According to Dictionary.com, the meaning of the word diversity as it relates to the workplace is “the inclusion of individuals representing more than one national origin, color, religion, socioeconomic stratum, sexual orientation.” Knowing this definition, would you consider your team diverse? No matter your answer to this question, this article contains a few reasons why promoting diversity within your team or company will help create a more inclusive environment for your employees and ultimately help your team or business thrive.
Diverse teams bring unique viewpoints to help solve business problems
When your team consists of people from all different backgrounds and experiences, your team will also be comprised of people with unique viewpoints. These unique viewpoints can come in handy when solving business problems. According to The Muse, when you bring together a diverse group of people, “you’re not just creating a diverse team, you’re engineering a diversity of thought—one that is agile and can tackle unique problems.” This diversity of thought gives your team a leg up when faced with business problems that your team otherwise wouldn’t have if it lacked diversity. Similarly, an article by Forbes mentions that “diversity means diversity of minds, ideas, and approaches — which allows teams to find a solution that takes into account multiple angles [of] the problem, thus making the solution stronger, well rounded and optimized.” If you want your team to be able to tackle problems from multiple angles and ultimately develop strong solutions to those problems, simply ensure that promoting diversity on your team is a top priority.
Diversity produces better financial outcomes
What if diversity could increase your team’s chances at financial success? According to a study by McKinsey that “examined proprietary data sets for 366 public companies across a range of industries”, greater diversity in leadership yields better financial results for companies. In fact, “companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians” and “companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians”. With numbers like these, it is evident that promoting diversity on your team can have a positive impact on the financial outcomes of your business.
Diverse teams are more innovative (HBR)
Innovation is key to staying competitive in today’s business world, and if you want your team to be more innovative, studies have shown that a diverse team can help. According to an article by Harvard Business Review and a study published in Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice, “authors analyzed levels of gender diversity in research and development teams from 4,277 companies in Spain” […] “and found that companies with more women were more likely to introduce radical new innovations into the market over a two-year period.” Similarly, Fast Company notes that a study published in Financial Management found that “companies with policies that encourage the retention and promotion of workers across the race, sexual orientation, and gender spectrum were more innovative and released more products”. Simply, having a more diverse team can help promote innovation in the workplace.
Diversity yields higher retention rates
Fostering diversity can also drive feelings of acceptance and comfort for your employees, which can ultimately lead to your employees wanting to stay on your team and at your company for longer. The reason employees seek companies that promote diversity is simple: at a more diverse company, employees feel that they can bring their most authentic self to the workplace each day. This is significant because according to a 2018 Accenture study, “employees crave and place a high amount of value on the ability to be their true and authentic selves while at work.” So, by promoting diversity on your team, your employees will feel comfortable being themselves in the day to day, ultimately making them more likely to stay at your company. Feelings of a sense of belonging and acceptance due to diversity is critical for employee retention.
If you have a critical opening on your team and you are looking to hire that next diverse candidate, give Omada Search a call!
- Dictionary.com: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/diversity
- McKinsey: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/why-diversity-matters
- Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-diverse-teams-are-smarter
