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Cultural Diversity Issues In The Workplace – Looking for ways to increase your company’s profits? There is one area you don’t think you should pay attention to. But it can have a significant impact on the productivity and performance of the company.
Corporations are not fulfilling their social responsibility by making the population of the workplace a better representation of the cultural values of the society. They also bring significant value to the business landscape.
Cultural Diversity Issues In The Workplace
Companies with the most culturally diverse leadership (the top 25%) earn 36% more profits than the least diverse (the bottom 25%). Let’s say your business makes $2 million a year in profits. That could be $720,000 in other benefits.
The Importance Of Diversity In Hospitality
Specific types can also bring significant financial benefits. Companies with more than 30% female directors perform better than those with fewer female directors.
Different benefits, different cultures can save you from lawsuits, and social backlash. A lack of cultural differences often results in a group mentality at work. And that can be the starting point for bad decisions that can affect the brand image.
For example, the backlash Pepsi faced after releasing an audio ad centered on Black Lives Matter protests. Or McDonald’s was forced to ban ads in China that showed Chinese consumers begging for discounts from all-American brands.
Lack of people from different backgrounds and cultures to ask questions, promote diversity, and demonstrate the value of diverse employees and collaborators is dangerous in the business world and can lead to mistakes to these people.
What Diversity In The Workplace Means And Why It’s Essential For Teams
Different companies will avoid the consequences of not having a different culture and benefit from different ones.
In this article, we will share the biggest benefits of creating a diverse culture in your organization, and give advice on how to attract diverse employees, and increase your diverse workforce.
Companies with culturally diverse leadership achieve 36% higher profits than minority-diverse ones, according to McKinsey & Company.
Cultural diversity is the presence of people of different race, ethnicity, religion, age, political opinion, sexual orientation, or gender in your workplace.
What Are The Challenges Of Diversity In The Workplace And How To Mitigate Them?
Creating a culturally diverse workplace is about more than hiring people from different backgrounds. It also includes how you react to those cultures.
Whether it’s lack of career advancement, not being encouraged to dress the way they want in the office, or not being hired at all, there are different areas. The different cultures of work require great progress.
Here are five notable areas that should be addressed by various efforts to create an integrated environment for multiple workplaces, and avoid discriminatory practices.
There is still a lot of discrimination against women and LGBTQIA+ members in the workplace. A survey of 2,300 organizations showed that women hold only 18% of senior management positions. And 79% of those groups do not consider promoting women in leadership as a top priority for business.
Advantages And Disadvantages Of Workforce Diversity
Women hold only 18% of leadership positions, and 79% of organizations surveyed do not consider promoting women to leadership as a business priority, according to IBM.
46% of the LGBTQIA+ community have experienced mistreatment at work at some point in their careers, including insensitive personal questions and assumptions made about their identity. This causes unnecessary stress and anxiety in the workplace.
It is not enough to hire minority members – they have to feel that the culture of the organization accepts them.
Workers from minority cultures and those who speak different languages still face challenges being accepted in the workplace and may fail in their work.
Diversity In Tech
One in four black workers face discrimination in the workplace. And Asian Americans are least likely to get promoted into management according to the Harvard Business Review.
There is work to be done here. If you do not welcome people from different races and ethnicities in your workplace, you will put your image and profits at risk. The advertising failures of Pepsi and McDonald’s are just two examples of what can happen.
Some employers and employees are close to people in the workplace because of their religious beliefs. Muslims were the most affected by this discrimination, followed by Jewish workers.
Even companies that have considered the views of different religions still find the challenge of religious dress. Muslim hijabs and Jewish yarmulkes can still be controversial in some establishments.
Diversity In The Workplace: Why Is It Important?
This discrimination affects a person’s confidence and can prevent them from fulfilling their potential at work. It can even cause them to lose faith and develop emotional problems.
But religious differences serve a useful purpose. People with different religious views can offer unique ideas that will suit their country. That means more ability to reach new audiences with your product.
