{"id":31354,"date":"2015-05-05T10:24:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T17:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/?p=31354"},"modified":"2017-10-17T13:20:06","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T20:20:06","slug":"the-value-of-having-a-diverse-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smartrecruiters.com\/blog\/the-value-of-having-a-diverse-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"The Value Of Having A Diverse Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a recent poll, 20% of HR departments felt that attracting and retaining diverse talent, was one of the main hurdles that their organization is faced.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that surprising that it would be a legitimate concern, considering the different benefits of having a diverse workforce. Diversity and inclusion have been hot topics in the Human Resource industry for years now. But nobody is questioning why it\u2019s been that way for so long?<\/p>\n

We all know that the world is not a perfect place. There are people (hopefully not leaders) that have biases that favor a group of individuals, and on the flip side, don\u2019t include another group of people.<\/p>\n

What those people should at least respect is that diversity in the workplace is vital to a company\u2019s success and growth. Make sure that people are included and have a sense of being wanted from their employers.<\/p>\n

The reality is that there\u2019s a huge value of having a diverse workforce, and it\u2019s up to leadership and employees to be accepting of having employees that are different in their own way.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the ways a diverse workplace can be beneficial:<\/p>\n

More Productivity<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s research that has negative reasons behind the \u201cpositive\u201d things or \u201cbenefits\u201d of having an inclusive and diverse office.<\/p>\n

One said that having people from different backgrounds allowed them to offer different language\/s based on their cultural background. It may sound nice, but isn\u2019t it wrong to assume that the person wants to be used solely for their linguistic abilities? Also, can\u2019t a person from a different background learn that language?<\/p>\n

One of the other reasons that studies found a diverse workplace \u201chelped\u201d was that it can help a business attack different market segments. That\u2019s right, people say that if you have people from different demographics representing your company, it\u2019ll help out reaching the customer base of that background.<\/p>\n

The real<\/strong> reason having a diverse workplace is effective is because it allows employees to be more productive. The flow of ideas that comes in from different minds from unique backgrounds is almost limitless.<\/p>\n

Inside of the office, people need to let go of any biases they may have and just worry about working together. It\u2019s already bad that on a global scale there are countries that can\u2019t get along, societies that can\u2019t along, communities that don\u2019t agree with one another.<\/p>\n

Why bring all those worldly stresses that don\u2019t necessarily affect an office, to work?<\/h4>\n

The reason our survey platform works is because we ask questions to make sure that people are comfortable enough with each other to a point where they can solely focus on their work and making a better company.<\/p>\n

The second that people get rid of those things that may kill their company\u2019s culture<\/a>, they can start creating great things together.<\/p>\n

However, there still has to be a large shift in the way that offices operate<\/a>. People need to start thinking outside of the box, in terms of how they approach diversity and creating a more diverse, yet, unified work environment.<\/p>\n

More Ingenuity<\/h2>\n

Currently, there\u2019s a book on top of my desk that is titled \u201cA Brief History Of Time<\/a>.\u201d The professor who wrote this novel is one of the most brilliant minds in the planet, he goes by the name of Stephen Hawking.<\/p>\n

Though I haven\u2019t mastered quantum mechanics, nor fully understand a multi-verse, I still respect the hell out of the person who was able to think of it.<\/p>\n

Now, if Professor Hawking was not able to work at a place where they accepted him for his disability (ALS) or his peers would have not listened to him; we would be a less-informed society \u2026 or at least the science community would still be wondering what the heck black holes are all about.<\/p>\n

So that\u2019s just the most famous example of someone who had an unfortunate circumstance that wasn\u2019t neglected. Fortunately, people (specifically, his employers at Cambridge) overlooked all of that, just to keep this genius around.<\/p>\n

Think about other occasions where someone was turned down for having something different about them?<\/p>\n

If you would like to hear a story about a person that changed society, but was stopped before he can go any further, take a look at Alan Turing. This young man was a genius in his own right, creating a complex machine that was able to decode a complex code, which ended up shortening World War 2 by several years.<\/p>\n

He was well on his way to completing a complex machine that was similar to the modern-day computer. However, he was shamed and given harsh treatment from the government due to his sexual orientation.<\/p>\n

Had he not passed, inventions like the computer, laptops, mobile phones, could\u2019ve come a lot sooner and society would have been extremely different. Fortunately, his studies were written and published. And he is known as the father of computers.<\/p>\n

Why Is This Good To Know?<\/h3>\n

It goes without saying that society could have been more advanced had we not let some of our previous biases interfere with our growth.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the industry, if a person that does not fit the cookie-cutter image of what we want that kind of leader or employee to \u201clook\u201d like, do not let them go away. Greatness comes in all shapes and sizes.<\/p>\n

Even if an employee isn\u2019t the superstar\/exceptional employee, learn to make them great. Allow the person to grow and learn more. If you have an employee that isn\u2019t necessarily fond of having a diverse office, let them know about the good and how it outweighs the bad.<\/p>\n

If you want a company to be great, don\u2019t judge an employee by the following:<\/p>\n