5 benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace

3 mins, 24 secs read time

What comes to mind when you think about diversity and inclusion in the workplace? One might usually focus on factors that categorize people into specific groups, i.e., race, gender, age, cultural background and similar demographic designations. We should, however, expand what we know beyond checking off specific boxes.

People are intricate, unique and complex beings that provide various offerings through a combination of their identities and experiences. Your organization has an opportunity to crack the code to a lockbox full of insights and new perspectives when your teams are diversified.

Diversity and inclusion in the workplace statistics

Before we can move forward, we need to assess the current situation. Nationwide statistics are very telling of the reality of today’s state of diversity in the workplace.

Stat #1: Fewer CEOs are women than are named David. Women make up less than 5% of the Fortune 500 companies, (a 25% decrease from 2017). When one name outnumbers half of the U.S. population, we recognize how serious this issue is.

Stat #2: Millennials will comprise 75% of America’s workforce by 2025. This will require a shift in how our workplaces operate in the near future.

Stat #3: Hispanics or Latinos whose family origins derive from any country outside of Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba accounted for 26% of the Hispanic or Latino labor force, pointing to the importance of looking past surface level ethnic diversity.

Benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace

In this day and age, everyone knows their workplace should be diverse but they often have a hard time understanding (or believing) just how beneficial workplace diversity is to the business. It’s not simply the right thing to do. Here are a few reasons you should prioritize workplace diversity, that’ll help you get everyone bought in:

1. Get the innovation wheels turning: Teams comprised of various backgrounds and work experiences collectively come up with more creative ideas and ways to solve problems. Watch one kernel of an idea at a brainstorm turn into a deliciously full bag of popcorn.
2. Attract candidates (and get them to stay): People are drawn to companies that show they value diversity and inclusion. Less diverse environments can also be hostile for those who feel they don’t fit in. When people feel cared about, and see that their peers are cared about, they stay (and they refer others). It’s a beautiful cycle.
3. Improve employee performance: Ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to outperform their peers. This may be attributed to the fact that employees are more likely to feel comfortable, happy and confident in themselves in an inclusive environment.
4. Extend your market: The internet has brought the world closer together, but a diverse workplace allows you to access this vast array of knowledge, IRL. Your org has an opportunity to effectively market to a larger group of customers, including those who identify as LGBTQ, or are differently abled.
5. Literally bring in the cash: According to a Josh Bersin study, highly inclusive organizations generate 2.3x more cash flow per employee, 1.4x more revenue, and are 120% more capable of meeting financial targets. Inclusivity = revenue. Those are definitely stats that can’t be ignored.

The workplace has made progress when it comes to diversity, but it’s still got a long way to go. For example, companies are still learning to navigate inclusivity, which is a huge factor in any successful workplace diversity strategy. If you’re unsure of where to start, you can begin looking into D&I; recruitment tools like Greenhouse Recruiting, that will help you mitigate unconscious bias in hiring and enable your team to make objective, data-based hiring decisions.

So, if you’d like your organization to improve retention, spark creativity, attract top performers, increase revenue, and be all around better, you know what to do.

You can be a catalyst for change like forward-thinking companies leading the path in D&I;, such as MAC Cosmetics. If you’re ready to get started, check out these 10 tips to kickoff your diversity recruitment initiative.