Your Company Can't Afford NOT To Diversify its Workforce - Here's Why
|
Posted By: Lorenzo Esmoquin on February 14, 2016 In order for a business to survive and thrive, there must be concerted effort put towards growth. Even if there are no immediate plans for active expansion, there must at least be the formulation of strategies which prepare the operation to address the issues of a highly variable, and increasingly global, economic climate. There are always new and aggressive competitors on the horizon, and if you want to keep ahead of your competition, you have to have diverse weapons in your arsenal. Keeping a diverse workforce bringing a variety of perspectives, experiences, and cultures to the table will help you to protect your organization during the inevitable lean times, as well as keep your brand on the forefront of innovation. Diverse Staff Means Diverse Markets You might never know if there is a gap in the market if you don't really know the market. The makeup of your workforce can go a long way towards marketing your brand to a wide variety of consumers. It is very difficult for a team to develop strategies that appeal to demographics of which they are not a part. An individual with personal experience of the living and buying habits of the target market can offer immeasurably valuable insight about how best to communicate your brand message. Additionally, having a team that looks like the group of consumers to whom you want to communicate delivers a very strong message – even before the development of ethnically specific marketing plans. Diverse Staff Means Diverse Ideas Diversity doesn't just mean ethnic, gender, or racial diversity – it is possible that the fundamental differences between team members can center more around their personal outlooks than they do on their religions, races, or sexual orientations. Having a team with different personal interests; that has different philosophies and ideologies, and that comes from different geographic regions, can provide you with a rich repository of solutions. Diverse Staff Means Diverse Opportunities for Profitability Do you know how your product is being used in different regions and by different cultures? Could you expand or adjust your service in order to make it more appropriate for a particular demographic? You might never fully recognize how many opportunities are ripe for exploration if you don't have people on the inside letting you know how different consumers think and behave. Your product or service might have numerous applications, but you might not be exploiting many of your ingrained possibilities. It is essential that you use your team to its full potential, but if you have a staff with the exact same experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, you could be seriously limiting your organization's ability to fully develop. A diverse team can not only perform their designated tasks, they can offer the additional service of acting as consultants if you should decide to branch into different territories, both in terms of your brand and your brand's reach. Diverse Staff Means Diverse Cultures Knowing how to communicate your brand message to different cultures not only increases the chance that your message will be heard and appreciated, it can also stave off the possibility of miscommunications or cultural insensitivity. There is a huge difference between having an intellectual appreciation of a different culture, and having a personal understanding of it. There are numerous subtleties that can sometimes escape a cultural outsider – even one who actively tries to immerse him/herself in that culture. It is important to have in-depth knowledge of the market you are targeting, and without having someone on your team who is a part of that market, you are likely to fail. Having an inclusive and culturally varied workforce is clearly the right thing to do from an ethical and social perspective, but a business doesn't profit solely based upon its desire to appear sophisticated and sensitive. A diverse workforce is far more than just something you have to have in order to avoid social pressure; it can mean having the tools that will make your business prosper for many, many years. If you enjoyed this article, Join DiversityRecruiting.com today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
 |
Lorenzo Esmoquin
Senior Editor, DiversityRecruiting.com The Ohio St Univ class of 1991 Member Since March 2015 |
Comments
More From This Author
Latest Strategies & How To's
 |
Best Ways to Leverage Media Channels for Diversity EngagementWhat makes a strong diversity recruitment campaign?
There are plenty of recruitment strategies out there, but most rely on a single idea: reach as many qualified eyes as possible. Diversity recruiter ...more
Lorenzo Esmoquin • 8,652 Views • February 14th, 2016 |
 |
How to Utilize Mentorship Programs to Encourage DiversityIncreased diversity in your organization sounds like a great goal, but is your business equipped to handle it?
A major barrier for minority recruitment is a lack of knowledge about what varied pers ...more
Lorenzo Esmoquin • 7,142 Views • February 14th, 2016 |
 |
The Value of Non-Traditional Forms of Diversity RecruitingThere’s a reason why traditional diversity recruitment methods are used consistently—many have proven successful, so why not continue using them? Job fairs, career expos, and targeted listings are al ...more
Lorenzo Esmoquin • 9,467 Views • February 14th, 2016 |
 |
4 Tips to Enhance Diverse Candidate Retention Within Your WorkforceFinding qualified candidates to meet your diversity goals is a daunting task.
As all diversity recruiters know, seeking out, interviewing, and onboarding new candidates isn’t a short process. It beco ...more
Lorenzo Esmoquin • 7,236 Views • February 14th, 2016 |
 |
5 Bilingual Strategies That Will Benefit Your RecruitmentAlthough the foundational goals of diversity recruitment (building relationships, broadening your business’ perspective, establishing community credibility, and better cultural sensitivity) are all de ...more
Lorenzo Esmoquin • 2,951 Views • February 14th, 2016 |
Popular Strategies & How To's
|
|
The Value of Non-Traditional Forms of Diversity RecruitingThere’s a reason why traditional diversity recruitment methods are used consistently—many have proven successful, so why not continue using them? Job fairs, career expos, and targeted listings are al ...more
Lorenzo Esmoquin • 9,467 Views • February 14th, 2016 |
|
|
Best Ways to Leverage Media Channels for Diversity EngagementWhat makes a strong diversity recruitment campaign?
There are plenty of recruitment strategies out there, but most rely on a single idea: reach as many qualified eyes as possible. Diversity recruiter ...more
Lorenzo Esmoquin • 8,652 Views • February 14th, 2016 |
|
|
4 Tips to Enhance Diverse Candidate Retention Within Your WorkforceFinding qualified candidates to meet your diversity goals is a daunting task.
As all diversity recruiters know, seeking out, interviewing, and onboarding new candidates isn’t a short process. It beco ...more
Lorenzo Esmoquin • 7,236 Views • February 14th, 2016 |
