Diversity and inclusion in the workplace: Why is it important in 2016?
Workforce diversity and inclusion is a valued asset for any business seeking competitive advantage in today’s marketplace. You meet people and learn about another culture at your workplace very often. Nowadays, it is common for companies to have a diverse workforce comprising individuals with a wide range of experiences and characteristics. The key components of workforce diversity include race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, disability, and sexual orientation.
An inclusive culture is the one that values and uses unique talents of each member of a diverse workforce. Perhaps inclusion is the best way to retain and engage diverse people in organizations. It brings new
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It is no longer about only meeting compliance protocols. It is rather associated with key business drivers: greater market share, diversification into emerging markets, a greater number of customers, greater profits, and higher sales revenue. Diversity and inclusion is a business enabler, as it contributes to business strategies, such as developing effective global leaders, building a more customer-oriented workforce, and enabling an organization to be …show more content…
It is but natural that diversity in organizations may create conflicts among individuals, such as miscommunication and dissatisfaction. It may increase turnover and absenteeism and result in lower performance. Unfair treatment or discrimination is common in diverse workplaces. Discrimination happens when someone is deprived of opportunities based on a personal characteristic, such as gender or skin color or race, which has no effect on work performance. For example, it is not a good practice to limit diversity to only workforce representation — like some organizations tend to do — and reserve bigger decision-making roles for a select gender or race. Popular American clothing retailer, Abercrombie and Fitch, found itself embroiled in many lawsuits, as it was thought to be promoting a particular race to increase its sales by including and hiring a majority of white Americans in the positions visible to public and pushing people of color to stockroom jobs.
The positives of diversity and inclusion outweigh many challenges, which can be handled if organizations have diversity management measures in place. Therefore, it is important for companies to have and manage the policies that contribute to positive work environments in order to leverage