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Diversity became a hot topic in the marketplace the past few years - diversity includes race, age, sexual orientation, and physical ability. Many businesses began to realize the importance that diversity brings and are starting to embrace it in their talent acquisition strategies, to attract and engage top talent.
A recent study revealed that 61% of employees believe diversity and inclusion strategies are beneficial and essential, yet 75% of employees think more diversity is needed.
There are many reasons why diversifying your team is important for the business, for example:
1. Access to massive talent pool
By having a diverse hiring process, you are opening opportunities to a bigger talent pool than other companies may be.
Similarly, top talent and many other job seekers consider workplace diversity and inclusion as a very important factor when it comes to deciding where to work. The stats reveal that 67% of job seekers use diversity as an important factor when considering companies and job offers. They do that by looking at pictures and videos of the company on social platforms or websites. Companies should consider this when showing their brand.
2. Fosters creativity and innovation
Views will differ when working with people from different backgrounds and experiences,and that’s how there will be new and different unique ideas, creating room for innovation and allowing companies to be competitive within the market.
3. Better decision-making
Diverse teams are more likely to outperform individual decision-makers since people bring different backgrounds and perspectives causing better decisions to be formed.
A more diversified workforce comes up with more courses of action or possible solutions, leading to more informed and improved decision-making results. Even more, a study by Harvard Business Review found that diverse teams are able to solve problems faster than non-diverse.
4. Enhances productivity and employee retention
By having a diverse team, you’re guaranteed to have increased productivity among the workforce as well as lower turnover rates. You are welcoming and appreciating different people regardless of their gender, age, or ethnic background - people will therefore feel accepted and respected for who they are, making them enjoy working at the company.
Due to the above reasons, it is important to have diversity in hiring the employees in an organization. There's better access to a massive talent pool, fosters creativity and innovation, there is better decision-making, and enhances productivity and employee retention. Employees can learn from each other’s separate styles, and there are also plenty of opportunities for promotion and employee development.