Diversity and Inclusion in an Organization

What is Diversity and Inclusion?

Diversity and Inclusion in Human Resource Management refers to the strategic efforts and policies organizations implement to create a workplace that values and embraces differences among employees. It encompasses a commitment to recognizing, respecting, and leveraging the unique qualities, backgrounds, and perspectives that individuals bring to the workplace. Here are key aspects of Diversity and Inclusion in HRM. 

Why Diversity and Inclusion Is Important in an Organization?

Diversity and inclusion can bring many benefits such as higher performance, greater innovation, and a more positive environment for both employees and other associates or customers. This is why diversity and inclusion are important for a thriving business. To be able to effectively unlock the potential that diversity and inclusion provide, it is important to make sure your workforce is properly trained to avoid any biases, stereotypes, or other harmful influences.

Benefits of diversity and inclusion at work

Greater Creativity and Innovation

A workplace comprising employees from different backgrounds with varying experiences, skills, and knowledge is abundant in innovative and creative ideas. When such a diverse work environment is inclusive, employees will be more comfortable sharing their opinions and perspectives without feeling apprehensive about discrimination and ridicule. Putting together people with different outlooks results in a pluralistic workplace beaming with fresh and new ideas, helping the organization stand out from peers and expand in the long run.

Diverse Skillsets

One of the key benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace is that they bring a range of skills. When a company hires people from different backgrounds with unique abilities, each brings unique skills that help enhance the business. An inclusive and diverse work environment that recognizes the skills of each individual makes room for broader perspectives in problem-solving, decision-making, and the development of new business ideas. With a bigger pool of skills at its disposal, a company has a richer reserve of expertise and abilities to bank on to reach its goals.

More Opportunities for Personal and Professional Growth

Diverse and inclusive companies attract talented, motivated, and ambitious candidates seeking training and learning opportunities for personal and professional growth. One of the benefits of inclusion in the workplace is that employees are more comfortable interacting with colleagues, leading to a widespread exchange of ideas. As employees encounter different cultures and perspectives, it leads to better interpersonal understanding and communication. Moreover, diversity and inclusion reduce stereotypes and prejudices that hinder organizational growth and progress.

Better Decision-Making and Faster Problem-Solving

Companies with greater diversity are quicker at problem-solving and making better business decisions. Diverse teams can solve problems faster than people with similar cognitive abilities. Employees coming from different backgrounds have unique experiences and views. Hence, they can offer unique solutions to a problem. In addition, various solutions stemming from different perspectives lead to more efficient and informed decision-making and results.

Greater Employee Retention

One of the visible benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace is reduced employee turnover or enhanced employee retention. Organizations with a diverse workforce are typically more inclusive of individualistic differences and perspectives, making employees feel valued and accepted. When employees feel valued and accepted, they are happier and more content and stay longer with the organization. Thus, a diverse and inclusive workplace boasts of reduced employee turnover rates. It creates a sense of belonging among employees, and they are less likely to leave.

Better Employee Performance

When employees feel that they belong to their workplace, they can better focus on work instead of feeling uncomfortable about themselves. In other words, diversity and inclusion create a sense of belonging in the workplace, which, in turn, boosts job performance. Employees get the assurance that their workplace respects and values them, motivating them to work harder for the company. On the contrary, employees at a company that does not embrace a culture of diversity and inclusion feel their efforts are unacknowledged and undervalued.

Increased productivity

A diverse and inclusive workplace directly impacts productivity. To begin with, diverse teams bring a range of skills and experiences to the table, allowing co-workers to learn from each other and work together. Moreover, a diverse group of individuals working together means that ideas flow freely. Overall, the teamwork and cooperativity that a diverse and inclusive team exhibits play a significant role in boosting productivity and helping the company thrive in a short time. An organization inevitably stands out among competitors that do not have a diverse and inclusive talent pool.

Increased Profits

Companies with greater workplace diversity and inclusion achieve higher profits. Since a diverse workforce makes better decisions and is quicker at problem-solving, it gives them a greater advantage over their competitors. Moreover, diversity and inclusion in the workplace boost employee performance and drive productivity, which is eventually reflected in the company’s bottom line. Thus, companies produce improved business results, perform better financially, generate more revenue, and reap more profit.

