Businesses are always looking for ways to innovate and grow. Expanding market share and growing profits are always a big part of a company’s goals. Some companies seem to grow quickly and meet more of their stakeholders’ goals. Why is that? There are plenty of potential reasons, but one of the most profound commonalities found in these companies is their diversity.
Diversity within a company is not just a focus on racial, ethnic, and gender. Rather, organizations also need to focus on other factors that play a role in diversity, such as disability, experience, and upbringing.
Companies that bring in employees from a wide range of backgrounds and recruit people from even more varied backgrounds create a better level of diversity within their company, especially when they do this at all levels of the organization.
Why does diversity that’s comprehensive like this matter? What does it mean?
Diversity Is Far Stretching
It’s easy to focus on diversity from the typical definition of it, a focus on racial, ethnic, and gender differences. However, it’s important to look beyond this to see other perspectives of diversity and then add them to your team.
Consider Martin Rowinski of Boardsi and his experiences. “I grew up in Poland during the 1970s under communist rule. Life was hard, and even though it was only 10 years of my life, it had a major impact on the leader I am today. Growing up in a world of scarce opportunities has made me more efficient in finding them, and my mother’s struggle to keep us fed in that environment now fuels my work ethic and drive. These perspectives have become my personal assets that not every company has. They are one lens in a diverse range that my company employs.”
It is critical to have diversity within an organization that extends beyond the traditional boundaries. It should include differences in upbringing, age, and personality. It’s easy to see the benefits of this – a person that is more creative may be able to provide dozens of ideas for a company. However, an analytical person is more likely to help narrow that range of ideas into ones that make the most sense and have the most potential. Both people are incredibly important to a company’s growth.
Diversity Isn’t Differences, But Pulls People Together Instead
The team you create within a company will be better united if every group within the company is diverse. That includes the boardroom right down to the people that provide customer service. For that to be the case, it is important to hire diverse people and ensure they are open-minded and willing to work with others. You need them to leave their egos at the door and come into work each day with the goal of working together to create a better outcome. Each person needs to be able to understand that there are different ways of handling situations and that while everyone has an opinion and experience in that area, no one way is the absolute right decision.
When you create a team where everyone is diverse, no one is excluded. That is because every person in the company knows that everyone else brings a different perspective to the discussion. They are all contributing to decision making within the company. Everyone’s views, ideas, and thoughts are considered equal assets within that organization. Everyone also knows that they can contribute to the company’s greater good.
The result of this is that all members of the community feel valued. They come to the table wanting to contribute to the company’s greater good. Often, they may have a fantastic idea or opportunity, but they know, in a diverse environment, that someone else’s idea may be better. They accept that and want that person’s idea to be utilized because it’s better for the company as a whole.
Diverse teams unite around their diversity. That means that when all of these differences come together, they create a united team that has the tools and resources to overcome anything.
Diversity Increases Capacity and Opportunity
A diverse group of people has many diverse aspects and experiences in life. As a result, they bring those benefits to the group and company as a whole. When this happens, the company is better able to overcome adversity.
For example, every person’s history and upbringing provides them with a different way of managing their various struggles. That variety in upbringing helps to provide companies with more tools to handle challenging situations.
Companies that allow this broad range of diversity to become a core component in decision making, it becomes possible to tap into these diverse backgrounds to handle challenges. It fosters critical discussion and allows organizations to best evaluate the opportunities available to them in every situation, ultimately leading to the best overall decision and often to different outcomes.
Some people with a wealthy background may suggest raising more money to solve a financial crisis because that is what they have always done. Those who have bootstrapped through their childhood may be better able to foster growth without having to tap into debt. Outside perspectives bring new ways of resolving problems.
Organizations that are successful at diversifying are most likely to find it one of the best decisions they can make. Consider the wealth of knowledge and opportunity that comes with having a diverse background, a unique upbringing, different cultural perspectives, religious viewpoints, and gender insights. Focus on upbringing, experience, and disability, too. It could change the way you operate your business.
