Diversity Management

Diversity Management: How Can It Help Grow Your Business?

Diversity management is of great importance in modern workplaces. Because equality and diversity in the workplace can lead to better-functioning teams, happier employees and, on top of that, more sales. While it may sound like an HR manager’s dream, diversity management can make all of this a reality.

What is diversity management?

Diversity management as part of human resources management is an organizational measure to promote greater inclusion of employees from different backgrounds. Its overall aim is to promote equality and diversity in the workplace through the social, cultural and ethnic diversity of employees by implementing measures and strategies that respond to this diversity.

What is diversity management in the workplace?

In the workplace, diversity management is a process of creating a work environment that is both diverse and inclusive. It values the uniqueness of every employee so that a company can grow and succeed accordingly. The overarching theory is that creative problem-solving processes increase when employees from different backgrounds come together, due in part to a greater number of different perspectives.

Is diversity management important in the workplace?

A diverse workplace can help companies in many ways. First and foremost, it can serve as a reflection of a diversifying world – thanks to demographic changes, globalization and digitalization, diversity in the workplace can help teams better adapt to the diverse needs of their customers.

• Here are some of the key statistical findings from a study conducted by Glassdoor:
• Ethnically diverse and inclusive companies are 33% more successful
  are 1.7 times more likely to become innovation leaders in their field
• You have a better chance of attracting top talent as 67% of job seekers value diversity and inclusion.

Watch: Operationalizing diversity, equity, and inclusion from the top down

What is an equality and diversity policy?

Many companies have an equality and diversity policy as part of their organizational structure. It often discusses the importance of diversity in the workplace and how companies try to embrace it in their policies, programs and actions. Of course, the most important part of such a document is to ensure that you take the appropriate action.

How has diversity management developed?

Originally, diversity management was primarily about avoiding discrimination when hiring and promoting tolerance within the company. However, over time and due to numerous factors, things have evolved to the point where companies have recognized the importance of diversity in the workplace as a key competitive advantage.

A diversity and inclusion-focused hiring policy pays dividends when it comes to demonstrating a deep understanding of a range of customers. That’s why companies like Airbus, Porsche, Zeiss and Volkswagen have long been committed to diversity in the workplace. At the Wolfsburg location alone, Volkswagen employs people from over 100 nations.

How should diversity management be designed?

As a rule, diversity management is integrated into a company’s human resources department. However, in some global companies there are entire teams or departments dedicated to this topic. These teams or employees typically help with some of the core tasks related to diversity management in the workplace, including

• Develop inclusive hiring plans and procedures
• General work policies that go beyond just hiring employees
• Providing diversity training and learning opportunities to all employees
• The role of the moderator in communication
• Encouraging interactions that help promote diversity in the workplace

Given the range of tasks, it is understandable that diversity management often requires a team approach. With a company-wide initiative like this, it is critical that diversity management is done right at all levels of the company.

How can diversity management benefit companies?

Here are some of the key benefits companies can gain from diversity in the workplace:

• Promoting understanding for target groups from other cultures.
• Improve customer service.
• Promoting innovative thinking within the company.
• Promoting research and development.
• Optimization of decision-making processes thanks to different perspectives.
• Establish new business relationships and partnerships.
• Aquire new markets.

Diversity management and dealing with diversity in a broader sense not only have a positive effect on the economic potential of a company. Companies also benefit from real diversity when it comes to their employees.

How can diversity management benefit the HR department?

Human resources departments also benefit from diversity in the workplace. If done correctly, it can lead to the following

• Higher employee satisfaction because the team feels understood and valued.
• An interesting and inspiring working environment for employees.
• A positive corporate image that attracts top talent and employees with high potential.
• Enriching the corporate culture.
• Stronger employee loyalty to the company.

So how can you put the importance of diversity management into practice? Here’s how to implement diversity management to drive business…

Are there different types of diversity in the workplace?

But what exactly does a “diverse” team look like? Well, checking the diversity box certainly requires doing more than just thinking about gender diversity every now and then.

Rather, diversity manifests itself in very different ways, for example through:

• Internal factors: age, gender, education, ethnic origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation and disability
• External factors: income, education, work experience, marital status, parenthood, habits, leisure behavior and geographical location

How do you promote diversity in the workplace?

The HR department is primarily responsible for diversity management. Just as the topic itself is characterized by integration and team spirit, HR managers need the help of influential partners to successfully establish a diversity-conscious approach.

