Why is diversity in the workplace important?

It’s an issue that businesses of all sizes have wrestled with. For large organisations, it’s been a hot topic for years, for smaller businesses it’s a challenge that may be quite new – but just why is diversity in the workplace so important?

It’s a good question, and the answer falls broadly into two parts: the effect of diversity on the people who work in an organisation, and the consequent impact of better diversity on your bottom line.

Businesses have long had a legal responsibility to not discriminate in their recruitment and treatment of employees on the basis of, among many other things, colour, age, gender and religion.

But when it comes to the argument for better diversity in your business it’s important to understand what we mean when we talk about diversity from an HR perspective.

What is diversity

First off, and at the risk of stating the obvious, diversity is about far more than the colour of someone’s skin.

Although race is often the poster child for the debate on diversity, true diversity in the workplace is about ensuring your organisation benefits from a broad range of employees with different backgrounds, different perspectives and different experiences.

In this sense, workplace diversity can appear complex and it is that perceived complexity – resulting in a fear of ‘getting it wrong’ – that can often see business leaders and managers struggle as they consider how to better reflect the outside world within their walls.

I’ve already mentioned some of the obvious areas you need to keep in mind when thinking about workforce diversity, but diversity may also mean actively seeking to broaden the range of academic, cultural and social backgrounds in your teams, along with adding new skills and abilities.

In the end, and while there will always be areas within any definition of diversity that are always likely to be front of mind globally, we shouldn’t forget the less well-publicised elements that create genuinely diverse teams.

The benefit in HR terms

Diversity cannot exist – at least not in any meaningful way – without inclusion, which means that any business which is serious about reflecting a uniquely broad spectrum of attributes, heritage and skills has work to do in educating every employee around what inclusivity means.

It’s dangerous to make assumptions about the level of inclusion that exists in your business (or any business, for that matter), and how to manage inclusion effectively is an micro-industry within the HR community in its own right.

If you feel you need some support in creating an effective strategy for inclusion – and the majority of businesses probably do, even if they think otherwise – then get in touch and let’s talk about how we can help you to do that.

But for the purposes of this article, I’m going to assume that you are either in the process of addressing the issue of inclusivity, or it’s on your to-do list.

So, on the issue of diversity then, a truly diverse employee community that also feels included will consequently feel both visible – which is arguably the most important benefit in human terms – and valued.

In businesses where diversity is championed effectively, employees will also feel protected because that business will almost certainly have policies and procedures in place that safeguard individuals from prejudice, abuse or discrimination by managers and colleagues.

And make no mistake, in companies that best exemplify truly diverse teams those policies and procedures go far beyond the minimum that the law requires of them.

Diversity means ensuring that communication reflects and addresses the fact that language may be a barrier for some individuals. And if you’ll forgive the pun, inclusive communication usually translates into better communication that in turn fosters efficiency and growth.

Culturally, what is ‘normal’ for one individual is not ‘normal’ for another, and so recognition of potential cultural differences that allows teams to understand professional etiquette and behaviours that may otherwise cause conflict or confusion is important.

In summary, the HR dimension of diversity is about being seen to take visible and active steps to ensure that every single person in your organisation feels valued for who they are as much as for what they do.

The benefit of diversity in business terms

As we have already established, if you have created an inclusive environment in which your employees feel valued on both a personal and professional level, you will almost certainly find yourself with a more productive and loyal team.

That has obvious positive impacts on your business as a whole.

Diversity is a great lightning rod for creativity and innovation because it brings together different experiences to inform future processes and outcomes. That’s a good thing because your business is more likely to be leading development rather than following a competitor’s lead.

Happiness – or at least contentedness – fuels productivity. If you feel rewarded and valued, you’re naturally more inclined to do more to achieve a shared objective.

You may also find you have lower employee churn. Finding a balance between retention and churn is always a fine point. Too much churn can be disruptive, too much retention can create creative inertia. But get it right, and you’ll have a loyal workforce that always benefits from new ideas and new thinking.

Depending on the nature of the diversity within your business, you may also find your opportunities to expand into new territories or markets increase.

And of course, all of that good stuff is more likely than not to contribute to an improved bottom line – allowing you to reinvest and grow exponentially quicker.

So why is diversity in the workplace important? Because it is one of the keys that unlock loyalty, productivity, efficiency and profitability – making it a win-win all round..

If you’d like to find out more about how Constantia Consulting can help your HR team or business build a more diverse and inclusive employee community, please get in touch for an informal chat.