8 significant benefits of diversity at the workplace
“Nothing we do is more important than hiring people. At the end of the day, you bet on people, not strategies.”
Workplace diversity has always been a trending conversation in HR. Is it just a stunt to build the company’s reputation, or does it immediately benefit it? Let’s put together how vital workplace diversity is in 2023.
What is diversity in the workplace?
Being diversified means the organization doesn’t restrict an applicant to onboard based on factors that are not the natural part of a job profile. For example, race, religion, caste, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, family or cultural background, etc.
By having such a diversified workforce, a company can create a welcoming environment and have a strong positive effect on employees while connecting the teams and engaging them even better.
Diversity at the workplace – a gimmick or an intelligent move?
It’s often debatable among hiring authorities whether the company needs to have a diversified workforce just for the sake of an image or if it offers a real and immediate competitive edge to the organization.
The fact is, the diverse workplace has become highly prominent, more than ever before.
While building a brand image through diversity to attract talents is an important goal worth pursuing, HRs should also be aware of many other competitive edges a diversified workplace can offer.
It’s not just about image; it has a serious advantage to the company’s profitability.
What are the benefits of a diversified workforce?
Why? Why complicate the management system by including a diversified workplace? Let’s learn about the eight most significant benefits of diversity in the workplace, so it answers that million bucks question.
1. Different perspectives, higher accuracy
Diversified team members can offer multiple perspectives while strategizing a project, marketing campaign, etc. They can represent a broad audience base and help the organization build fool-proof, safer, and more accurate strategies.
And as it goes without saying, employees with different backgrounds will have other characteristics and POVs, which means they can offer various skills and experiences.
3. Better problem-solving abilities
Diverse workforces have team members with different skill sets, perspectives, and experiences beyond just job qualifications, working in coordination to solve problems. The team has the advantage of concentrated expertise and strategic thinking based on multiple POVs.
Such team members can draw ideas from a broad knowledge base about the same problems and, through varying experiences, solve problems faster than cognitively similar people.
4. The quick and efficient decision-making process
Workplace diversity leads to better and more accurate business decisions.
As mentioned in every other benefit, various perspectives, varying experiences, and a broad knowledge base give diversified teams an edge in decision-making. They have a better sense of their decision’s consequences and strategic advantages.
Proving, according to Cloverpop, a diversified workforce has
- Less number of meetings, decision-making is 2X faster than in non-inclusive teams
- Improvement and learning rate of 60 % with each decision, i.e., better collaboration
- 87 % more accurate decision-making ability than non-inclusive teams
5. Increase in profitability
Better problem-solving, innovative ideas, smooth collaboration, and efficient decision-making can give any organization a competitive advantage over its rivals. And beating the competition means gaining leads, thus the increased profitability.
That’s why companies with diversified teams reap more profit and achieve better business results. McKinsey & Company researched one thousand businesses and found that companies with more diverse top teams were also top performers.
6. Higher productivity and employee engagement
Companies with comprehensive acceptance criteria and a welcoming environment attract more qualified and capable talents. According to an Indeed survey, 55% of job seekers are often more attracted to companies with a diversified team at their core.
Diversified teams can further build a more efficient and motivated workforce, thus increasing productivity. That’s why organizations must prioritize diversity.
7. Reduced rates of employee turnover
The most notable and worth-it advantage of a diversified organization is that employees often feel welcomed, comfortable, and far more satisfied. They also tend to be more loyal when the company offers an accepting environment.
All of these factors make employees stick with companies for a long. Because they know the company respects their unique profile. The practice increases their confidence to help them unlock their full potential and gives the company a highly productive and efficient team.
8. Improved reputation and strong business image
Who wouldn’t want to work for a company or miss a chance to partner with an organization perceived as socially responsible, relatable, and a promoter of diversity?
A diversified workforce is a choice, and when an organization makes that choice, this inevitably improves its overall business image, allowing them to attract quality talents, better prospects, partnership opportunities, and most importantly, lots of clients and customers.
How to build a diversified and efficient workforce
Why?
Because Zapilio ranks candidates according to their suitability for the role. Their background is not one of the several factors of Zapilio’s in-depth and insightful performance analysis.
So you welcome the most skilled people, irrespective of their backgrounds, to build a diverse team that can offer more than what the role expects.
You deserve a team that’s made up of not only experienced, and skilled hires, but also culturally vast people coming from various backgrounds.