Find out what teams and organizations can do to prepare for and promote diversity in the workplace here…

1.Ensure operational readiness

Management in particular has a significant influence on whether diversity and inclusion are really put into practice. First, make sure the management team is ready to re-evaluate their company culture.

To implement your HR diversity management practices, you should try to anchor your new values in concrete principles to ensure they are both present and measurable. Volkswagen, for example, has committed itself to more equal opportunities and diversity within the company with its “TOGETHER Strategy 2025”.

2.Set priorities and goals

Before you and management decide which diversity management initiatives make sense for your company, you should take a look at your company goals. Which skills are important to you? What helps you grow? And where are your problem areas?

• Is the staff turnover in the company above average? Then you should consider how you can improve the working atmosphere and hire and retain the right talent.
• Are you finding it difficult to attract international customers? If yes, you should understand them better.
• Is your product range hopelessly boring? In this case, multicultural workshops could help increase your ability to innovate.

3.Identify initiatives

Now it’s time to pull out all the stops. After determining how your company will benefit from cultural diversity, you should create an action plan. The initiatives themselves can be strategic or designed to be implemented by employees themselves.

What initiatives can teams take to promote diversity in the workplace?

As you learn how to manage diversity in the workplace, you also need to think about how to encourage it. A starting point for HR departments can be one of the following key initiatives:

• Mentoring programs for employees
• Management coaching on culture-specific topics
• A culturally adapted advertising or communication strategy
• Regular cross-departmental projects
• Appointment of an equal opportunities officer in the company
• Offering language courses and language learning partnerships to reduce language barriers
• Actively combating stereotypes (e.g. through awareness-raising measures)
• Promoting intercultural competence and conflict management
• Restructuring existing recruitment processes to increase the chances of equality
• Offering a range of meals in the company canteen (vegan, kosher, vegetarian, etc.)
• Provision of prayer rooms
• Flexible working time arrangements
• Child care services for employees with children
• International cooking evenings
• Workplaces suitable for seniors and disabled people

4.Assign roles

Ensure that responsibilities are clearly defined both within and outside of HR. HR managers should check the hiring processes to see whether the job advertisements are formulated in a non-discriminatory manner.

Language courses or the implementation of initiatives to promote more diversity in management tend to fall within the competence area of personnel development. However, creating the position of an equal opportunities officer or adapting the company’s communication strategy are tasks of the management.

5.Monitor results

Have your initiatives proven productive? To find out, you can use various indicators. For example, measure the satisfaction of employees and customers. Check the turnover rate. And measure the temperature in the office:

• What is the atmosphere like?
• Do ideas like cooking evenings together appeal?
• Do employees feel valued and understood?

What are the challenges in dealing with diversity in the workplace?

Although companies benefit from a diverse corporate culture, working together with a wide range of employees also brings with it the potential for conflict. These are as follows:

1. Internal team conflicts: When completely different perspectives and life experiences come together, a lot of tolerance, acceptance and empathy are required. So keep your eyes peeled: is there any friction within the team? Power games? Maybe even signs of bullying? Make sure employees always have someone to contact if there are problems. Managers should ensure transparency and openness in the team and conduct regular feedback discussions.
2. Conflicts in collaboration: In India, work processes may be completely different than in Norway. And a 55-year-old will approach his tasks differently than a 25-year-old. This can lead to communication problems in everyday interactions. HR managers should therefore ensure that employees have a common ground. Intercultural workshops and information events can help.
3. The alibi problem: Candidates hired through diversity programs are sometimes perceived as underperforming or being taken advantage of as “alibi minorities.” This can lead to focusing on their gender, race, or age rather than their abilities.

To avoid this, promote an open, transparent and enlightened company culture and clearly communicate what specific skills the person brings to the team.

Ensure that unconscious biases are uncovered and diverse applicants are not seen as representatives of a minority, but as capable employees who enrich the company and its workforce.

How do you deal with diversity in the workplace?

We’ve already discussed the importance of diversity in the workplace, but what are the key points you should consider to manage it effectively? Before we end today’s discussion, keep these five points in mind:

• Diversity is not a buzzword, but something that you build every day and that lasts.
• Create processes and policies from hiring to firing that promote diversity in all its forms.
• Make other employees aware of diversity and its existence through employee training.
• Facilitate communication to promote diversity and show how it can lead to an inspiring work environment.
• Take time to focus on your culture and monitor results to ensure diversity is always at the forefront.

Keep these points in mind as you focus on diversity management and make workplace diversity a priority in your company. We wish you much success!