Diversity and inclusion are principles which enrich our lives.\u00a0 But, as I recently told a colleague, diversity is much more than a mere concept or set of obligations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Most workplaces today include diverse social, economic, ethnic, religious and other cultural backgrounds.\u00a0 An employee\u2019s diverse background largely frames that employee\u2019s perspective on authority, communication and decision making styles, gender roles, responsibility, assertiveness and other traits that deeply affect and determine the success of an organisation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Business analysts and leaders agree that, when harnessed and managed properly, diversity and inclusion in the workplace contributes to creativity, productivity and, ultimately, the prosperity of an organisation.\u00a0 As I recently told that business colleague, diversity and inclusion programs are competitive business strategies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Consider three teams of 10 people tasked with problem solving and idea generating:<\/p>\n
Team 1:\u00a0 Everyone has a similar social, educational and ethnic background.<\/p>\n
Team 2:\u00a0 All ten members are socially, educationally and ethnically diverse.<\/p>\n
Team 3:\u00a0 All ten members are socially, educationally and ethnically diverse and have been trained on how these differences affect decision making and communication styles.<\/p>\n
In the beginning Team 1 will out perform Teams 2 and 3.\u00a0 Team 2 will be chaotic.\u00a0 And, Team 3 will generate few ideas or solve few problems in the short term.<\/p>\n
Over a relatively short time, however, Team 1 will be stagnant.\u00a0 While it is comfortable to work with like people homogenous teams become stagnant fast.\u00a0 Team 2 will continue to be chaotic.\u00a0 The real winner will be Team 3.\u00a0 Team 3 members have been educated on their differences and will capitalize upon these differences.\u00a0 They will learn what they each have to offer, what others on their team have to offer and how to blend their different approaches to fill any performance gaps.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The facts are that, over time, Team 3 will out perform Team 1 by more than 50%.\u00a0 That, my friends, is a competitive advantage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To learn more about building strategic teams, capitalizing upon differences and positively impacting organisational prosperity consider attending \u201cBuilding a Business Case for Diversity and Inclusion\u201d<\/strong>, October 21 at the Halifax Club.\u00a0 We guarantee it will be time and money well spent and you will walk away with real tools and strategy, not mere concepts.<\/p>\n HR pros<\/strong> is a full-service Human Resources Management company.\u00a0 For more information on how HR pros<\/strong> can help you grow your business, comply with legislation and develop an HR framework to meet your business\u2019 mandate call today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Diversity and inclusion are principles which enrich our lives.\u00a0 But, as I recently told a colleague, diversity is much more than a mere concept or set of obligations.\u00a0 Most workplaces today include diverse social, economic, ethnic, religious and other cultural backgrounds.\u00a0 An employee\u2019s diverse background largely frames that employee\u2019s perspective on authority, communication and decision […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,137,140],"tags":[43,26,5,79,50],"class_list":["post-511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advice","category-diversity","category-human-resources","tag-business","tag-diversity","tag-human-resources","tag-inclusion","tag-performance-management"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t