Workplace Diversity – Its necessity and how to diversify your company

We have a diversified work culture / Our team is a diversified group of professionals / Diversity is the strength of our company.

We see and hear the above punchlines advocating a lot of the company’s work culture.

But the question is – Are we truly diversified? Or What is a Diversify team?

What is Diversity in the Workplace?

What exactly does it mean to have a diverse workplace? 

The Answer is Simple

When we hire or build a team irrespective of ethnicity, religion, cultural background, sexual orientation, and gender and focus on only one point i.e Talent or if the candidate brings something unique to the table.

It’s not only to have a diversify people but the goal is to respect individual differences, treat all equally and achieve a cultural awareness of looking at things from a different angle

Why does diversity matter in 2022?

The benefits of diversity and inclusion  (D&I) are well known.

As McKinsey & Company found that companies with highly diverse boardrooms were 43 per cent more likely to attain higher profits, let’s point out some of the reasons:

• A diverse team means increased collaboration, higher employee engagement, reduced turnover, and stronger brand identity
• You’ll gain productivity and boosting in creativity when you bring together individuals from different walks of life. People coming from varied backgrounds and experiences that come together and collaborate have unique ways to improve brand value and the services you’re offering.
• Diverse teams will bring broader ideas and new perspectives to the table
• When a team of mixed generations would work together, it can create magic. For example, older employees from the 80s and 90s have a long-term insight, while your younger millennials and Gen-Z employees are tech-savvy. Imagine the solutions they can do to provide a convenience that can help build and sustain your business?

In simple a sentence, diversity shouldn’t just be a topic of discussion among HR professionals. It should be an important step to be taken by every industry to be more inclusive which gives companies a competitive advantage. 

How  to diversify your team

As we can see diversity and inclusion (D&I) goals are changing and growing each year, and many organizations still not be able to hire the desired number of employees, we went for some market research and came up with a few tips to help you diversity your company.

If your company struggling to hire diverse talent, below are some practices that can help us to find diverse talents. 

#1. Educate leaders on the Benefits of Diversity: In workplaces, the real connection between manager and employee is the backbone of diversity. Most the team members quit the job if there is no connection with their manager, so we must educate the company’s leaders or managers on how important and beneficial diversity is for the company and for productivity.

Also, make sure we have a close look at employee feedback mechanisms so that there is clear, communication between managers and their direct reports.

When workplace diversity is celebrated by the top people in the hierarchy system, the potential of your workforce diversity comes close to your desired team.

#2. Address all aspects of diversity: Take a step back and think ‘What does diversity mean to you?’ after getting the answer only you should step forward to building a diverse team.

When we think about diversity, we usually focus on gender, race and religion. But, we do not include age, disability, language, personality, and sexual orientation into Diversity which is completely wrong because these kinds of diversity matter too.

By addressing different aspects of diversity, you can ensure that no one is left out of your consideration.

You also should be prepared to resolve the internal conflicts that can happen due to differences among team members.

#3. Use diverse job boards to expand your sourcing:  Sticking to a certain job board and drawing candidates from the same pools of candidates over and over is likely to produce uniform candidates. 

Instead Post openings on job boards that specialize in diversity and that way by expanding your reach, you can find candidates whose qualities are diverged from the norm and unique.

#4. Highlight your career page for diversity: Use your website career page to highlight your company’s diversity statement and any other current or future initiatives on diversity. Mention our diverse team building intentions in every Job Description.

#5. Identify and Eliminate Bias: Biases can be unconscious, and before starting building a diverse team you should identify those. Recruiters, hiring managers, and others who participate in the hiring process are facing the challenge of unconscious biases and fighting this could be more complicated.  To eliminate this, you can Train HR and other recruitment staff to recognize and avoid bias in the recruitment and hiring process, you might require outside consultants for that.

To overcome the problem, you can consider using blind hiring options like removing identifying information like names, addresses, and indicators of gender from applications or resumes and focusing attention on qualitative factors like skillsets. We can use HR software programs and tools have been developed that utilize artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to make better diversity and inclusion hiring decisions.

#6.  Redefine your recruiting strategy: You need to have a solid recruitment strategy to attract a more diverse workforce. For example: being careful with the language while posting a job- should be inclusive. You can use a personality assessment test to measure the personalities of applicants. Provide helpful work-life policies like leadership development opportunities, Create safe spaces for employees, Offer Workplace Flexibility, Create More Inclusive Workplace Policies etc

#7. Celebrate Unity in Diversity: You can celebrate the differences in various ways like conducting awareness and training programs for all the employees.

A monthly team hurdle would be great to discuss openly different diversity topics and challenges if facing any.

Employees could be invited to share more about their culture and backgrounds.

Introducing diversity and inclusiveness can be challenging but with the right intentions and process, You will be ready to welcome employees from various backgrounds to your company and make a diverse group of talented people!