5 Assets Your Company Can Gain from Workplace Diversity

If you own a business today, then you may be hearing quite a bit about the importance of diversity in the workplace. However, it may surprise you that the meaning of this term is not as simple as at used to be.

From prestigious Yale University to the small grocery store you may visit on the way home from work, the question of what diversity means and how it affects the workplace seems to be constantly evolving. If you want to create a more diverse work team, no matter what kind of business you own, there are several benefits that you might reap from doing so.

1. Varied Viewpoints

When employees at a workplace all come from similar backgrounds, share a culture, and tend to have the same world view, the opportunity for growth may be limited. Growing a business that features new and innovative products and services requires a large and varied source to draw such ideas from, but where there is no diversity, there is likely to be fewer fresh points of view.

As you work toward creating a more diverse workforce, it is important to also foster an environment that supports the free exchange of ideas and viewpoints. If the diverse mix of individuals you have hired do not feel comfortable or safe offering new ideas, your business may begin to stagnate. You can set an example by having an open-door policy and encouraging your employees to come to you with their ideas. When employees know their leader is approachable, they are more likely to share their innovative ideas with you.

2. Increased Customer Satisfaction

Even if you are not operating within international markets, your company can still benefit from having a diverse workplace by being able to better serve diverse customers right in your own neighborhood or city. For example, if your business is located in Texas, New Mexico, or California, you may benefit from having some Hispanic individuals on your staff. Not only are Hispanics the fast-growing ethnic group in America today, according to data collected by the Pew Research Center, other statistics show that nearly forty million people in the United States today speak Spanish.

When you have a diverse staff on hand, Spanish-speaking customers may feel more at ease when the customer service agent they are connected with speaks the same language they do. In addition, language barriers can be broken down and details of an order or return can be processed without problems.

3. A Wealth of Experience

Creating a diverse workplace requires more than hiring individuals from different backgrounds. Including people of varied ages is just as important, especially when it comes to business experience. For example, if you are a young entrepreneur, having older people on your staff may be an asset when it comes to understanding how the economy of the past is now affecting the future. Older employees may also help guide customers of their generation through certain technological processes that may be new or confusing to them.

Hiring individuals who have worked in other countries may also be able to bring in different work experience because of jobs they have held there previously. For example, if you hire someone who has worked in China or Japan and had access to software that has only recently become available in the United States, he or she might be able to get the system up and running much faster and without requiring you to hire a specialist.

4. Increased Creative Output

When you have an employee team made up of a variety of different individuals, the team's creative drive may be completely different than those made up of people from similar backgrounds. Not only may the team generate more ideas on a daily basis, but they might also come up with unique problem-solving solutions as well.

According to Luke Visconti, the CEO of a publication that celebrates and discusses diversity in the workplace, creating teams comprised of all women or all men yet who all come from different backgrounds can also yield highly creative results. However, he does warn that leadership is essential in this case, as a strong leader is required when it comes to keeping team members motivated.

5. A Varied Talent Pool

If you are in the process of creating a diverse workplace team, you may want to review your hiring process. After all, you cannot bring in the best of the best for your team unless you expand your search to include all potential hires. When you do this, not only can you make contact with individuals you may not have found otherwise, you may draw the attention of quality workers who are looking to join a company that focuses on diversity.

Hiring for diversity has a wide variety of advantages that may support your business and help you reach goals you have set for your company. As you review resumes and recruit for new hires, keep in mind that a highly diversified workforce can be one of the keys to long-term business success.