When you think of a thriving, dynamic workplace, what comes to mind? Chances are, it’s a colorful mosaic of individuals, each bringing their unique abilities, experiences, and perspectives to the table.
The strength of collaboration this brings is significant. Accordion to a LinkedIn study, teams who are diverse make better business decisions compared to non-diverse teams 87% of the time.
But the value of diversity in the workplace goes beyond ticking boxes or the employer branding aspect of saying a company is diverse. This article’s objective is to clarify the business case for hiring a diverse team and the value diversity has in today’s business landscape.
What is Diversity in the Workplace?
Workplace diversity refers to the inclusion and respect for individuals from all walks of life. This could encompass things like age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education, and national origin, to name a few. A diverse workplace is one where all these different voices are heard, every viewpoint has a seat at the table, and integration happens at every level of seniority.
Pro-tip
Employing a diverse team can be the key to a company’s overall success. Diversity has proved to drive innovation, overall employee experience, and profits. True diversity goes beyond inclusive hiring policies for gender and racial groups. It also takes into account the generational spread, differing views, and cultural backgrounds represented in a team.
Diversity in the workplace means fostering an environment where these unique perspectives can thrive and contribute to the overarching goals and vision of the business. It’s about ensuring everyone feels valued, respected, and equal.
To quote American businessman and writer Max de Pree, “We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion.”
Why is Diversity Important in the Workplace?
When a workplace is rich in diversity, it becomes a hotbed of creativity and innovation. Diversity brings together a mix of experiences, perspectives, and ideas that can ignite novel thinking and fresh approaches to problem-solving. It facilitates a more expansive perspective, stimulates unconventional thought processes, and nurtures a setting conducive to the flourishing of innovation.
Diversity sparks creativity because it promotes a variety of viewpoints. When people from different backgrounds, different cultures, and experiences come together, they bring unique insights that can lead to innovative solutions. It’s as if you’re looking at a problem through multiple lenses instead of just one.
To simplify this for the sake of argument, imagine a team made up entirely of male, 40-year-old scientists. While this group may excel in analyzing data and conducting experiments, they lack the skills needed to market their findings to the public. Now, add a marketing expert, a designer, and a copywriter to the team. Suddenly, you’ve got a skills-diverse group that can not only conduct research but also effectively communicate it to the world.
Next, imagine this group consists of different nationalities. You’ll have insight into how their finding should be conveyed to be culturally appropriate and well-accepted by different markets. If the team is diverse in age, even more so. If you include male and female perspectives over these varying nationalities and generations, even more so.
As the team becomes more diverse, you gain a “tribal” spokesperson(s) for each slice of humanity that is represented and insight into how they think, feel, and care about what it is that your company does. That’s the power of diversity in spurring creativity.
Diverse teams are less likely to succumb to groupthink, where conformity in thinking can lead to stale ideas and a lack of progress. Diverse teams are more capable of challenging assumptions, asking tough questions, and pushing boundaries than teams who have a singular way of thinking.
What Are the Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace?
Embracing diversity in the workplace comes with a plethora of benefits that extend beyond the office walls. Examples of diversity in the workplace leading to improved business performance are:
1. Innovation and Creativity
The presence of diverse team results in a fusion of concepts. Diverse viewpoints, backgrounds, and traditions stimulate ingenuity as each person contributes distinct viewpoints. This can ultimately generate more imaginative problem-solving approaches and groundbreaking concepts for products and services.
2. Enhanced Employee Engagement
Employees feel more engaged when they believe their workplace values diversity. This creates psychological safety and a sense of belonging, encouraging individuals to contribute their best at work. Ultimately, diversity is a catalyst for a positive, inclusive company culture.
3. Better Decision Making
When you have a diverse set of minds tackling a problem, you’re likely to arrive at a solution that’s well-rounded. Multiple viewpoints ensure all angles are considered, leading to better decisions and outcomes.
4. Broader Talent Pool
Organizations that prioritize inclusivity draw in a more diverse array of candidates. As a result, they increase their likelihood of choosing exceptional and high-caliber individuals. Additionally, this conveys a favorable impression of the company’s values, enhancing its attractiveness to prospective team members.
5. Improved Company Reputation
Organizations that are committed to diversity are viewed more favorably by the public. By promoting and embracing diversity, companies can improve their image, attract more business, and stand out as a leader in their industry.
