A simple Google search shows just how beneficial workforce diversity is to modern businesses. Forbes listed five ways diversity improves businesses back in January, including higher retention, enhanced morale, better decision-making, and faster complex problem resolution.
McKinsey & Co. reports a double-digit increase in performance in organizations with gender parity in senior leadership positions. The Harvard Business Review also found that companies in the top quartile for diverse workforces were 35% more likely to experience higher-than-average financial returns.
With diversity being so crucial to global business, a common question remains: “How do I improve the diversity in my organization?” The most successful organizations use diversity management, a strategy designed to manage diversity throughout a company. Here’s a look at everything you need to know about diversity management!
Defining Diversity Management
In an effort to make work environments more diverse and inclusive, leaders are turning to a strategy known as diversity management. This strategy involves implementing policies and initiatives throughout your organization to promote equity and unlock the benefits of an inclusive workplace.
The benefits of diversity can be improved collaboration, innovative problem-solving, higher customer satisfaction, higher bottom-line profits, and easier entrance into new markets. Diversity initiatives and policies impact mission-critical aspects of your business, including hiring, development, management selection, and promotions.
When it comes to diversity management, there are often two types that deserve distinction:
- Intranational diversity management – Involves managing diverse employees in one country. Diversity managers working with intranational employees, candidates, clients, and customers work to provide opportunities to underserved individuals.
- International diversity management – Involves managing diverse employees in multiple countries. These managers must adhere to local laws, customs, and regulations, which add to the complexity of cross-national diversity.
While diversity management started out as a compliance measure, it’s now a competitive advantage business leaders deploy to capture qualified candidates before the competition can. These businesses find that diverse and inclusive workforces make it easier to hire quality employees, resonate with new customer bases, and enable quicker organizational growth.
Global Perspectives in Diversity Management
Diversity management isn’t just an American phenomenon. Countries around the world are realizing the massive benefits of dedicating resources to improving the diversity in their organizations. Here’s how the movement is shaping up across the globe:
North America
Canada values diversity so highly it’s now synonymous with public business activities. Across political lines, workplace diversity management has widespread approval, with many claiming the strategy is a sound business imperative.
Unfortunately, gender equality and diversity still face significant challenges in Mexico. Mexico Business News reports that only 40% of Mexican companies value diversity and inclusion policies.
Europe
Like in Canada, diversity is a massive priority for European countries. The European Union (EU) supports job placement policies and practices for individuals from diverse backgrounds, including immigrants and underserved communities.
Countries like Sweden lead the way with significant involvement in diversity hiring. These countries have strong anti-discrimination laws, a culture of civil liberty and expression, and unparalleled gender equality.
Multicultural hubs in the U.K. and Germany attract workers from all corners of the globe. Policies in these countries attract diverse employees with a range of perspectives through generous work programs, job placement services, and a welcoming culture.
Africa
Africa is home to 54 countries, each with local traditions, colonial influences, and modern views on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The complex histories of these people contribute to these views, including well-publicized conflicts like South African Apartheid.
Despite the challenging past, many countries and organizations are turning the page to a new Africa that plays a more significant role in the global economy. These companies are accomplishing that goal through diverse hiring practices and partnerships with the Middle East and Asia.
Implementing Effective Diversity Management Programs
As with any new program, implementing an effective diversity management initiative requires dedicated effort in several key areas. To make implementing a diversity management program more accessible, utilize these strategies:
- Get buy-in from senior leadership – Organizational culture starts from the top, and buy-in from C-suite leadership means having some authority behind the changes you make. It also shows that decision-makers value the benefits an inclusive and diverse workforce brings to the organization, like improved employee engagement and decision-making.
- Source diverse talent from new channels – The rise of remote work, vocal diverse groups, and digital spaces allows for more opportunities to find top talent. Exploring job seekers from unique sources, like traditionally Black universities and digital job boards, opens the door to a more diverse workforce.
- Set clear diversity goals – The only way to track your progress is through cold, hard data. Use demographic information, employee surveys, and hiring metrics to understand where you sit currently. Then, use that data to set S.M.A.R.T. goals to improve the diversity management in your business.
- Implement training programs – Robust training programs can help your staff gain new awareness, understanding, and respect for underrepresented groups. Coach Diversity Institute has an organizational program for every need.
- Offer mentorship programs – Target diverse employees for career development through mentoring programs. Use these programs to prepare employees for leadership positions. You can even encourage your current leaders to become more inclusive with an inclusive leadership course through Coach Diversity Institute.
- Implement employee resource groups (ERGs) – Create an inclusive organization through groups designed to foster a sense of belonging in diverse individuals. These groups, from Women in Leadership and LGBTQ groups to Wounded Veterans and disability-focused groups, can provide resources and activities to celebrate the differences we all have.
Practical diversity management practices require creative thinking and constant feedback. Touch base with your teams frequently to gain insight into which initiatives are working and which ones have room for growth.
Challenges and Solutions in Diversity Management
Change is painful for some and exciting for others. It’s impossible to please everyone, and when making gainful improvements, there will be some growing pains. These growing pains can be anything from flawed systems to resistant staff. Here are a few challenges you might experience and how to meet them head-on:
- Unconscious biases – Unfortunately, implicit biases can harm progress through a combination of misconceptions, discrimination, and unintentional favoritism. An unconscious bias training course and diversity-focused applicant tracking systems (ATS) that help filter unconscious biases from hiring are excellent resources.
- Resistance to change – Toxic mentalities, a “we’ve always done it this way” mindset, and outright refusal harm corporate culture and create unnecessary drama. These employees need consistent and firm coaching. If change is impossible, these employees may not be a good fit for your new company culture.
- Cultural misunderstandings – Cultural faux pas and lost-in-translation comments can cause tension and misunderstanding. A multicultural awareness course is an option, and avoiding slang, jargon, and pop culture references can help alleviate these clashes.
- Flawed systemic changes – Even the best ideas have a chance of failing, and holding on to flawed changes can do more harm in the long run. You should constantly evaluate initiatives, changing or fixing those that underperform, and celebrate the wins in those that lead to success.
Just because you encounter barriers, pushback, or challenges doesn’t mean you should give up on diversity management. It’s a strategy that takes time to bear fruit, but once it does, you will be glad you didn’t cave when it got tough.
Measuring the Impact of Diversity Management
We mentioned that relying on data is imperative for setting clear diversity management goals, but the topic is worthy of its own section. To gauge the level of success you achieve, you need facts and figures, including:
- Diversity of talent pool vs. diversity of current roll call
- Diversity of each hierarchical level
- Employee satisfaction
- Diversity of promotion candidates
- Pay equity across genders and ethnicities
- Retention rates
Some of these KPIs you can obtain from software like your ATS, enterprise resource planning (ERP), or human resource management platform. Employee surveys and benchmark reports are equally important and help shape future initiatives.
Transform Your Organization with Coach Diversity Institute
Organizational diversity isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s a strategic business decision that unlocks different perspectives and equal opportunities for people from different backgrounds. Through diversity management strategies, you can source, hire, promote, and improve the working conditions of diverse employees across your organization.
Although you’re likely to face challenges, like stubborn team members or initiative failures, the benefits make the effort worth it. From better communication, more innovative teams, and higher profits, diversity management can make a noticeable difference in your company.
Need some help building a cutting-edge diversity management team? Partner with the experts at Coach Diversity Institute to implement diversity training courses and resources designed to create inclusive and diverse teams. Contact us today to get started making a difference!