Why is Diversity in the Workplace Important?

I think most of us have a basic understanding of what diversity in the workplace is. The demographics of your employees should reflect those of the larger pool of people you’re hiring from. So why is this important?

When I think about maximizing diversity, I think about maximizing creativity. Diverse employees bring a variety of experiences and perspectives that can be applied to problem solving and innovation. More efficient and creative strategies and processes are developed when people employ different ways of thinking.

Of course, it doesn’t matter how diverse and ceative your employees are if they don’t feel comfortable enough to share their perspectives. Employees have to believe that their ideas matter. For this, leadership needs to think about the quality of the culture. Have we created an environment in which everyone believes their ideas are valued? Is the culture flexible enough to be inclusive? Important components of culture are inclusion and equity, which I will discuss in a future post.