6. Employee Retention
Imagine for a moment a highly talented, intelligent, and hard-working young professional who works in a junior position at a company. By all accounts, their career trajectory should be positive, and the company would be well-advised to promote them. If the said young professional looks at the managers appointed above them, and the next tier of leadership beyond that, they will assess their prospects of promotion based on what the people in these roles “look” like.
If the professional is a woman, but all the leadership roles in the company are held by men, she would be rightfully concerned about her prospects of promotion.
The same goes for race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. When top talent cannot see their “kind” in leadership, they will be more likely to move on.
7. Increased Profits
Indeed, it’s accurate! Research has indicated that businesses boasting diverse teams experience heightened profitability. This phenomenon could stem from various elements, such as enhanced decision-making, heightened creativity, and an improved corporate image.
What are the Different Types of Workplace Diversity?
Just as biodiversity strengthens natural systems, various types of diversity in the workplace work together to breed innovation, efficiency, and growth. But what does diversity look like exactly?
When we think about hiring a diverse team from diverse backgrounds, our minds tend to go to the most visible forms of diversity, such as:
- Gender diversity: The ratio of men, women, and non-traditional genders in the workforce.
- Racial diversity: This includes the representation of various racial groups.
- Religious diversity: Representation and inclusion of various religious beliefs, including the significant days, practices, and restrictions that apply to employees who practice religions.
While these forms of diversity are all critical, we must also consider less visible forms.
1. Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity in the workplace refers to a team of people who identify with different ethnicities and nationalities. While a person of Scandinavian origin may not look dissimilar to a person born and raised in America, their point of view would be different.
2. Diversity of Sexual Orientation
Companies can only be well-equipped to speak to communities when those communities are represented in their services, solutions, products, and marketing teams. Acknowledging and appreciating the unique insights that a community brings to the table also makes it possible to understand this community outside of the company.
3. Age Diversity
A mix of fresh faces straight out of college and seasoned professionals can create a potent combination of innovation and wisdom. When you have generational diversity in the workplace, knowledge sharing, mentorship, and adoption will happen more readily and organically than in a team that is limited by shared experience or tenure.
4. Experiential Diversity
Different life experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds foster different viewpoints. These varying perspectives can lead to more creative problem-solving.
5. Neurodiversity
This is the recognition that brains work differently. Including people with different neurotypes, like Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, etc., can bring unique skills and talents to a team.
6. Ability Diversity
Ability and disability diversity in the workplace refers to including people who have various levels of social-emotional and physical impairment or ability and mobility.
7. Functional Diversity
This refers to diversity in skills, education, and professional backgrounds. A team of clones in terms of education and experience might agree on everything, but they may also miss out on innovative solutions.
Examples of Companies Promoting Diversity in the Workplace
When it comes to diversity in the workplace, many companies are leading the way, ensuring their teams are as varied and vibrant as the world around us. Here are some trailblazing examples of diversity in action.
1. Microsoft
This tech giant has implemented numerous diversity and inclusion initiatives. For instance, Microsoft’s Autism Hiring Program not only hires individuals on the autism spectrum but also provides them with mentoring and support.
2. Accenture
Known for its commitment to gender diversity, Accenture has a goal to achieve a gender-balanced workforce by 2025. They also champion the LGBT+ community through initiatives like the Pride at Accenture program.
3. Johnson & Johnson
This global healthcare company is dedicated to fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce. They have employee resource groups such as the Women’s Leadership & Inclusion group and the African American Leadership Council.
4. Starbucks
A long-standing advocate for diversity, Starbucks offers sensitivity training for its employees and has committed to diversifying its suppliers by supporting minority-owned businesses.
5. Apple Inc
The company is renowned for its innovative products, and much of this success is attributed to its diverse workforce. Employees from over 100 nationalities work at Apple, contributing their diverse skills, backgrounds, and ideas to create products that revolutionize the way we live and work.
These businesses and many others are demonstrating that embracing diversity can drive innovation, foster creativity, and lead to better business outcomes.
Workplace Diversity Statistics: All You Need to Know
Ever find yourself wondering, “Just how diverse is the world of work?” These statistics are eye-opeing:
- According to a report by Information is Beautiful, gender diversity in the workplace is a real issue in Tech. Only 26% of tech jobs in the US are held by women. The figure is even lower for women of color.
