Blog Post

September 2018

Why Is Creating a Diverse Workplace Important in Management Positions?

It is now widely acknowledged that creating a diverse workplace is desirable for companies. According to McKinsey’s research, ethnically-diverse companies are 36% more likely to outperform their peers and gender-diverse companies are 25% more likely to do the same.

While many companies may strive to simply get diversity points by diversifying their HR structure models and hiring more women and people of color, they really aren’t following through on truly creating a diverse company if they aren’t also offering these employees equal opportunities for involvement and advancement in the company. Diversity in a company’s management team, which may also include diversity and inclusion (D&I) leadership, is essential to the success of the company as a whole, its employees and its customers.

Driving Innovation

When a company is staffed and managed by people with the same background and upbringing, they will tend to think in the same ways. Finding new solutions to problems is then an issue as ideas that the group generates are tired and unoriginal. In creating a diverse workplace comprised of individuals with different backgrounds, a company assures that more innovative solutions will be available.

Diversity in executive management, specifically, will help introduce a variety of views, discourage group-think and promote sharing of differing ideas, inspiring people in the company to think in different ways.

Attracting Young Talent

As young professionals start on their career paths, they are more often searching for a job that obviously values diversity. When they see that a company’s management is diverse, they’ll know that the company follows through on its diversity promises. For groups that are too often underrepresented in the professional community — such as women, people of color, people with disabilities, or people in the LGBTQ+ community — it is even more essential that they see a company’s commitment to diversity. Being able to see yourself represented in a member of management creates comfort and confidence in a potential, talented employee. By adjusting HR structure models to truly promote a company’s diversity, you’ll see a wider pool of applicants that will help bring your company into the modern age.

These are two major reasons why companies need an inclusive representation of people in their management teams, but the reasons are endless. Diverse management will also attract more people who want to buy your goods and service because they see you value the same things. Your existing employees will benefit from these new HR structure models because they’ll be more culturally intelligent, which they can apply to their professional and personal lives to live more thoughtfully. The list goes on and on, but the message remains the same: human resources recruiters need to uphold diversity in all levels of your company to reap the economic, social, and ethical benefits for all.