From Recruitment to the Tech industry, diversity seems to be one of the hidden secrets behind every successful company. Here, Abi Hardiman (Marketing Director for Pretium International) talks about how to make a success of diversity within your business.
Diversity in a business refers to the understanding and acceptance of employees in the workforce, regardless of their age, gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and so on. Over the years, the term diversity has witnessed a surge in popularity and is a term no solely used by the HR department. With many CEO’s and founders shifting their company focus to diversity in the workforce, are there any advantages to diversity in the workplace?
The Company Reputation
The most obvious advantage to a diverse company is its reflection upon the company’s brand image. With a societal shift veering towards equality, it’s no wonder why many companies have the internal value of diversity as it creates a good brand reputation and image. In return, customers are more likely to instil trust in a brand that portrays itself well, increase sales/profit for the business.
In fact, the level of diversity within a company could be the difference between it thriving and failing. But why does it have such an impact?
Think of companies like people; what attributes would you like them to have? Would you enjoy spending time with someone that judges’ people, doesn’t embrace change and is closed-minded? Or would you prefer to spend time with someone who values people equally, which reflects them as kind and caring?
In short, you wouldn’t want to be around someone who can’t accept you for who you are, so what makes a business any different?
The level of diversity in a workplace and the job satisfaction are closely linked. Poor job satisfaction should be prevented at all costs due to the detrimental effects it can have on the business. With this in mind, it is clear that diversity should be considered, but what other hidden advantages can it bring?
Attracting and retaining talent
It’s a fact that if you don’t have the right talent in place then your company can’t be one of the best in the field. A company may experience a struggle of attracting talent or witness a severe case of their own ‘brain drain’ due to a lack of diversity. People are unlikely to accept a job offer or even apply to a job without researching the company first. With websites such as Glassdoor making it easy to research a company’s culture (which includes diversity), poor reviews will prevent entry of good talent. Diversity can also impact those already in the company. If people don’t feel accepted, they could become demotivated or even under more extreme circumstances, resign.
Increased Profits
As discussed previously, if talent doesn’t relocate it may become demotivated. Disengagement with work can occur for several reasons with a lack of diversity being one of them. A lack of diversity can stimulate negative emotions (e.g. feeling undervalued) and in turn can cause a plummet in productivity. This can be shown by simple statistics: companies with better diversity including teams more culturally and ethnically diverse were 33% more likely to see better-than-average profits, while gender diverse saw a rise of 22% above-average profits.
Seeing Things Differently
Arguably one of the most beneficial points about having a diverse workforce is the abundance of new ideas and views. Consider a group of people with numerous demographic similarities – they are more likely to think/act in a similar way compared to a group boasting alternative demographics, of different age, with different life experiences etc. By employing a variety of people, it is likely the company is exposed to new ideas that will help drive the business forward. Take Apple as an example – they could’ve stayed with their line stayed with their line of computers. But new ideas sparked new product lines such as phones and tablets, which has since led them to making millions of pounds more in profit and securing their market-leading position.
There are so many advantages that can be seen when delving deeper into the impacts of diversity in the workforce – so much so that it is extremely difficult to think of one disadvantage. As a result, it’s clear to see why many businesses have experienced an internal shift in values towards better diversity and helps to support the idea that as a society we are taking steps in the right direction.
Abi Hardiman is Marketing Director for Pretium International – The recruitment company talented in technology.
If you are a technology business seeking resource solutions, or a tech-talented individual looking for an advanced role visit https://pretiuminternational.co.uk/