- The same report states that only 8% of tech job seekers are held by Black professionals— a figure inconsistent with the 13% overall representation Black people have in the U.S. population.
- In 2022, women held more than 30% of Fortune 500 board seats,
- up from 26.5% in 2020.
- Today more than half of the Fortune 500 boards (281 companies to be exact) have 40% of their seats held by White women and individuals from underrepresented racial and ethnic diversity of racial and ethnic groups.
- A mere 53 of the Fortune 500 companies have a female CEO in 2023, the highest number to date.
- According to a study by McKinsey, companies with ethnically diverse executive teams are 33% more likely to outperform their peers on profitability. That’s a pretty compelling argument for diversity, isn’t it?
- Businesses with gender-diverse executive teams are 21% more likely to experience above-average profitability.
- Harvard Business Review reports that teams who are diverse are able to solve problems in less time than groups with similar ways of thinking.
Conclusion
To sum up, diversity in the workplace is not just a box to be ticked. It’s a strategic advantage that can drive creativity and innovation, leading to business growth and success.
Workplace diversity is a topic that cannot be ignored in the current business scenario. So, let’s celebrate and encourage diversity, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes business sense.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Does Diversity Help the Workplace?
According to American entrepreneur and politician, Malcolm Forbes, “Diversity is the art of thinking independently together.”
Diversity in the workplace is a powerful force that can drive innovation, foster creativity, and promote a more inclusive environment. Prioritizing diversity in hiring means a company fosters a workplace where new ideas, fresh and different perspectives, and a broader range of skills and experiences are embraced.
What is Diversity Management in HRM?
Achieving the point where a company has a diverse workforce and can benefit from the positive effect of diversity starts with Human Resource Management (HRM). To be more specific, diversity in the workplace starts with DEI recruiting strategies, diverse hiring practices, and prioritizing diversity in decisions around internal mobility.
When we consciously build diverse workplaces, a side benefit is that we solve a myriad of other HR-related issues. For example:
- Hiring bias is less prevalent in recruitment teams that are, themselves, diverse.
- Succession planning is simplified when a workforce is generationally diverse.
- Workplaces that have a high level of diversity are generally more inclusive and more tolerant, which leads to fewer issues of discrimination than in teams where there are clear majorities and outliers.
What Are Some Diversity Issues in the Workplace?
The most common issues around workplace diversity are:
- Lack of Representation: This includes the underrepresentation of women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. When certain groups are not adequately represented, it can perpetuate inequality and limit opportunities for diverse perspectives and experiences.
- Bias and Discrimination: Biased behavior and discrimination can manifest in various forms, such as unconscious biases, stereotypes, and prejudices. When left unchecked, these biases can influence hiring decisions, promotions, and the overall treatment of employees. Discrimination based on race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic undermines diversity and creates a hostile work environment.
- Inclusive Company Culture: Building an inclusive and different culture that values and respects diversity is crucial. However, many workplaces struggle with creating an environment where all employees feel included and can thrive. This issue can arise from a lack of awareness, inadequate diversity training, or a failure to address microaggressions and other harmful behaviors.
- Pay and Promotion Disparities: Disparities in pay and promotion opportunities can be a significant concern within diverse workforces. Research has shown that women and minority groups often face wage gaps and are less likely to be promoted to leadership positions compared to their counterparts. These inequities can hinder career progression and perpetuate a lack of diversity in higher-level roles.
- Lack of Diversity Initiatives: Some organizations may lack proactive efforts to promote diversity and inclusion. Without intentional strategies and initiatives, it becomes difficult to attract and retain a more diverse workforce. Organizations need to implement policies such as diverse recruitment practices, mentoring programs, employee resource groups, and diversity training to address these issues effectively.
Frieda-Marié de Jager is the Melbourne-based Senior Content Marketing Editor for SelectSoftware Reviews— a trusted source of the top solutions and vendors in the HR Tech space. She writes about technical subjects including corporate compliance, workplace issues, and customs law. She holds a BTech degree in design from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and is a published short story author.
Frieda is an avid content strategist, editor, writer, and graphic designer. In addition, she develops online learning material and has led world-class design and marketing teams.
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