Diversity is a smart business practice. Many managers and CEO’s understand that their businesses need to be accepting of diversity. Many corporations set a target or have a quota imposed on their management team to ensure they have a diverse workforce. Creating a diverse corporation should be a focus not because it is imposed but because it is simply a smart business practice.
Below are three simple reasons to remind you why diversity in your corporation is so important.
Easier to hire … anyone
Candidates are looking to work for corporations that value diversity. If you want to increase the number of women on your board it is easier to hire female candidates when there are successful examples in top management positions. If your focus is for your employee base to be more ethnically diverse, potential candidates will look at the existing workforce to determine if they will fit in. It will be easier to hire candidates when they can envision themselves as a successful and contributing member of the team. This comes down to good cultural fit for the candidate. The candidate wants to see that they can relate to your company, its values and existing employees.
Aids innovation
Differing opinions and outlooks on business strategies allows for innovation. Leaders who listen to diverse voices equally, are nearly twice as likely to unleash value-driving insights. Varying points of view creates new ideas and constructive criticism of current practices which leads to innovation.
Commonality with customers and stakeholders
When your board reflects your stakeholders and your employees reflect your customers you are better able to serve the market. You can understand the unmet needs of your customers. A study found that when at least one member in the team has common traits with the end user, the entire team understands that user better. A team member with a similar ethnicity as the client is 152% more likely to understand that client compared to a less diverse team.
Much has been written on the topic of diversity in business. What is your major reason for creating a diverse workforce?
Human Edge Global is a quality-first, relationship centered retained search firm with locations across Canada. We help clients recruit the very best candidates for their executive, professional and technical teams. To find out more about how we can help you compete for and attract the best talent in your industry, please visit us at www.humanedgeglobal.com.