Discrimination based on age (also called generation) affects both older and younger workers across industries. People often think that young workers lack experience, and older workers don’t have the creativity or need to retire soon. A third of workers over the age of 45 have experienced age discrimination in the workplace.
More than 60 percent of people with disabilities are of working age. But the unemployment rate is 80-100% higher for that group than for people without disabilities.
How We Can Use Tech To Improve Diversity In The Workplace
But those reservations are unfounded. Statistics show that people with disabilities are highly motivated to work. They demonstrate low levels of absenteeism and employee turnover, as well as an increase in new positions.
Although 60% of people with disabilities are employed, the number of unemployed among this group is 80-100% higher than those without disabilities, according to the International Agency.
Companies that invest in hiring and retaining people from this minority also reap higher profits. An Accenture study found that disability-inclusive companies “champion” have better financial results than their peers.
And it costs little to accommodate them. The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) revealed that the one-time cost for accommodation is $500. But it is rarely necessary for that.
Why Is Diversity And Inclusion In The Workplace Important?
There are many proven benefits of different work cultures, including innovation, productivity, positive brand recognition, and more.
People see the world differently based on their culture, religion, and personal and professional experience. These different perspectives lead to out-of-the-box ideas that drive out innovation.
When minority workers look around the company and see others like them, they feel more confident.
Employees from different cultures understand their country’s laws, customs and values very well. McDonald’s Chinese advertising activities can be avoided by cultural diversity.
Importance Of Cultural Awareness In The Workplace: How To Become More Culturally Aware
Imagine your employees speaking to local markets in their language, or providing different customer services. That’s already a win for the company. And it can provide insight to let you know things you haven’t thought about in your advertising, your products and more.
76% of job seekers consider diversity as an important factor when considering job offers. Diversity increases your chances of attracting the best talent to your business. When job seekers see that your organization is open and accepting of different cultures, genders, and more, they will feel comfortable joining, and can share jobs with other talented people in their network.
With 63% of employees considering leaving a workplace without growth opportunities, that equal opportunity will encourage your younger employees to stay.
Some minority groups also tend to stay on the job longer. People with disabilities show low flexibility, for example.
Biggest Diversity Issues In The Workplace
Also, the rich experience of working with people from different cultures can encourage many of your employees to stay with you for a long time.
Gaining diversity helps your company learn about the concerns and interests of different people, and how to best satisfy them.
With a diverse workforce comes better representation of your products and markets. People bring ideas from their culture and background to your planning session.
A media research study found that one in three consumers consider the involvement of brands and brands when they make a purchase. If two brands offer the same product, they will buy that from different and inclusive brands.
Getting Over Your Fear Of Talking About Diversity
Companies often announce inclusion efforts but achieving and implementing them can be detrimental to many companies and not improve the diversity of work.
To truly impact company culture and improve workplace diversity, start by evaluating diversity in your participation to gauge where you stand. Then, take a look at these seven tips to improve your ability to create a unique team, improve your cultural competence, and gain a competitive advantage over your competitors.
Every employee should feel comfortable with the managers they work with. Unfortunately, 84% of US workers blame poorly trained managers for creating unnecessary stress.
Organize seminars and training sessions to teach your managers how to establish equity in their units. Create behavioral scenarios to help managers recognize what discrimination is.
Diversity Challenges In The Workplace: A Guide For Organisational Change
You can also run question and answer sessions, or small group discussions to share ideas on how to improve diversity.
If possible, select a special HR person for managers to contact if they have challenges implementing different strategies or want to learn more.
Employees who share a common identity need a safe space to talk about their challenges, experiences and triumphs. That’s what infrastructure workers do.
Employee Assistance Groups or ERGs support groups that do not show up in the workplace. They are staffed and led by staff, mostly from underrepresented groups.
The Importance Of Cultural Diversity In The Workplace
The ERG can support its members and influence workplace decisions that may affect their well-being, career advancement, and participation.
Nothing really changes in the workplace
