Workplace diversity doesn’t happen by chance. Today’s businesses must prioritize diversity and inclusion if they want to create a welcoming and innovative environment for everyone.
Despite recent efforts, management positions, venture capital, and the tech sector are still largely dominated by white males and not the friendliest places for people of color, all genders, differing ages, or unique abilities.
When workplaces prioritize diversity, everyone wins. Here’s why.
Why Every Business Should Prioritize Workplace Diversity
In short, a diverse workforce makes better decisions, outperforms competitors, and encourages employee loyalty. Plus, we as a global society still have plenty of work to do on the inclusion front.
1. Diverse Workplaces Make Better Decisions
People from a wide range of ethnicities, age groups, and cultures each bring their own unique experience and perspective to the team.
Research finds that geographically diverse teams spanning different genders and ages make better business decisions than individuals 87% of the time. For comparison, all-male teams outperformed individuals in only 58% of cases.
This highlights the importance of not only hiring people from different backgrounds but including them in decision-making processes.
2. You’ll Outperform Competitors
Research from McKinsey has found a distinct relationship between diverse teams and financial performance in workplaces around the western world.
Companies with the most racially and ethnically diverse teams were 35% more likely to enjoy financial returns above their industry medians. Gender diversity alone made companies 15% more likely to see revenue beyond the industry median as well.
Diverse teams bring an ability to connect with broader sets of audience segments, leading to innovation and flexibility.
3. You’re More Likely to Retain Top Employees
Surveying millennials this year, Deloitte found that workers within that age group were more likely to stay at diverse workplaces.
Many even take diversity and inclusion into consideration when evaluating potential jobs as it demonstrates a company’s ability to welcome and appreciate differences.
4. There’s Still Much Work to Do
Unfortunately, we still have plenty of work to do as a global society incorporating more cultures, ethnicities, genders, and age groups into various sectors and leadership positions.
Take the tech sector, for example. LinkedIn found this year that Black workers only make up about 1% of tech jobs in the US despite comprising over 13% of the population according to census data.
Meanwhile, those from Latino backgrounds only hold 3.3% of tech jobs yet make up over 18% of the US population.
Women also face hurdles in technology, holding only 24% of all global tech positions.
Support a Diverse Workplace
There’s no single solution to create a more diverse and inclusive workplace. You can, however, use digital signage tools to ensure everyone feels welcomed, empowered, and informed:
- Promote religious and cultural holidays like Ramadan and Eid.
- Ensure new hires know how to submit ideas and who to contact with questions/concerns.
- Advertise skill-building courses, certifications, and training to help workers advance.
- Make everyone aware of expectations so no one falls behind.
- Acknowledge individual accomplishments and contributions.
Digital signage helps your team stay informed and engaged no matter where they’re working. Find out why modern workplaces around the world trust Valotalive.
