Diversity and inclusion has become even more important and prevalent in today’s workplace.  For most of us, a diverse workforce is one where a mixture of people are represented across genders, religions, ages, ethnicities, neurodiversity, personalities, LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) and several other characteristics that might be central to someone's daily life experiences. 

It can be easy to think we know what a diverse culture is versus reality.  

Sometimes businesses can build a team culture based on values which haven’t quite evolved over time.  This doesn’t mean that those values don’t work for that business, it’s just that it can be difficult to just become diverse. 

There are real tangible benefits to increasing the diversity of your workforce. Different cultures, sexes, personalities and backgrounds bring new ideas along with new cultural and social interaction within teams.  To me, diversity brings opportunity and when fostered and embraced, employees can become more engaged. 

According to Forbes’ earlier this year, in their article The Business Benefits of Greater Diversity and Inclusion, the major benefits of diversifying your workforce include: 

Diversity can enhance overall revenue. Back in 2018, a Boston Consulting Group study found that diverse companies with "above-average diversity on their management teams" produce 19% more innovation revenue. The company surveyed employees at 1,700 organisations from eight different nations. These companies varied in size and the industry they operated in, but they all benefited from having diverse management teams running things. This means that companies looking for more innovation have even more incentive to diversify. 

This wasn't the only report on this matter either. In 2019, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled "The Business Case for More Diversity," in which researchers looked at over the S&P 500 companies and found a link between diversity, inclusion and overall performance. 

The "how" is a little less well-known, though. The way in which diversity accomplishes better financial reports is likely not due to a single reason. It is likely some combination of innovation, morale improvement, a greater range of skills and perhaps other hard-to-quantify perks. 

You can attract and retain talent. Inter-company communications among languages and cultures are becoming more prevalent. This indicates that more and more businesses are seeing the value in finding offshore and local talent with diverse backgrounds and cultures. It is becoming easier to communicate across language and cultural barriers, and often worth it to work with the best talent. 

Diverse workplaces are also a good selling feature for many employees and can serve to keep them with your organisation longer. According to a survey by Glassdoor, 76% of those looking for work see diversity as an essential factor. Also, right now, workplaces are dealing with something many are referring to as the "Great Resignation." By enhancing your ability to attract and retain employees, you will be better positioned to handle the challenges of the year to come. 

You'll empower and motivate your employees. This ties in with the other points made, whereby a diverse workplace can help motivate your employees to be more engaged and stay with your company longer, maintaining experience levels and reducing hiring costs. On top of these benefits, a diverse workplace can often enhance the prospects and skills of your employees. You are giving your teams the chance to see things in a new way and find new approaches. 

People take pride in and like to work with a company with a positive social impact. However, you must ensure that a diverse workplace is also an inclusive one and that all members feel free to add their voices. By doing so, you increase the number of viewpoints contributing to and improving the day-to-day lives of employees. 

So how do you create an inclusive and diverse workplace? 

A diverse workplace is more than a collection of various people; it is the resulting culture and spirit that arises from this collection of people. However, your culture needs to be fostered and guided if it is to function correctly. Doing this is a complex task that will depend heavily on the people and industry you are involved in, but there are some steps all companies can take to make people feel more included in the work culture. 

The following are examples of the actions some companies could take: 

• Encourage social interactions based on your diverse culture.  For example, look at ways to include the cultures of your employees in company events or team social activities. 

• Flexible work options for parents who require flexibility to achieve balance in their work/life balance 

• Allow people to take time off work for cultural and religious festivities and holidays. 

• Encourage the creation of networking and support groups for employees. 

• Understand and accommodate those with disabilities. 

• Learn more about the personalities of employees so they feel heard and included. 

• Offer training and onboarding materials in multiple languages. 

• Create partnerships with other organisations focused on supporting and empowering underrepresented groups. 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating a culture in which everyone can thrive; it takes time and effort. But if you succeed, you will have created a more valuable, diverse and inclusive business. 

About Simone Storey

Simone is an experienced Recruitment Consultant who specialises in recruiting intermediate through to management level engineers particularly in the structural, civil, mechanical and fire sectors. These particular sectors provide unique recruitment challenges, something of which she is very familiar with.

Her background also brings a results oriented and people focussed perspective, along with a solid understanding of the needs of both employer and employee. Simone has a focus on building these relationships to add value for both candidate and employer alike, for her recruitment is not merely a transaction.