside the box. In fact, one study found that companies with a workforce that's at least 30 percent female tend to generate 35 percent more innovation than those without such a high proportion of female employees.
Culture is an important factor here, too. When employees feel safe expressing themselves and voicing their opinions about how things could be done better, everyone benefits from having access to different perspectives and ideas.
Recruiting is only the beginning – retention is just as important.
Retention is a crucial component of diversity in the workplace. It's important to keep employees happy and invested in the company's mission so they stay with you for years to come.
If you find yourself losing employees at an alarming rate, here are some strategies that can help you keep them around:
- Offer flexible work hours. We all have family obligations or other responsibilities that interfere with our work schedule on occasion, so it only makes sense to offer your employees the ability to change their schedules as needed.
- This will make them feel more valued by you as an employer, which is especially important if they're looking for another job because they're unhappy with yours.
- Provide bonuses for long-term employment (and promotions). If people see how much effort goes into retaining employees who've been with us for several years (or even decades), it'll show how much we value their contributions. This will be reflected in their loyalty towards us as well.
This can also include things like performance reviews or raises every few years, so everyone feels motivated throughout this time period too.
But remember! A focus on diversity doesn’t mean people should be forced into checkboxes
Diversity is about more than just race, gender, skills, and inclusion. It's also about recruitment and retention. Forcing people into checkboxes doesn't mean you're doing diversity right.
A focus on diversity also means making sure we're not just focusing on one dimension of equity at the expense of others. Diversity should be respected by everyone in our organization, not just the HR team or senior leadership. Even more so, it should be considered during every stage of the hiring and retention processes to ensure fairness across departments and teams.
How can you achieve a diverse and inclusive workplace?
While it's important to understand the benefits of a diverse workplace, there are still some challenges that may get in your way. Here's how you can overcome them:
- Make sure your recruitment process is fair and transparent. The best way to achieve this is by taking time to identify potential problems before they arise.
- Ask yourself whether any potential employees will have access to all of the information needed for them to make an informed decision about whether or not they want to take part in the interview process.
- Take time out of each day, just be present with each other – you know what I mean? Get comfortable talking about race/religion/background without fear that someone might take offense because everyone else around them is too busy listening instead of judging.
- Also, try not to ignore people when they speak up about something happening at work. Sometimes those things aren't necessarily bad but maybe just different from where everyone else has come from. I'm sure that'd be helpful if everyone could try doing this more often."
We've already talked about why diversity matters, but there are a lot of ways to go about it.
Are your employees diverse enough? What can you do to make sure they are? Do you have policies that support diversity? What training would benefit everyone in the company (and not just those who are part of an underrepresented group)? How do we make sure people feel safe sharing their experiences with us?
By
Bill O'Neill
•
December 26, 2024 9:15 PM
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