[Metro Journal] Impact Of Having Diversity And Inclusion At Workplace
Corporate diversity is no more an objective of the HR alone; it has risen to be the goal of those at the C-level. Diversity and inclusion have a positive impact on everyone involved in a work environment. It helps an organization to be efficient and grow, giving it a competitive edge over the others.
What really is diversity and inclusion?
Diversity at workplace is when the employee group represents people belonging to different ethnicity, race, gender, religion, or age. And inclusion in the context of diversity means when people of different race, gender, ethnicity, age, and religion are brought together for a common purpose and to achieve a common goal.
Diversity needs to be at two levels – team and leadership. This will ensure diversity is not just a namesake but something that is at a company level. And when there is enough diversity at the leadership level, it will send out a positive message to the employees and also radiate a feeling of inclusiveness among all. Research has it that diversity at leadership level results in as much as 35% increase in the performance of the company as compared to peers who lack diversity at this level.
All-round outlook with diversity in teams
One might wonder why suddenly this newfound attention to diversity and inclusion. People coming from different backgrounds will have diverse perspective to bring to the conference table. This all-round outlook gives a company the edge over others who lack diversity. Such companies can perform much better, come up with great innovations, as well as come up with
solutions to problems faster.
In such an environment, employees can get positively influenced by each other and there is great scope for widening their knowledge base. This will foster better understanding between colleagues, as a result, would contribute to the bottom line of the firm as well.
How can this change be brought about?
Given the buzz around diversity and inclusion, it may appear that all is under control once there is enough representation from diverse groups and plans implemented to make sure everyone feels part of the company. It certainly looks rosy from far but may need a lot of work at a granular level to actually reap benefits of diversity and inclusion. There are many challenges that a company would face while on its way to implementing this. Some of which are –
Implement ways to curb bias at a subconscious level
In a diverse environment, we may consciously try not to be biased or judgemental towards a particular group but none the less it does happen subconsciously. Instead of denying this fact, we need to become aware of the fact that this is happening and take specific measures to change it. By realising the reality we go one step towards being unbiased.
Various tests are available that can help companies figure out and assess the thought process at a deeper level and suitable training to fix any issues or irregularities if any.
Get the buy-in from the top people
Diversity and inclusion will fail utterly if the leadership thinks otherwise about these. A recent study showed that there is 35% more chance that companies stand to gain financial returns higher than their industry standards. The positive impact on the bottom line is sure shot way to get the top management to join the revolution.
Develop a strong sense of belongingness to a team
Just having a good diversity among employee base isn’t enough. Everyone needs to feel valued and part of the company. Informal meetings are a great way to instil this feeling of belongingness among all. Team luncheons, outings, games, etc are great ways to do just that.
Make coaching and mentoring part of every workday
By providing appropriate mentoring and coaching to employees, especially from the minority group, can help them get at par with peer and feel equal. This will also help the managers to gauge their team members capabilities and promote the qualified with total fairness.
What are the potential consequences of not having diversity at workplace?
For a company to go global, it needs to have an inclusive culture. With biased views, the company limits itself to only certain locations and therefore limits their market share. This isn’t good news for Multi-National Companies or those who plan to grow to such a level.
Diversity also plugs the talent gap, by looking to incorporate diversity in teams, managers can make sure they find the right talent for the job. Research done by a non-profit organization found that just by including larger number of women in the workforce the GDP of US may increase by 5% while that of India by 27%, contributing towards the economies of the respective countries. From a business point of view, it will not make sense to leave out such a talent rich group out of the workforce.
The changing workforce is seeing more and more millennial expecting equal treatment at workplace while the baby boomers extending their retirement. What can be expected when two different generations come together to work? With no proper training, it is surely going to cause hurt feelings and lowered productivity. It’s up to companies to adopt the diverse and inclusive environment for their workplace and be the early bird to tap into the benefits of it.
