Companies committed to diversity and inclusion typically receive positive responses from customers, while these organizations also show great dedication toward their employees.
Everyone needs a sense of belonging at work; employees quickly become dissatisfied if they do not feel accepted by management and peers.
Psychological safety allows your team members to open up to different perspectives and ideas, helping them perform at their optimal best in work environments.
1. Increased Employee Engagement
Companies that promote diversity and inclusion foster an environment in which employees feel a strong sense of belonging, leading to higher levels of employee engagement and productivity. Furthermore, more engaged workers tend to stay longer at their organizations – saving organizations money on recruitment and training expenses.
An inclusive workforce helps businesses better meet the needs of customers around the world. Employing team members familiar with local traditions, laws, and cultures enables companies to better connect with customers and sell products more easily.
Diverse workforces can also help minimize bias when hiring, performance evaluating, delegating tasks, and making other important decisions that have an effect on an entire organization. Leaders must recognize any instances of workplace bias and take measures to eliminate it; one such way is through encouraging an inclusive culture as part of company core values.
2. Increased Profits
Companies that embrace diversity and inclusion typically experience an increase in profits. This is because people from diverse backgrounds bring unique skillsets that help solve complex issues within their workplace. Studies have also demonstrated that diverse teams make more informed decisions than their non-diverse counterparts.
Leaders can best implement a successful diversity and inclusion strategy by actively upholding values that promote them in an environment conducive to them. This means promoting cultural awareness, providing training in cultural sensitivity, offering flexible working arrangements to accommodate religious or cultural holidays and creating flexible working arrangements to allow employees to work when it is most convenient for them and treating all employees equally and with respect, leading to happier, more productive employees that better connect with customers.
3. Increased Customer Satisfaction
Customers increasingly desire seeing themselves represented in brands they shop with. Companies that prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) can better connect with customers while crafting experiences tailored to meet their individual needs and desires.
Leaders must strive to understand and respect cultural and generational differences when leading an inclusive workforce, including embracing different communication styles, acknowledging religious holidays and understanding the value of flexibility in scheduling and workflows.
Research shows that companies with diverse executive teams are 35% more likely to outstrip industry average performance, and offer benefits such as paid parental leave, flexible work hours and childcare support than companies without such teams.
4. Increased Productivity
Diversity and Inclusion don’t just involve creating an inclusive workplace environment; they also involve encouraging teamwork that increases productivity, morale, and ultimately has an effectful bottom-line impact.
Being open to different perspectives and experiences allows teams to more quickly and efficiently address problems, taking an integrated approach that may yield innovative solutions otherwise undiscovered.
For companies to fully embrace diversity, they must first address unconscious biases among employees. This can be accomplished through training on unconscious bias and making sure all employees are treated fairly. Furthermore, flexible work hours and locations should also be offered as well as floating holidays so as to accommodate various cultural holiday traditions.
5. Increased Employee Morale
Millennials and Gen Z job seekers favor companies that emphasize social responsibility. Employees who feel accepted within their workplace tend to stay with them longer, improving morale and productivity.
Inclusivity can give your business an edge by elevating customer experience. In an international marketplace, catering to diverse backgrounds of customers is crucial.
McKinsey reports that companies with more diverse top management are 35% more likely to have better-than-average profits, according to their research.
Encourage your team to join employee resource groups (ERGs) to enhance cultural awareness and ensure everyone feels included. Also focus on fair promotions while training hiring managers on ways to reduce unconscious biases.
