Diversity in the workplace

What?

Diversity when looking at teams comes from different backgrounds. For example, demographic, psychological, and or organizational backgrounds. “Research reveals that the various effects of this diversity on teams is dependent on how the research is conducted, the type of diversity examined, and the type of tasks performed. In most cases, diversity is a benefit once a team learns how to create a context that supports diversity. A team with diverse members performs better on decision making, problem solving, and creativity tasks.” (Levi). With that being said, not all things about diversity are positive of course. “Diversity in a team can lead to problems caused by misperceptions about others and competition among subgroups. These problems disrupt team communication and reduce the ability of the team to fully use its resources.” (Levi).

So What?

Now with seeing the negatives of diversity, is it even worth it? Of course, it is! “Diversity is at the core of teamwork. If people have identical knowledge, skills, or perspectives, then there is little reason to organize them into teams, and is simpler to just have a supervisor tell the individuals what to do.” (Levi). Having diversity is vital when working in teams. Diversity helps create new ideas and new solutions, there might be disagreements here and there, “but actions can be taken to help teams improve relations among their members in order to gain the benefits of team diversity. “(Levi). As stated by Forbes, “Diversity gives you access to a greater range of talent, not just the talent that belongs to a particular world-view or ethnicity or some other restricting definition. It helps provide insight into the needs and motivations of all of your client or customer base, rather than just a small part of it. And, potentially, as McKinsey & Co and a host of other highly credible researchers have shown, it makes your organization more effective, more successful, more profitable.” (Forbes).

Now What?

How do we implement diversity into the workplace if it’s so beneficial? Now there are many ways of implementation in the workplace, according to InsideHR, diversity can be set up with five key steps. “1. Train and sensitize your employees…In research conducted by AHRI in 2014, views and opinions on diversity at the workplace from Australian business leaders were collected and one of the most common opinions was that the middle management and sometimes even the leadership were not completely welcoming and supportive of a diverse work group which makes it challenging to implement any strategy amongst the larger workforce. 2. Understand the various elements of a diverse workgroup and map which one will fit your business DNA…Depending on the nature of your business, the clients involved, and the skills and capabilities required, diversity strategies should be put into place. 3. Don’t diversify for extremely short-term goals like an award – give it time…Diversity takes time. It cannot be included in the DNA of the workforce overnight. One of the most difficult things is change and tougher than that is to sustain the change. 4. Keep it strategic and inclusive…The diversification strategy has to be devised to include all elements and departments of the business…There have to be long-term plans to include this diverse workforce in all elements and hierarchies of the business. 5. Avoid pigeonholing people…Nothing kills a diversity initiate like stereotyping people and cultures. Especially during employee training sessions, special care has to be taken to ensure that the messages and learning imparted is not stereotypical in nature.” (InsideHR). Of course, there are many different ways of implementation and it all revolves around what your company is, who your employees are, and who your customers are. Overall, diversity is important and crucial, meaning,  according to Talent Lyft, having a work force that includes all people of “varying gender, age, religion, race, ethnicity, cultural background, sexual orientation, religion, languages, education, abilities, etc.” (Talent Lyft). 

Refrences:

Discovery, RSM. “Why Workplace Diversity Is So Important, And Why It’s So Hard To Achieve.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 22 Aug. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/rsmdiscovery/2018/08/22/why-workplace-diversity-is-so-important-and-why-its-so-hard-to-achieve/#2ff3b37d3096.

Levi, Daniel. Group Dynamics for Teams. SAGE, 2017.

Nandy, Purnima, et al. “5 Key Steps to Implementing a Successful Diversity Program.” Inside HR, 10 Apr. 2019, www.insidehr.com.au/5-steps-diversity-program/.

Zojceska, Anja. “Top 10 Benefits of Diversity in the Workplace [INFOGRAPHIC INCLUDED].” Blog, 2 Apr. 2020, www.talentlyft.com/en/blog/article/244/top-10-benefits-of-diversity-in-the-workplace-infographic-included.