Diversity is important in any environment, especially at work. It creates an inclusive and fair environment that champions experiences and different perspectives. In a LinkedIn study, companies with a diverse team are 22% more likely to be seen as “industry-leading companies with high-calibre talent.”
What is diversity?
Diversity in simple terms, is the practice of hiring people from different backgrounds regardless of their background.
It is the inclusion and acceptance of people from a variety of different backgrounds, learning levels, cultures, genders, races, ages, sexual orientations, religions, and experiences.
Treating someone differently because of their gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexuality, language, education, culture, or religion could be considered a hate crime and could be reported as a serious incident.
Why is it important to have a diverse workspace?
It is essential for employers to create an inclusive and diverse workforce without hiring just for a “tick box” or to prove that they have diversity because of social pressures.
Employers should be mindful of the skills and perspectives that people from different backgrounds provide and how positive and useful those people are for businesses overall.
Diversity is beneficial in the working arena both for the business and employees in a range of different ways. Here are some reasons as to why diversity is important:
- Fresh Perspectives and ideas
Hiring from diverse backgrounds encourages and integrates fresh, new, and different perspectives into the business. Each diverse person who is hired will have unique views on topics and bring those viewpoints to the business when needed. This encourages “out of the box” ideas that may not have been touched on or thought about previously.
New concepts are created with the different lived experiences of diverse employees. This opens the doors to collaborations to build on new ideas and push the business forward in a fresh, diverse, and inclusive way.
- Boosts Creativity and innovation
The creativity and innovation boost starts at the recruitment stage for diverse working arenas. Having a wider talent pool because of the inclusion of all backgrounds provides increased opportunities to find creative people who are innovative.
Additionally, having a wide range of people from different backgrounds and viewpoints creates a larger and more varied thinking pool, thus growing more creative ideas. The exposure to different backgrounds allows employees to think creatively and consider perspectives that they may not have been shown before. A diverse workforce generates fresh concepts drawn on through unique lived experiences, prompting creative and innovative thoughts and ideas.
- Enhances employee experience
Employees often feel more comfortable and included within a diverse workspace. It creates a sense of belonging and that they are cared for outside of the office. This, in turn, promotes improved productivity, a happier workforce, and healthier mental wellbeing.
Having a diverse place of work encourages individuals to express their ideas freely and comfortably without fear of being judged or scrutinized. Along with this, employees who are part of a diverse work space tend to have better job satisfaction, promoting productivity, engagement, and staff retention.
- Connect to a wider range of customers
We are moving into a world where many places are diverse and inclusive of all backgrounds- rightly so. Regardless of the industry, there will be consumers from a variety of different backgrounds, such as race, gender, and religion,
In simple terms, having employees with different backgrounds they are able to show empathy and understanding to diverse customers. Perceptions from different backgrounds create and build connections with customers of similar diverse backgrounds, thus creating a bridge between client and business.
