Do you know what diversity in an organization is? Although the term has become more and more common in companies, there is still much confusion about what diversity management means as a policy, and even about the concept of diversity itself.
What is diversity in the company?
Diversity in companies isn’t just about the inclusion of people with a certain type of physical disability. It’s something broader. Something that’s emerged with the advance of economic globalization. With the reduction of barriers all over the world, the concern of large companies has increased as they’ve started to need professionals with different skill sets. The struggle for inclusion has been reinforced by social movements, such as gender equality, or the black lives matter movement, for example.
Commitment, productivity, and positive results
Diversity of origin, beliefs, sexual orientation, age, gender, religion, or culture. All of them provide enrichment that can be applied to the workplace. It’s about more than filling quotas, it’s the ability to interact in order to achieve productive results. Professionals from different fields have different perspectives, which broadens the company’s worldview, making it more competitive in the market.
Diversity promotes benefits such as innovation, creativity, and commitment. Recognition from fellow professionals encourages people to give their best. Today, it’s essential for the company to address this issue. The concept of diversity in companies is not limited to the inclusion of professionals of different gender and ethnic origin. It’s a much broader concept, with the objective of creating teams of professionals who bring a unique range of expertise and experience.
Therefore, it includes different types of diversity, such as those of:
- Social class
- Belief
- Culture
- Marital status
- Ethnicity
- Gender
- Age
- Special needs
- Sexual orientation
- Religion
Benefits of diversity in the business environment
Investing in diversity within companies has several advantages both for professionals and the companies themselves. In addition to being a matter of corporate social responsibility, which generates employment and development opportunities for professionals, it’s also an image-building strategy. Many clients will not buy from or associate with companies that don’t promote diversity and inclusion.
On the other hand, when the company does promote diversity, it has the opportunity to position itself as a diverse employer brand, demonstrating that the organization is open to everyone and values people’s potential, regardless of their individual characteristics.
More creativity in teams
A healthy and diverse environment favors creativity, innovation, and employee engagement. As a result, it’s possible to improve the company’s competitiveness in the market.
Strengthen employer branding
Diversity initiatives within the company also help to reinforce the organization’s reputation as a diverse employer, a strategy known as “employer branding“.
An enhanced reputation brings great competitive advantages, adding value to the company’s products and services and facilitating talent acquisition.
Improve the company’s organizational environment
Companies that maintain diversity gradually establish an environment of respect, which becomes part of the corporate culture of the organization. As a result, the coexistence between people improves and the work process becomes calmer, promoting a positive organizational climate.
Reduced staff turnover in the company
With a positive organizational climate, staff turnover decreases, as professionals begin to realize that they’re in the right environment for personal and professional growth. This is a significant gain for the company. This is also where the concept of employee experience within the organization comes into play – doing everything possible to provide the best possible environment for employees to develop their potential.
Having an organizational culture that promotes diversity
Another critical point is not to see diversity in companies only as an opportunity to generate profits. It needs to be authentic for it to work. A good example of this is companies that create diversity committees to assist HR in the development of their diversity policies. Such a company is committed to ensuring more diverse processes. In this way, they can discuss any potential issue, try to evolve, generate opportunities, and make the labor market a healthier and more conscious environment.
Promote fairer selection processes in the company
As mentioned above, the hiring process is crucial in this quest for greater inclusion and diversity in the company. Limiting search parameters or setting too many requirements that only a certain group can meet excludes potential talent that just needs an opportunity to further develop their skills.
In addition, companies must also assume their role as agents of transformation in society, allowing professionals to develop in their daily work, and offering courses and training.
The use of I.T. programs capable of identifying talent has also provided an alternative for managers who can use them to carry out a fairer recruitment process without any filters that could be considered excluding or discriminatory.