Positive Company Reputation

Companies that prioritize building and encouraging a diverse and inclusive culture are perceived as socially responsible and humane. They are seen as progressive and unbiased entities that respect differences. Moreover, diversity in the workplace makes an organization look more authentic. It creates a positive brand image that can make an organization stand out.

Improved Relationship with Investors and Stakeholders

A significant business benefit of diversity and inclusion in the workplace is improved relationships with corporate investors, business partners, and customers. These stakeholders include people from various backgrounds, religious affiliations, ages, and sexual orientations. Thus, their outlook and ideologies will strongly impact their decisions involving the company. Investors would prefer to invest in a company that they can relate to. Likewise, customers are more likely to associate with brands that align with their beliefs and ethos. Likewise, customers are more likely to associate with brands that align with their beliefs and ethos.

Better Hiring Quality

Companies with an inclusive workplace culture have a greater chance of attracting and retaining high-quality candidates. A diverse and inclusive workplace is one of the most desirable qualities for candidates while looking for a new job. Embracing a culture of diversity and inclusion enables a company to recruit from a broader talent pool and supply more qualified candidates to choose from, making the average talent quality higher. On the contrary, a company’s failure to be inclusive in its hiring practices may eliminate candidates who would have added value to the company.

Challenges of Diversity in The Workplace

1. Communications Barriers

It is undeniable that a diverse and inclusive workforce can lead to an increase in innovation, unique opinions and approaches to problem-solving. However, conflicts due to differences in perspectives also escalate at the same time.

Communication barriers are an obstacle that every international business faces. Even when people use the same language, for example, English, variations of colloquialisms and accents between American, British, and Australian English could potentially cause misunderstandings.

More importantly, a language can have many implications that only people from these regions can understand correctly. Moreover, some gestures could easily be considered an offence even without us realizing it.

2. Stereotypes and Prejudice

Whether you like it or not, stereotypes directed at specific groups of people happen. While working, instead of trying to communicate and understand each other, employees may use these stereotypes as an excuse for not collaborating with their co-workers.

What’s worse are grudges people hold against particular cultures, religions, and races. This would cause isolation and disjointed teams, which can quickly escalate to disruptions during the knowledge transfer process among employees.

3. Less Trust

People from minority groups could feel like they are treated unfairly compared to the major groups. Similarly, they might also think the manager is nicer to people with the same background.

Consequently, these groups would barely raise their voice when encountering problems. For instance, employees from some Asian countries may not feel comfortable voicing their opinions, particularly when they are new to the job, or are in junior roles.

This situation requires a sensible manager with strong leadership, EQ and communication skills to manage a diverse team, make every member feel included, and align the team’s decisions with the business goals.

4. Visa requirements and cost of accommodation

Building a workforce that spans the world is a complex, and not to mention, costly process. Organizations need to establish guidelines for working visa arrangements plus employment policies and ensure they comply with local labor and immigration laws.

In some cases, organizations will sponsor the transfer of talents to different locations. The sponsorship could lead to endless administrative work and a (sizable) dedicated budget for accommodations and travelling.

 5. Productivity

Cultural conflict is unhealthy and can significantly lower both the productivity and morale of employees. Diverse teams can lead to the long-term success of businesses. However, if conflicts resulting from cultural clashes cannot be resolved effectively, it will cause lasting negative effects on employee satisfaction, the business's reputation, image, and more.

Diversity and Inclusion at Workplace

Conclusion

Overall, Diversity and Inclusion in HRM is a holistic approach aimed at creating a workplace culture that values diversity, fosters inclusion, and enables all employees to reach their full potential. It goes beyond compliance with legal requirements to create an environment where every individual feels respected, supported, and empowered.

Reference

1. www.greatplacetowork.com/resources/blog/why-is-diversity-inclusion-in-the-workplace-important
2. www.easyllama.com/blog/why-diversity-and-inclusion-is-important/#:~:text=Diversity%
3. www.workplace.com/blog/diversity-and-inclusion
4. www.usemultiplier.com/blog/benefits-of-diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-workplace
5. blog.trginternational.com/challenges-diversity-workplace-how-to-overcome.
6. The International Journal of Human Resource Management
7. The Future of Work and Employment
8. Youtube