Lots of companies are focusing on improving their diversity in the workplace. But this should not be seen as a box ticking exercise. Creating a diverse workforce has many benefits and should be encouraged in all areas of your business.

Let’s start by looking at what diversity really means.

What is diversity in the workplace?

Diversity is fundamental for maximum productivity and overall business success. Imagine if all your employees had the same experience, skills, opinions. They would all be making the same decisions, and this doesn’t create a strong team dynamic. But what is diversity?

• Ethnicity
• Age
• Religion / Political beliefs
• Gender
• Sexual orientation
• Physical abilities

There’s strong evidence to support building a diverse workforce, and the impact it can have on business success. A recent report by McKinsey, states that companies who focus on diversity in the workplace are 36% more likely to have above average financial returns for their industry. But it’s not just improvements in business performance that you experience. What about the human element? A diverse and inclusive company atmosphere can help you to attract new talent. Additionally, it can help you to retain the team you have.

Let’s look at the other benefits you can experience.

The benefits of diversity in the workplace

There are lots of advantages of having a diverse workforce, and some may surprise you. It’s likely that you will experience more than what we’ve listed below –

Candidate attraction – Diversity will help to promote your company as a desirable place to work. It can increase the likelihood of attracting the best talent from a range of talent pools. This is particularly important in the times of a skills shortage.

Reduced employee turnover – Believe it to not, this is a big plus point of diversity in the workplace. We all value different things, and if our values are linked to that of our employer, we are more likely to be happy in our work. Happier workers stay longer. Value and accept your employees, no matter their background and you will, in turn, have a happier team.

A fresh look at problem solving – If you are looking for a different perspective when it comes to solving problems, you need to improve the diversity in your team. A diverse team will bring solutions from various cultures and you may be surprised at the results. The same applies when it comes to creativity in your team. The more diverse your team, the more creative it will be.

A better understanding of your customers – How do you know what your customers want? A culturally diverse workforce is more in touch with your diverse marketplace. Therefore, you can use their experience to help understand what your customers want. Whether it be understanding the different nuances of different cultures, or helping you overcome cultural difference, it will have a positive impact on your business growth. Just look at any marketing campaign, and you will see how important diversity is when it comes to appealing to customers. Apply the same principle to your workforce for positive results.

How CSP can help

We pride ourselves on attracting people from all works of life.  Did you know that we are the only agency who employs a team of social media ambassadors? These ambassadors can speak to candidates in their native language – currently we are able to speak to you in 14 different languages – but we’re not stopping there! We’re even a finalist in the Recruitment Marketing Awards for our creative approach to candidate attraction. And now, we’re taking it one step further. As part of our commitment to help reduce bias, we’ve partnered with Alvius – the fairness-first hiring software. It’s an intuitive system which puts diversity and inclusivity first and we are excited to be working with them.

If you would like to know more about our unique approach, get in touch with our team today