As more businesses realise the importance of inclusivity within the organisation, it’s important to implement initiatives that promote workplace diversity.

Workplace diversity globalises your organisation and enables you to boost your team’s overall performance. Nurturing diversity and equity in your organisation also creates a positive work culture and ultimately improves your company’s reputation. 

Building a harmonious multigenerational workforce is one example of workplace diversity. Accomplishing this encourages the different generations of your team to dispel negative stereotypes about each other (i.e. Baby Boomers are workaholics, Millennials are spoiled, Generation Z are addicted to technology). It’s important to create a workplace that inspires your team to use their individual differences to their advantage and collaborate. 

This blog will give you a better understanding of workplace diversity, its benefits and the solutions to facing the challenges that come with it.

What does workplace diversity mean?

Workplace diversity refers to employees’ characteristics that make them unique. There are different examples of workplace diversity:

• Racial diversity – This refers to a person’s grouping based on physical traits. Examples of races are Caucasian, African, Latino and Asian.
• Cultural diversity – This is related to each person’s ethnicity, including the norms we get from the society we were raised in or our family’s values.
• Religious diversity – This refers to the presence of spiritual beliefs and religions (or lack thereof) in the workplace. 
• Sex and gender diversity – This refers to the multiple variations of sex, gender and sexual orientation in the workplace.
• Age diversity – This refers to working with people of different ages and from different generations.

Diversity also encompasses a person’s life experiences, and how they solve issues. It’s important to have strong hiring practices and staff members to encourage different types of diversity in the workplace.

The benefits of workplace diversity

Embracing workplace diversity will reap numerous advantages for your organisation, allowing you to elevate your business and build a strong team in the long run.

1. More access to talent

Fostering workplace diversity within your organisation expands your access to talent because you’re not blinded by biases or prejudices that hamper you from working with talented individuals, regardless of their backgrounds.

McKinsey’s research confirms that gender, ethnic, and cultural diversity, particularly within executive teams, continue to be correlated to financial performance across multiple countries worldwide. The 2015 McKinsey report hypothesised that what drives this correlation is that more diverse companies are better able to attract top talent; improve their customer orientation, employee satisfaction, and decision-making; and secure their licence to operate—all of which continue to be relevant to the success of your business.

2. Increased productivity

Harvard Business Review published an article using a body of research to support the idea that diverse teams are smarter. Workplace diversity enables teams to work smarter, allowing them to process information carefully and focus on facts rather than their personal opinions. 

Having employees from diverse backgrounds can alter the group majority’s behaviour and result in more accurate and critical group thinking. 

Diverse teams are also more creative and innovative in finding solutions because so many perspectives are at play. This enables your team to tackle problems efficiently, allowing them to accomplish their daily tasks and even long-term career goals.

3. Higher team morale

Celebrating diversity in your organisation can empower your employees and demonstrate that you value them. Creating a safe and inclusive work environment gives your employees the confidence to be themselves and speak their minds. This also creates a sense of belonging and community in the workplace, which ultimately leads to higher morale.

How to face the challenges of workplace diversity in your organisation

Improving workplace diversity comes with a unique set of challenges, and depending on the scale of your organisation, it might be best to consider hiring an HR professional who can support you in addressing potential discrimination issues in the workplace. 

For example, if you’re struggling to streamline your hiring process and maintain legal compliance with labour laws and regulations, an HR professional can be a great help in these areas.

In the meantime, we’ve shortlisted three key strategies that can help you prevent and/or address potential DEI-related challenges in the workplace.

1. Implement DEI support programs 

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) support programs can provide a safe environment for your employees while monitoring early warning signs of potential DEI-related issues that can be quickly rectified to avoid further damage (e.g. stereotyping, entrenchment, etc.).

Here are a few tips on how you can build an effective DEI support program:

• Model DEI at the executive level – For your DEI policies to be effective, your leadership team must embody your company values and represent the diversity you want to uphold.
• Foster an inclusive workplace culture – Establishing employee-led councils or resource groups can engage employees and educate them regarding workplace diversity.
• Give your employees a voice – Your employees should have a say in how your DEI efforts take shape as it will directly impact them. Conducting surveys can give you an idea of your employees’ thoughts and suggestions, enabling you to continuously evolve and improve your DEI programs.

2. Develop systems for conflict resolution

The potential for conflict increases when senior executives bring together people who are significantly different from each other. Some personalities are incompatible with each other, and highly disagreeable people may lash out at people they dislike. This type of conflict, rooted in fundamental differences in people, can be dangerous as it prevents people from working together to form cohesive groups.

Developing a strong system for conflict resolution can help you mediate between conflicting parties in the team and prevent bigger conflicts from arising in the future.

3. Create a clear framework for decision-making processes

While having a diverse workplace can produce more innovative ideas, this can also slow down the decision-making process if multiple employees continuously defend their solution without coming to a consensus. 

A clear framework for decision-making processes can expedite the idea-generation process while still encouraging innovation.

Workplace diversity is a crucial aspect of fostering inclusiveness and equity in the organisation, and it allows you to boost team morale and overall productivity in the long run.

Contact us and we will help you build a diverse and harmonious workplace.