Diversity Awareness is Evolving

Creating a workplace that is aware of and respects the broad spectrum of human diversity is imperative for organizations today. 

I believe this is true for a number of reasons: 

1. We’re global now—People don’t think about it that often, probably, but we’re a multi-cultural environment.
2. Diversity has evolved—In the early 1990s, diversity training was focused on race and gender. Diversity has evolved past that. 

Diversity comes from helping employees learn to work well with each other and making a contribution to the company, giving it a competitive advantage. 

If organizations don’t take diversity seriously, they could find themselves lagging behind their competitors. 

I also think, these days, employees want to belong to an organization where diversity is valued. They want to be in an environment that’s inclusive; where everyone is respected and valued for the contributions they make. 

Common Types of Diversity

As I mentioned above, diversity has moved past just referring to race and gender. Now diversity goes way beyond that. Some new factors falling under diversity are: 

• Age
• Education
• Generation
• Job Type
• Geography (where the person grew up and where they’ve lived since)
• Tenure
• Personal Background
• Religious Convictions/Beliefs 

So I think the most important thing that employers can do is to be aware that everyone has something to contribute to the company’s success. It’s just that they may do it in a different way. 

Those differences can be used to create new ideas and strategies. 

For example, if you have a jigsaw puzzle, you have pieces that are different shapes, different sizes and different colors, and then you have to work to fit those pieces together. In the end, when you’ve fit all those pieces together, you’ve created a picture. 

How Does Diversity Awareness Affect a Business?

People come in much the same way. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, nationalities, races, etc. and you can use those unique qualities to make a great business. 

People are unique and all have different perspectives on things. And because of those perspectives, you can accomplish things like solving problems, resolving conflict, finding new ways to do things and helping create successful teams. 

Utilizing the diversity that exists in your workplace can help you create a high-performing team. 

Diversity is a very positive thing. 

And if your company wants to operate globally, you definitely want to look at becoming aware of diversity and how it affects your business. 

In my next Insight, I’ll talk about the common mistakes employers make regarding diversity awareness.

Creating a workplace that is aware of and respects the broad spectrum of human diversity is imperative for organizations today.