Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace!
In this blog post, I will outline to you the direct benefits of having a diverse workforce. Diversity in the workplace is not a fad or some nice-to-haveHR initiative. It is a source of competitive advantage and has a direct impact on a company’s bottom line. Companies having a diverse and inclusive workforce can increase employee engagement, increase profits, and ultimately outperform their competitors.
What is Workplace Diversity?
Workplace diversity happens when an organization actively hires/includes individuals in their workforce who come from distinct backgrounds and belong to a different religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, locations, ethnicity, beliefs, and education. With the rising significance of diversity in the workplace, it is crucial to understand its effect on an organization.
Here are the benefits of diversity in the workplace
1. Diversity in the Workforce leads to Varied Perspective
Since diversity in the workplace includes diverse employees with different genders, ages, cultural backgrounds, unique skills, and experiences, they will present different perspectives/ideas, leading to unique solutions to business problems. It helps to have multiple solutions while making important business decisions or planning, managing, and implementing a business plan.
2. A Diverse Workforce Yields Higher Innovation
Today’s tight competitive markets require constant innovation. A diverse workplace has a higher chance of innovation.John Bersin’s research indicates that more diverse and inclusive companies are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders in their respective markets. This comes from combining different ideas and perspectives and getting a whole different idea or innovation altogether.
3. Workforce Diversity means Faster Problem Solving.
Cognitively similar people lack problem-solving skills when compared to diverse people within a team. A diverse group can contribute to a different solution, at the right time or even sooner. A Harvard study found that higher workplace diversity correlates with higher cognitive diversity, which leads to better decision-making.
4. Diversity and Inclusion lead to Better Decision Making.
A Cloverpop whitepaper claims that diversityin the workplace leads to better decision-making. The study, which analyzed around 600 business decision-makers, shows that diverse teams outperform individual decision-makers about 87 percent of the time.
5. Diversity in the Workforce Yields Better Financial Performance
Companies with diverse and inclusive workplace make more money
According to this Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study, companies having management teams with above-average diversity have 19% more revenue than those with below-average diversity.
This McKinsey report shows that companies with diverse executive boards enjoy significantly higher earnings and returns on equity.
With diversity come varied interests, opinions, arguments, different kinds of performances, and diverse feedback. It results in your company making informed decisions, and that leads to better and increased profits.
6. Diversity leads to Increased Employee Engagement.
When different kinds of people come together, each one of them gets a chance to grow more from what they see or like from other people. When employees feel like they can mingle, contact well, be entertained, and be included, they perform better, resulting in an increased employee engagement rate. This Deloitte research conducted with 1500+ employees showed that employee engagement is a direct outcome of diversity and Inclusion.
7. Diversity Results in Reduction in Employee Turnover
When diversity is inclusive in the workplace, employees feel valued and accepted. Employees always look to stay with the company longer when they are happier, leading to a reduced employee turnover overall.
8. Diverse Workforce is Related to Higher Job Acceptance
According to Glassdoor, a diverse workforce is a factor that over two-thirds of job seekers consider important before accepting an offer.
9. Diversity and Inclusion Delivers Higher Brand Value
Workplace diversity widely influences a company’s reputation. If the workplace has a diverse workforce, it creates a more accepting and inclusive company image. This, in turn, increases brand value, adds new customers, partners, and helps companies grow faster.
10. Diversity Results in Removal of Bias
Diversity in the workplace does a better job at removing any societal bias, and there is a general decrease in gender and pay bias. In this regard, several top companies have successfully removed bias in hiring and the workplace by implementing the people analytics platform. Today’s people analytics platforms are very successful in eliminating human bias in hiring and talent management.
As evident, workplace diversity can elevate a company’s culture and business results to a whole new level. However, there is no single school of thought about how one can incorporate diversity into the workplace. Building a diverse and inclusive workforce is a continuous process that takes time to bear fruit.
