By SHAWY
Inclusive Corporate Culture And Its Importance
The essence of an organization and its practices lies behind the inclusive and diverse values in its literature. The statistics on workforce and the emergence of global business have made diversity a business necessity and the corporate world is realizing it slowly. The issue of diversity is not just to hire people of different nationalities, races, genders and sexual orientations but to make them feel truly welcome, safe and free to be themselves in the workplace. There might be many setbacks that diversity promotes in the working sphere, but the tangible and intangible benefits that diversity offers outsources the problems that it creates:
Productivity:
The inclusive workforce does not just provide a social affirmation for the company but it also helps to grow the productivity and foster innovation. Candidates from different grounds of life have different personal and professional experiences which lead the company to develop an environment where creative and differing innovative ideas can be discussed and practiced. The ability of human beings to look at the same problem differently will help the organization to come up with the conclusions that can only be produced by “gather thinking” and “differing voices.” Giant companies like Nike with its Pro Hijab athletes clothing and L’Oreal’s cosmetic attributes have set example how differing workforce can even solve political and social problems and at the same time, help the company to grow.
Increased Creativity:
A company made up of employees from diverse ethnic backgrounds, generations, genders, races and religions has more creative energy to harness than one with a more homogenized workforce. The working environment will also promote difference of opinions and more open discussions that will help the employees to think more creatively and out-of-the-box. This creative breakthrough will help the company to build a stronger marketing strategy, analyse business sharply, and come up with ideas that will help the business grow.
Promote Mutual Respect:
Mutual respect between workmates helps the company increase its productivity because of its idyllic environment. Employees work in groups or teams comprised of co-workers with varied work styles, or colleagues who represent different cultures or generations, make the working atmosphere more synergistic and understanding. Employees understand the weaknesses and strengths of their colleagues and are more supportive towards them because they understand the alienation diversity sometimes entails. This leads not only to professional linkage but also an emotional linkage which help the workers to be more expressive about their ideas and vision.
Better Customer Understanding:
Even if the company does not have a diverse workforce, it can not omit the fact that its customers are really diverse and need to be targeted accordingly. Cross-cultural understanding, along with local market knowledge, lends itself the production of more effective marketing strategy and materials. And the representatives of the company need to understand the customers, their problems and their demands for which diverse workforce comes in. Mutual understandings between the customers and the representatives can help the customers to rely on the organization and trust its services. One of the most important factors for the progress of the company is its customers, and the reliance they have for the company which, by default, makes diversity an important aspect in the workforce.
The inclusive workforce does not just provide a social affirmation for the company but it also helps to grow the productivity and foster innovation.
Richer Brainstorming:
When there will be diversity in the workforce, there will be different schools of thought to approach the same task. The brainstorming sessions of the companies are important because of the variety of ideas and resolutions they induce. Inclusive workforce in this scenario will be more critical and skeptical in a certain task because of the various cultural influences and inputs. One representative can come up with something which the other candidate would not even know existed. One of the major failures of any organizations is its stagnancy and stillness, which can only be eradicated through richer and healthier brainstorming sessions which diversity of ideas promotes and assures.
Conflict Resolution:
With diversity comes the conflict, which might be cultural or intellectual. But acceptance and respect for others’ ideas and workstyles help the employees to find similarities, particularly when there are common goals – production and quality. Respect for coworkers either reduces the conflict or help them to build a common ground where they can work and understand each other better. The ability to resolve workplace conflict minimizes potential liability for employee’s complaints and help them to build together an understanding which help the company’s productivity.
Retaining The Best Talent:
Hiring from a more diverse talent pool makes your business attractive to passionate, globally minded candidates, who are seeking jobs to have different cultural and professional experiences. In diverse workforce, not only employees work productively, but they are more likely to remain loyal when they feel respected and valued for their unique contribution. The atmosphere not only helps the company to retain their productive and liberal employees, but it also stands out in the global market because of its ethics, values, and literature.
Diverse Workforce, Diverse Skills:
By deriving culturally diverse talent pool, companies have the advantage to hire employees with a different range of skills which are not accessible when hiring locally. The companies with global recognition can help their employees to learn the skills from their international colleagues that would have been difficult otherwise to learn. A wider skillbase and potentially diverse products and services will help your company to foster the advantage of adaptability. In today’s fluid and uncertain business environment, the companies that thrive have adaptable and versatile environment. Adaptability helps to understand, plan things out, and execute them. A company with diverse workforce will be quicker to spot a gap in the market and take relevant steps for it.
Business Reputation:
There are endless researches and seminars happening around the world to promote diversity in this politically polarized world, and having an inclusive workforce at such times is a win-win situation- it helps your company grow and it helps you build a global reputation on humanitarian grounds. Company’s reputation flourishes when it demonstrates its commitment to diversity through aggressive outreach and recruiting efforts. Such reputation also helps to achieve the loyalty of customers who choose to do business with companies that are socially responsible. Diversity should be one of the core values for a company to thrive these days, and for all the right reasons.
