Member Article

How to make diversity work for your business

Diversity is a big deal. It’s on every business leader’s lips and a priority for many industries. With recent concerns over gender pay gaps, businesses have been even more eager to build an inclusive workforce to avoid any public backlash. The problem is that many leaders are looking too closely at the stick and not enough at the carrot. A recent McKinsey report revealed that companies with the highest gender diversity were more likely to enjoy above-average profitability. The fact is that diversity is good for business.

Discussing diversity

So, what can businesses do to reap the benefits of diversity? The first step is being ready to speak about it. You need to talk with senior management to review how diverse the business is and what can be done to improve it. Maybe the company is on the right track and it will be a conversation about how to make things even better. Then again, you may have to face the hard truth that the business is not as diverse as you’d like it to be.

It’s more than just a senior level chat though. Encouraging the whole team to discuss diversity is an important part of the process. It needs to become a dialogue that can lead to real, practical changes in the business.

Looking beyond the obvious

It’s important to note, though, that diversity is more than filling a quota. It may be exhausting, but leaders can’t view building a diverse business as just ‘plugging gaps’ in the company. That approach is not going to lead to any more profitability or success. The more important factor is finding the right people for the right role. It’s about ability and opportunity; staff with the necessary skills should feel able to move into the right roles without fear that they will be ignored because of their gender, age or race.

If you can pull that off, the payoff is huge. Staff are more driven and no longer feel held back because of their background, so they are keen to try new things or pursue different options in the business. Perhaps more importantly, treating diversity as more than just a tick-box exercise will encourage teams to collaborate and communicate effectively.

Getting the tools in place

So how do you make it happen? It goes back to practicing what you preach. The business needs to have a clear stance on the issue of diversity, and this should be communicated to staff without confusion. If staff know that diversity is a business priority, they’ll be more likely to get on-board with any future initiatives put in place.

Plus, any initiatives related to diversity need to have inclusivity at their heart. It’s about making sure that all your people are accounted for and have a voice. You may even want to have a dedicated team in place to champion the need for diversity and raise any issues on inclusivity during senior meetings and recruitment drives.

Outside help can be useful too. External workshops can be a fantastic way to improve diversity and make sure every member of the business is on the same page. It’s also a great way to reaffirm the core practices of the business, its commitment to diversity and the company’s on-going efforts to be a more inclusive environment.

In short, diversity is not a throwaway buzzword that companies can simply say and forget. You have to back it up with practical action and clear communication to the team. For many businesses, it should be at the top of their agenda to champion and encourage diversity in the organisation – not only because of the undeniable benefits it can bring to the business, but also because it’s the right thing to do.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by JourneyHR .