Nowadays a lot of businesses become more diverse and welcoming of other cultures, religions, genders, etc. People live in a globalization economy and with this focus; it is an important step to make a business more diverse. It’s no surprise that diversity topics are quite popular today. We live in times when individuality is extremely valuable in all spheres. Overall, it’s a positive change that can bring new ideas and fresh development; however, there are also some disadvantages that people should be ready for. Here’s a list of the pros and cons of diversified business.
Advantages that Inclusivity can bring
Various pros of such change are numerous as they are also relevant to the modern state of society.
1. Creativity on a new level
Two individuals can always create something more innovative than just one gifted individual. And when you have several people of different cultural backgrounds, you increase the number of creative ideas they can come up with. Many researches have proven that multicultural teams are more creative and motivated to innovation. The more diverse team you have, the better, as it increases the chances to succeed.
2. Global expansion
It is impossible to build a global business without a diverse team as there are a lot of various factors to consider. Yes, the old team can know what marketing strategies to use in your hometown. But when it comes to another country, it is crucial to know the context. There were many cases when huge corporations made mistakes with their advertising campaigns because they didn’t know all the specifics of the particular region they aimed for. Those mistakes could be easily avoided if they have had a diverse team. Inclusivity creates more possibilities for any company when it comes to global expansion.
3. Profitability
According to recent studies, the multicultural and multiethnic businesses are 35% more likely to get a bigger profit. It’s probably a result of innovative strategies and a melting pot of ideas. Another factor contributing to that is that employers of other cultural or gender background have different knowledge and can predict more risk factors. It is quite simple – imagine that you choose prominent individuals only from one particular group. They are good at what they do, but how much can you increase your productivity if you were to choose prominent individuals out of all existing groups? There’s no need to limit your possibilities.
4. More services to provide
It’s especially great for business working with people, like restaurants and hotels. More employers out of different backgrounds can figure out what services you are lacking and provide them. For example, if you have multicultural staff in your hotel, you can attract more customers out of other cultures that can be sure that they’ll be treated respectfully according to their beliefs and traditions.
5. Healthy corporate culture
It might seem great to have a homogeneous group of people as they naturally get along, but the cross-cultural teams are more productive and create a healthy corporate culture. They communicate better with various groups of people and stay more open to different possibilities. They are also more capable of taking into consideration the interests of various groups of clients. In the 21st century, there is no place for toxic corporate cultures and the best way to avoid that is to bring all kinds of people together, united with the same goal.
Disadvantages that come with Diversified Workplace
There are also some cons, or rather challenges that business owners need to be prepared for when considering inclusive workplace.
1. Miscommunication during the transition period
The rise of some level of conflict is unavoidable when it comes to changes in the policies of the companies. There might be people who have prejudges and prefer the old ways. There also might be some cases of cultural collisions because there are many different and contradictory conditions. It’s important to understand that the transition period might be a bit rough and take some measures to reduce tension among employees.
2. Necessary investment
With diversity come some necessary disbursements. Of course, they are short-term investments and will be covered in the future, but the employer must be ready for them. For example, if you hire transgender employers, there might be a need for separate toilet room for them. For employers with disabilities, a necessary environment should be presented. And for workers of other religions, for example, Muslims, an employer must provide special surrounding like a place to pray 5 times a day.
3. Training
The only way to make the integration process efficient is to conduct some training and seminars on diversity and communication strategies for employers out of different backgrounds. People should be able to express their opinion without any disrespect to others, and sometimes it takes time to learn all the specifics. It’ll also cost some time and money to do, but the result might be worth it.
Conclusion
Frankly speaking, diversity is the future of any successful business. Financial and creative benefits are endless, and there is no other way to be profitable in the age of globalization. On the other hand, when working on the integration of other groups to a team, an employer should be ready for such short-term challenges. There’ll be some conflict situations, and there’ll be additional disbursements. However, it’s only a matter of time when the benefits will overcome these inconveniences. Creation of inclusive workplace leads to more innovative technologies and strategies and, of course, to the better representation of clients’ interests and needs.