Creating a Culture of Diversity Can Help Your Business Grow and Thrive

Culture of Diversity “Workplace diversity” is a commonly used term that can hold different connotations for different people. To some, it may mean hiring quotas that companies are expected to meet — in short, just another burdensome government regulation. But employers who understand the real meaning of workplace diversity see it as an opportunity to grow and expand their businesses and better serve customers by embracing the reality of demographics in America today.

Just look around, and you’ll likely see that all kinds of people, from many different backgrounds, inhabit the community or neighborhood where you and your family live, work, shop, worship and play. Census figures reveal that demographics in the U.S. have shifted over the past decades, and that trend is likely to continue.

Large corporations often designate Chief Diversity Officers with staffs to achieve diversity goals. Lacking deep pockets, the challenge for small business owners and startup entrepreneurs is finding less expensive ways to recruit a workforce that reflects the communities in which they operate. A diverse employee talent pool can provide the different perspectives, innovative ideas and creativity a growing company needs to ensure long-term success. (Click here to tweet this thought.) That means proactively seeking to hire and retain a workforce comprising a mix of genders, races, ethnicities, ages, cultural backgrounds and lifestyles, as well as individuals with disabilities.

The Business Benefits of Diversity

Building your business around the multi-faceted minds, personalities, skills and talents of a diverse workforce, and making that diversity work for your company, delivers myriad benefits, both tangible and intangible. First and foremost, striving for diversity communicates a positive message to your clients or customers, who are probably similarly diverse.

In addition, building a more inclusive workforce can help to:

Extend your company’s marketplace reach, enabling your employees to effectively serve a larger pool of clients or customers by reaching out to various demographic groups who may have previously been neglected or under-served. For instance, if you have no Hispanic or African-American employees and you’re trying to sell to those markets, it will be much more difficult to do without a diverse workforce. Some new hires may also bring multilingual skills to the table, which can be a huge advantage in serving some clients.
Increase your market share and drive economic growth and profits through this expanded outreach and sincere desire to serve new market segments.
Promote your company’s brand in a positive and modern way in the communities you serve by demonstrating your business’s inclusiveness of a wide range of individuals, groups and lifestyles.
Build a more qualified workforce, simply as a result of having a much larger pool of potential candidates from which to choose.
Increase creativity and innovation by bringing fresh ideas and different points of view into the decision-making, problem-solving and selling processes.
Improve employee morale and teamwork by making each worker feel valued for who they are and by being more accepting of what each employee contributes (regardless of cultural, racial, lifestyle, age and gender differences) towards a common goal.

In short, well-managed diversity in the workplace can blend the talents and experiences of different individuals into a cohesive, powerful and collaborative workforce that strengthens your company and positions it favorably for growth and economic success.

How to Increase Diversity, Even on a Tight Budget

The first step is for those at the management level to recognize diversity as a worthy goal and make it an integral part of the company’s mission statement. Also, make sure that those responsible for recruiting qualified new employees are aware of this commitment and buy into the concept. Make it clear that this is not a “quota” system, but rather a sincere effort to be inclusive in seeking and selecting the best candidates for each position based on merit.

Some small businesses use incentive strategies, such as asking current employees for referrals and rewarding those referrals that lead to qualified hires. You can also reach out to community organizations and institutions to help find candidates. These might include the local Chamber of Commerce and other business groups, as well as community colleges, churches, veterans’ organizations and clubs. If you’re seeking out-of-state workers, the search can be expanded via the Internet.

How to Foster a Diverse Company Culture

Achieving your recruitment goals is only the beginning. Retaining a diverse mix of employees is equally important, so you need to give new hires a reason to stay. This can be done by offering them a warm welcome, including an introduction to the job, their coworkers and the company culture. As a business grows larger, mentoring programs can be helpful as well, especially in the first few weeks. Clear communication and feedback about job performance, expectations and future opportunities for advancement are also key to building employee loyalty and long-term careers.

At my company, Combined Insurance, we know how important it is to let candidates know that we’re an Equal Opportunity Employer and strive to “practice what we preach.” In building our network of sales agents, we go the extra mile to find candidates who can reinforce our diversity commitment while building their own secure careers and contributing to our company’s growth and success.

For example, thanks to our military veteran outreach program, we were honored to be recently ranked number six on G.I. Jobs magazine’s list of top 100 military-friendly employers. This was our third consecutive year on the list and our second time in the top 10. Since 2010, we’ve hired more than 1,000 veterans through our military recruiting program, many of whom have made valuable contributions to our company while building successful careers and financially stable lives for themselves and their families.

We also recently launched a new regional initiative to recruit Hispanic and bilingual sales agents and managers. With the Hispanic population in the U.S. expected to reach 30% of the total population by 2050, this presents a tremendous opportunity for job seekers, as well as companies, to grow and expand.

Take a look at the demographics in the communities around your business. Is there a growing Asian, African-American or Latin American community? Is there a respected college or community college offering majors that are a fit with your business? Or perhaps there’s been an influx of successful Baby Boomers looking for part-time or second careers that could help your enterprise grow. Diversity is all around us — we just have to reach out and embrace it!