Do You Have a Diverse Work Environment

Originally posted on Recruiter.com November 14, 2013.

Facilitating Diversity in Your Workforce

For a lot of us, the term diversity usually makes us think exclusively of cultural diversity, but it means so much more than that. The idea of diversity in the workforce has come a long way since the advent of affirmative action laws, but there is so much more ground to cover. As we evolve to see diversity as more about individuals and less about quotas, race or creed, we can start to value the various perspectives that a diverse workforce can bring.

The United States has really lived up to its name as The Melting Pot. As the majority is quickly becoming the minority, the reasons to focus on diversity in the workplace are becoming more pressing with each passing year. Within the common terms in diversity, which are gender, age and race, there are several forms of diversity that are often overlooked:

• Physical ability
• Communication style
• Ethnicity
• Origin
• Socioeconomic status
• Income level
• Sexual orientation
• Skill set
• Values and belief sets

Diversity is an Advantage

When we consider how diversity plays into recruiting practices, these overlooked forms of diversity represent a lot of missed opportunities. Teams comprised with diversity in mind will display higher creativity levels and their broadened perspectives can lead to increased innovation. Diversity also grants companies access to new market segments and therefore facilitates financial growth. Additionally, it is reported that companies that put an emphasis on diversity in their hiring practices benefit from higher customer loyalty rates.

In a 4Imprint.com study, 85 percent of survey respondents agreed that diversity is crucial to fostering innovation in the workplace. Having a team full of unique insights, different perspectives and backgrounds will inevitably lead to increased innovation, and innovation is a crucial part of continued success in business. The “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it” mentality will only get organizations so far. Innovation is needed to evolve and improve. Read more…

photo credit: woodleywonderworks via photopin cc

Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan is CEO of Red Branch and general Bad@$$

Maren Hogan is a seasoned marketer and community builder in the HR and Recruiting industry. Maren started Red Branch Media and, before she hired all the smiling faces you see below, she ran it on her own. In marketing for over 15 years, she has deep experience in strategic campaigns and a long-term, results-based operational approach.