The Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace

A diverse workforce is composed of people from all walks of life, all genders, ages, races, religions, abilities, cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, levels of education and socioeconomic statuses. Diversity should be a goal for all companies as it has many immediate and tangible benefits for the company and the employees. A diverse workforce:

  • Provides a variety of perspectives: Employees with different backgrounds are more likely to have a variety of different skills and experiences giving your company access to an array of perspectives and making it possible to develop a diverse and adaptable range of products and services.

  • Increases employee retention: People want to work in an environment where all backgrounds are accepted and employees are treated with equality. They stay in positions where they feel respected and valued for their unique contribution. Diversity of gender, religion and ethnicity has been shown to improve retention and reduce employee turnover. 

  • Grows your talent pool: Diversity in the workforce attracts a wider range of applicants for your vacancies, promotes the view that you are a progressive organization and increases your chances of finding an exceptional candidate. 67% of job seekers consider a diverse workforce important when contemplating job offers.

  • Expands creativity: Employees from different backgrounds bring a variety of views and fresh ideas improving the creativity of your workforce. More solutions arise as each individual brings their personal way of thinking, operating, solving problems and making decisions. 

  • Increases productivity: Diversity increases employee confidence and improves team morale. The greater the morale, the more productive a team becomes. 

  • Multiplies profits: Companies with diverse teams are also top financial performers and achieve better business results. Ethnically diverse companies are shown to be 35% more likely to have financial returns above the national industry median.

  • Opens global doors: Hiring personnel who speak different languages and come from varied cultural backgrounds enables your company to work on a global basis and interact with a broad client base. It gives you a greater chance of communicating with and expanding to diverse markets.

  • Boosts your company’s reputation: A diverse workforce reflects the community that you serve, connects you to the public, helps people to relate to your company and engenders goodwill within the community and the industry. A reputation of inclusion builds favour for your brand.  

  • Generates higher innovation: Inclusive companies are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders in their market. Working alongside people of different backgrounds, experiences and working styles enables you to draw on each individual’s strengths and collaborate with other team members resulting in greater innovation.

  • Creates better decision making: Diverse teams outperform individual decision-makers up to 87% of the time. 

  • Reduces fear: Inclusivity breaks down barriers and reduces employee’s fears of rejection for who they are and their unique ideas. 

  • Improves insights and reduces racism: Employees that spend time with people from different backgrounds learn new cultural insights resulting in reduced racism, homophobia and sexism.

Foster an environment of diversity and inclusion and your business as well as your employees will benefit. Make an effort to hire a range of people, across gender, age and cultural backgrounds. You’ll enjoy increased productivity, improved creativity, greater profits and reduced turnover. 

Looking to develop a diverse team? Need help hiring the right candidates? Call the Calgary recruiting agency, Equation Staffing Solutions at 1-844-367-9618. We are a reliable, innovative, collaborative agency here to support you in your search for personnel. Our experience will assist you! Contact us today.

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