Diversity – we all know the profession needs to be better at it, we all know that it is something that the profession needs more of. But do we know and understand why?
Does it feel like something we ‘should’ be doing, or do we feel a non-negotiable burning desire to achieve it no matter what?
I am never a fan of ‘should do’s’. We either do, or we don’t.
You do it because you know it to be worthwhile doing and you do it wholeheartedly. Or you do not do it and save that time and energy for something that is worthwhile doing.
The diversity piece
So, is it worthwhile ensuring your business is achieving significant growth in its diversity and do we even fully understand what diversity is?
Diversity is any term that can be used to differentiate groups and people from one another.
Diversity is not just a moral imperative but also brings a business advantage, as diverse teams have been shown to be more innovative and better problem solvers.
Embracing diversity goes beyond simply hiring a diverse workforce though.
It’s about creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels valued and respected. To achieve this, a focus on inclusive leadership is crucial.
The biggest bias we have is the ‘I don’t have a bias’ bias.
Inclusive leaders are those who actively engage and value the contributions of all team members, regardless of their differences.
They foster an environment where everyone feels comfortable and encouraged to share their ideas and perspectives.
This helps businesses and business leaders avoid the phenomenon known as group think.
We have looked extensively at the impact of inclusive leadership on employee engagement and productivity. We found inclusive leaders empower their team members, leading to higher job satisfaction and retention rates.
They also create an environment where individuals can bring their authentic selves to work, resulting in increased creativity and innovation.
This helps any business achieve higher employee engagement, stronger retention rates and ease of hire.
With a diverse culture, leaders can actively seek diverse perspectives, provide equal opportunities for growth and development, and create inclusive policies and processes.
Encourage your leaders to educate themselves about unconscious biases and take steps to mitigate them. The biggest bias we have is the ‘I don’t have a bias’ bias.
Eliminating bias creates a safe and welcoming environment for people from all demographics to be enticed into, and hence we advance our capacity to positively engage with the myriad of ways in which people see the world, thereby increasing our capacity for connecting with our clients.
Reaping rewards
If we look at business A, built up with employees who insist that their way of doing things is the only legitimate way, and that they have nothing to gain from considering alternative views – this business is going to be neither innovative nor harmonious.
By contrast, we look at business B, where employees feel empowered to share their thoughts and opinions and also to have an open mind to listen to other thoughts and opinions. Business B will be far more innovative, encourage more creativity and achieve greater progress.
So, to build a culture in the workplace that encourages diverse thinking is not only the right thing to do, it also makes good business sense.
This concept is supported by Sam Altman, chief executive of Open AI, who wrote in a 2017 blog post: “Restricting speech leads to restricting ideas and therefore restricted innovation – the most successful societies have generally been the most open ones. To get the really good ideas, we need to tolerate really bad and wacky ideas too.”
Ultimately, in an environment of too much restriction, innovation can’t thrive.
Our key observations:
- Diverse teams boost creativity and innovation: diversity boosts creativity, we avoid group think mentality.
- Workplace diversity creates greater opportunities for professional growth: companies that embrace ideas and practices from different perspectives create an inclusive culture where the employees become ambassadors for the company.
- Research shows that diverse teams are better at making decisions 87 per cent of the time over non-diverse teams. Diverse teams offer broader perspectives and bring more information to the table. Teams outperform individuals when making decisions and that improves as diversity increases.
Interestingly, one in three will not apply for a position at a company that lacks diversity. In a profession already short on talent, the last thing we want to do is reduce a third of our potential talent pool.
