A diverse team will ensure that your small business is open to new ideas, problem-solving and ready for growth opportunities
Quick, name something that’s vital for every business, regardless of size.
If you said diversity, you’re either incredibly sharp or you made an educated guess based on the title of this article. Either way, it’s extremely important for every small business owner to recognize that diversity is key to the long-term success of their company.
Let’s look at a few reasons why.
It Increases Problem Solving & Creativity
Uniform employees produce uniform ideas — you can’t expect your company to flourish when everyone thinks the same. However, a diverse workforce opens your business to new ideas and new ways of thinking, making success a certainty.
There’s a number of ways it does this. First, diversity improves decision-making by sidestepping groupthink and allowing teams to make well-rounded decisions by building upon varied points of view.
There’s also the matter of increased problem-solving skills. A study from the University of Michigan reports that diverse groups of problem solvers often outperform groups of higher-aptitude problem solvers. This is because diverse groups can draw upon a wider range of experiences, perspectives, and skills, all of which assist in problem-solving. Without the varied points of view inherent to these groups, many innovative solutions are overlooked.
As with the previous benefit, the varying experiences and viewpoints in a diverse group increases creativity and innovation. A homogeneous group with analogous background are prone to generating similar ideas. However, a team that features multiple voices and perspectives inspires cutting-edge thinking.
Another disadvantage of a cookie-cutter workforce is that it often suffers from a narrow skill set. Diverse teams come with an expansive set of skills and perspectives that encourage growth through innovative approaches to moving the company forward. Furthermore, this variety of skills and experiences means that employees can advance in their field by learning from each other.
It Enhances Customer Care
Customer satisfaction is often based on the personal connection they make with a company’s employees. Since it’s only human to bond those who sympathize with your own experiences, workplace diversity aids in that satisfaction by ensuring employees can relate to every customer who comes through the door.
Employees that come from wide range of backgrounds have a greater understanding of customer viewpoints and can better empathise with individual client needs. This is especially important in industries where trust is a crucial part of the client relationship, such as the medical field.
What’s more, a diverse workforce with a wide range of perspectives makes it far easier to target a broad spectrum of clients. A business that employees people of different backgrounds benefits from diverse language skills and understanding of global cultures. This allows companies to sell products and services worldwide — not to mention provide amazing customer support.
It Spurs Growth
Diversity attracts workers — in fact, 90 percent of U.S. organizations that have a diversity and inclusiveness strategy say it has helped them attract talent. Numbers-wise, hiring diverse candidates gives a business a much larger pool of highly talented people to work with. Furthermore, recruiting from a diverse set of candidates means a business is more likely to hire the most qualified candidates in the labor market.
Potential employees are attracted to a company that welcomes a diverse workforce — it makes them long to work there. As well as making a business appealing to high-reaching, globally minded candidates, hiring from a diverse talent pool also helps to keep them engaged. Diversity has been shown to boost retention and cut down on the cost associated with employee turnover.
Similarities aside, when all is said and done, every single one of us is a unique individual who has something special to offer. This is what makes diversity so important to an organization. By hiring people of differing gender, race, age, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, and abilities, you can create a company bursting at the seams with creativity and innovation.
Liz Greene
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>in fact, 90 percent of U.S. organizations that have a diversity and inclusiveness strategy say it has helped them attract talent
I’m struggling to figure out how implementing a program where they hire people based on their race or gender lead to them finding and hiring more talented/qualified individuals.