December 5th, 2020

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Diversity and inclusion go hand in hand with growth (photo: Pixabay)

Working as an HR business partner, I have teamed up with numerous companies over the years to help them to create people-focused strategies in order to drive growth. 

With studies suggesting that diversity within an organisation has direct links to financial performance and growth, it’s little wonder that companies are trying to adopt a more diverse and inclusive culture. 

Developing diversity
So, how do you create a diverse workforce in order to reap financial success?

First, a business that wishes to work with diversity and inclusion should create strategies for how this will be achieved. It is not good enough to spray-paint buzz words in the conference room or to adopt inclusive wording in your mission statement. Unfortunately, I’ve encountered both of these numerous times and words are simply not enough. 

Diversity in the 21st century includes issues like fair pay, bias and favouritism. Understanding how to grow and manage a diverse workforce – one that will strengthen your organisation in every aspect and transform it for the better – is key!

Once a diverse and inclusive workplace is established, the company will benefit from different ideas and perspectives, challenging and sparring with the creation of innovative solutions to problems. Employees learn from one another, so their skills are continually developing.

With employee satisfaction increasing, so too will customer satisfaction. In other words: A more diverse workforce will have a better understanding of the needs of different customers.

Inclusion always ongoing
Diversity and inclusion recognises that diversity alone is not enough; equal attention must be given to creating and cultivating an inclusive environment. This may include a greater focus on hiring people from different backgrounds and should include an element of catering to the company’s current team. It’s good to remember that company inclusion does not end during the onboarding process – quite the opposite! 

The onboarding process is where it often begins; however, in order to maintain an inclusive workforce a company must continually work with the current team to assess and support, as well as encouraging open communication, so a company can learn more about the employees and their needs. 

Understand their needs
When the company better understands the needs of its employees, it is able to incorporate measures to support them, such as conducting meetings with a PowerPoint presentation (for those who are visual learners, for example).

By knowing your team’s needs, you are able to support them more adequately, as employee satisfaction often goes hand-in-hand with knowledge and a better understanding of the needs and wants within the workplace. 

Better communication is also key to realising, acknowledging and encouraging individual growth. By establishing communication links, you can dive into topics such as learning and development to aid the employee’s growth. 

So, does your company have the potential to grow?