Diversity in the workplace

What we mean by diversity in the workplace: 

Diversity in the workplace refers to an organisation who purposefully employs individuals with a range of characteristics such as race, religion, sexual orientation, age, gender, ethnicity, education, and other attributes. Having the ability and motivation to work with a team of diverse employees enhances your business and its workers through different experiences, perspectives, and knowledge. 

Learning how diversity can impact an organisation and how to correctly implement it can be a huge step in the right direction for your employees and business. However, following useful tips about implementing diversity in the workplace is only the first step. 

Benefits of diversity in the workplace 

When you implement diversity into your workplace, you will begin noticing positive changes in your work environment, employee attitudes, and the business as a whole. Some of these benefits include: 

1. New perspectives 

By hiring people from diverse backgrounds, nationalities, and cultures, you are creating a new assortment of perspectives, which can lead to a variety of benefits such as better problem solving, and increased productivity.  

Some hiring managers find the idea of bringing new perspectives into the company intimidating, however research has shown that diverse teams have a 60% improvement in decision-making abilities.  

2. Diverse talent pool 

Building an organisation that allows employees to grow, feel accepted, and be challenged is a guaranteed way of attracting a wider range of talented candidates who are looking for a progressive place to work.  

Recent studies show that younger generations who are beginning to enter the workforce believe that a diverse workplace is an important factor. If you are an employer looking to attract the best talent for your company, you can start by researching ways to successfully implement diversity into your workplace. 

3. Innovation 

One of the most valuable benefits gained from implementing diversity into the workplace is the rise in innovation. Employing a variety of different people from various backgrounds and cultures will bring a collection of different thought processes, problem solving skills, and life experiences into the workplace.  

4. Improved employee performance 

Employees are able to perform better when they feel included and appreciated at the workplace. Creating a working environment that will allow employees to see a representation of a variety of backgrounds, cultures, and ways of thinking, is more likely to make employees feel comfortable in the workplace, which in return will lead to happier, more productive employees. 

5. Increase in earnings 

An increase in profits is bound to occur after successfully implementing diversity into your workplace. By hiring new employees from diverse backgrounds and cultures you are acquiring talents which can boost certain departments in your organisation, therefore, increasing overall profits earned. 

A study was performed by McKinsey & Company to determine why diversity matters in the workplace. According to this study, out of the 366 public companies, those in the top section for ethnic and racial diversity in management had a 35% higher likelihood to have financial returns that were higher than the industry average.  

If you invest time and resources to support the growth of diversity in your workplace, you will face challenging tasks but in return gain tremendous potential benefits.