Race, nationality, age, gender, language… A diversified team brings a variety of different and unique ideas and skills, but unfortunately, it is still just a concept very distant from a lot of business. Also, the diversified team culture is related to inclusion. It is important to address all aspects of diversity and be aware that no one is left out.
Increasing diversity brings very positive changes. In a global analysis of 2,400 companies conducted by Credit Suisse, “organizations with at least one female board member yielded higher return on equity and higher net income growth than those that did not have any women on the board.”
Actually, even a whole Harvard Business Review explains why Diverse Teams Are Smarter.
A diversified team reinforces positive company culture and builds a better relationship with the staff. “It’s important that a startup is inclusive from the beginning, as it ensures that all employees feel valued and appreciated in the workplace,” says Jonathan Richards, CEO and co-founder of Breathe.
Diversified Team and Leadership
We don’t talk about diversifying a team without talking about leadership. Diversity starts with the leader. Having an expansive mindset about the team can boost your company’s intellectual potential. The leader needs to understand that diversifying a workplace improves more accurate group thinking. And that is due to the different backgrounds.
Also, the leader is the person that creates opportunity. People with disabilities, for example, don’t achieve certain positions in the business world, and that is because they don’t have the opportunity to show their skills appropriately.
Since recruiting step, a leader should conceive ways to insert every type of person in different company areas by developing mentoring and other educational opportunities to grow themselves in an industry.
Recruiting a Diversified Team
As said before, the recruiting step is where the leader can improve diversity at the first point. How can you say your company has a diverse staff when you have the same people with the same thoughts and don’t think about diversity when hiring someone? It is possible to make a few changes to improve your recruitment in your company.
According to the book Recruiting for Diversity from Harvard University, “before launching a recruitment campaign, discuss your hiring goals with your HR Consultant and/or a member of the FAS HR Diversity Team (including your Affirmative Action Liaison) or FAS Recruitment Services.”
Employee and Customer Relationship
Having different types of people creates a better relationship with the customers. After all, it creates identification.
A diversified team is an engaged workforce that provides services customers will come back to. It is important to meet the customers’ needs and understand what they want. Having a diversified team can be helpful to understand the customer behavior and strengthen this relationship authentically.
Creativity and Innovation
“A cohesive and diverse leadership team in which members can have open and candid conversations from different vantage points can help organizations boost innovation,” according to Mari Carmen Pizarro, Whole Leadership Systems.
A diversified team can bring different backgrounds and perspectives to a business and improve your company’s innovation. We can prove it one more time, with a study by Boston Consulting Group. The study looked at 1,700 companies across eight countries and found that organizations with more diverse management teams have 19% higher revenues due to innovation.
Furthermore, a plural team is important to make your organization more successful and innovative. And not just to increase your reputation. It also creates a better environment as possible and is surely very important for a business to remain objective. In short, diversity and inclusion are much more than discourse, and it is necessary to go further, understand the importance of these discourses and start acting.
Did you like this article? Don’t forget to read this one: Relationship Marketing: Creating an Essential & Long-lasting Bond with your Customer.
