Diversity and inclusion is a topic that has been in the spotlight in mainstream media. These past few years have shown that many avenues are not doing enough to promote the beauty and benefits of diversity. The general public has been calling attention to a lack of diversity and inclusion in workplace culture. If it doesn’t already play a significant role, here are five reasons why Diversity and Inclusion should play a part in your business strategy.
Set the Direction for the Organization
A business strategy is a map for your entire company. What your goals are, the qualities you value, and the trajectory for the future are all critical information that can be found in a business strategy. Including diversity and inclusion in these discussions and goals can help your entire organization improve workplace culture and promote a welcoming environment.
When the leaders of an organization work, talk, and act in a manner that promotes diversity, team members are more likely to follow in their footsteps. This trickle-down environment of promoting inclusion will show that your company appreciates diversity more than a public statement ever could.
Keeps Employees in Sight with Company Missions
The essential part of any business is the people that work to make it functional. Employees can come from a large variety of places and backgrounds. When a company recognizes the importance of these backgrounds, it helps team members feel valued. If employees don’t see the value inside a mission statement, they may not consider it with their actions. Including diversity and inclusion into a business’s mission statement makes it more likely that employees will see the value and act in accordance.
Opens the Opportunity for New Talent
When a company prioritizes diversity and inclusion in its business strategy, it shows in every aspect. For example, when hiring new talent, keep an open mind to anyone applying for a position instead of looking for people that fit an exact mold. Additionally, consider promoting open positions through different avenues that may encourage various candidates. Being open to anyone who feels they fit your need can help open your eyes to biases you may not have realized you have.
For example, you get an application for an open position, and everything about this candidate is an immediate fit! You review their skills and how they correlate with the open position, and everything seems to fall into place. As you review their resume, you see a gap. This candidate happens to be a previously convicted felon. Everything about their skills is precisely what you need from a new hire. Do you throw their resume away because of an unconscious bias against felons? Or do you invite them for an interview to open yourself up to diversity in the workplace?
Helps Provide Different Insight in the Office
Prioritizing inclusion in your business strategy can result in an inclusive workplace culture. A diverse workforce can improve business communication with your customer base and between teams. An inclusive and diverse marketing team can help provide different insights and experiences when planning campaigns. Having team members who can relate to your customer base can help increase the effectiveness of communication.
Effective communication is beneficial for making sure that your campaign message is relayed correctly to individuals, and it also helps the customer feel important. Instead of receiving a generalized message that doesn’t relate to them, having a personalized message pertaining to their situation could improve customers’ brand loyalty. Additionally, having diverse teams on the inside of a business can help you successfully reach diverse audiences.
Draws Potential Candidates
One of the most impressive things about including diversity and inclusion in your business strategy is that you can grow your workplace culture to a point where it draws job seekers to apply. This workplace culture is “… an important factor for many of today’s job seekers, 70% of whom say they are looking to work for a company with a commitment to diversity and inclusion.” (1) With the workforce of Millennials and Gen Z entering the working world, the importance of diversity and inclusion has never been higher.
Knowing how diversity and inclusion can help your organization is the first step to improving workplace culture. Learning how to implement these practices in your business is step two. Now that you are aware of the benefits of an inclusive work environment, take the Bigger Brains course, Improving Diversity and Inclusion (DEI) in Your Workplace, to learn how to implement these principles within your organization!
In this day and age, including diversity and inclusion in a business strategy is not about jumping on a trend; instead, it’s about making the changes within your organization, so you can retain the workforce needed to keep you afloat.
(1) https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15970-diverse-inclusive-companies.html
