Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are at the forefront of many workplace priority lists for the remainder of 2020.
According to a recent survey, 2 out of every 3 employees believe their company is diverse. However, only 78% of employees have noticed any significant change in iversity at their company’s diversity in the past year.
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Looking for another reason to start making your team more diverse this year? Building and maintaining a diverse workplace is essential to cultivating healthy company culture.
There are countless positive consequences of building a diverse team that are felt directly by your employees.
This article will highlight three major benefits that your employees will feel due toas a result of prioritizing teamwide diversity.
Increased Diversity Helps Employees Learn
Diverse workers learn from each other’s perspectives and situational approaches more effectively than a more homogenous group. Employees notice and appreciate this benefit.
In fact, 59% of employees indicated that diversity allows them to learn more from those they work with, according to The Manifest.
Especially in a work environment, learning about new approaches to tackling problems is essential to productivity. There’s never one correct way to approach a problem.
Building a team composed of various age groups, backgrounds, and experiences may be the key to finding innovative solutions to workplace problems.
Additionally, diverse workplaces that encourage employees to learn from one another can also improve internal engagement and morale. People are energized by learning from each other, and this will reflect in their productivity as well.
It’s easy for employees to get bogged down in taking the same approaches to problems time in and time out. They’ll be refreshed, energized, and enthusiastic to engage with new perspectives.
As a business and HR leader, you have the power to facilitate this positivity and collaboration simply by prioritizing diversity in your current hiring process.
Employees Take Pride in Their Diverse Companies
When you intentionally build a diverse workforce, your employees notice and react positively. Employees that feel part of a diverse team helps boost their pride in working for your company.
The Manifest found that 44% of workers feel that diversity in the workplace increases their sense of pride in the business.
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HR experts have found that the most admired companies are those that prioritize DEI efforts. Employees appreciate and notice when companies take initiative on diversity in the following ways:
- Connect diversity to business performance
- Hold business leaders accountable for keeping workplaces diverse
- Prioritize equal pay
- Creating meaningful mentorship programs and opportunities
- Sharing success with the broader company community
In this way, diversity has become key to reputation management In order to maintain a positive reputation among current and prospective employees, diversity is essential.
Because employees have come to expect a diverse and inclusive workforce, it will be at the top of their mind when they’re considering joining a new team.
If HR puts time and resources toward crafting a diverse community, an internal sense of pride and support for the business will grow. This has the potential to create positive ripple effects for your company’s reputation among job candidates.
Diversity Creates a Sense of Belonging For Workers
In bringing a greater diversity of employees into your company to collaborate and grow together, you’re contributing to fostering a sense of belonging among your employees.
Experts find that diversity builds a sense of belonging for workers across all generations. However, The Manifest found that Millennials (57%) appreciate this increased sense of inclusion most significantly.
Employees of younger generations are determined to find purpose through their work life. They don’t want their sense of belonging to come solely from their core role either. Diversity and team building goes a long way to create a sense of belonging among all employees.
Millennials are intentionally seeking out companies with cultures that prioritize community, teams, and belonging. Diverse hiring is a great start, but HR professionals should also ensure that team-oriented internal structures exist for employees to build a strong sense of community together.
HR researchers recommend that companies employ the following tactics to foster a sense of belonging across teams:
- Create shared goals
- Recognize employee success
- Build frameworks for peer-to-peer support
- Schedule regular check-ins to prevent burnout
When workers feel that they belong at their companies, they are more likely to be productive and motivated to contribute.
Building community in the workplace all starts with diversity. When people of different backgrounds, identities, and perspectives are empowered to come together in presuit of shared goals, they’re bound to feel the increased sense of belonging they’re searching for.
Diversity Has a Postive Impact on Company Culture
Employees want to work for businesses that value diversity. Building a diverse workforce will energize and encourage your employees to engage with each other and your company mission.
Workers will grow with each other when placed on diverse teams. They’re more likely to learn from each other given the presence of a multitude of backgrounds and viewpoints.
Furthermore, employees take pride in companies when employers show a commitment to diversity. Their pride will keep them engaged and excited about their role within the business.
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Lastly, younger generation priortize feeling a sense of belonging in their workplace. Diversity significantly contributes to bolstering an inclusive work culture. Your employees will benefit from increased workplace diversity on numerous levels.