Managing a Culturally Diverse Workforce
Managing a Culturally Diverse Workforce
Benefits of a Diverse Workplace
The evidence is all around us: The U.S. has become a multicultural society (35% of the population is now non-white), making it imperative to succeed at managing a culturally diverse workforce. Perhaps this is not news for you and you are already implementing a well-thought out diversity and inclusion (D&I) strategy. Or perhaps you still need to be sold on the benefits of a diverse workforce. Wherever you are in your journey, it’s helpful to recognize that, although managing a culturally diverse workforce may present challenges, it offers you a great opportunity to impact your bottom line.
Efforts at creating and managing a culturally diverse workforce
Despite decades of effort to create an inclusive culture in corporations across the U.S., most experts agree that not enough progress has been made in moving diverse talent up the ranks. In too many cases the Affinity Groups, Employee Resource Groups (ERG), and Diversity Councils (whose goals include providing a voice to members of different minorities, recruiting and developing diverse talent, and offering business strategies focused on specific markets) play against their intended objectives. Rather than offering diverse talent the opportunity to shine through innovative ideas that can then be implemented company-wide, these groups frequently contribute to keeping people and projects in silos.
Find ways for people from different teams, businesses, and backgrounds to interact
Two Key Benefits of a diverse workplace
If you really want to capitalize on the benefits of a diverse workplace, a more effective approach is to leverage the differences – the varying viewpoints, backgrounds, and experiences – of your employees and to find ways for different groups to interact with each other. For that to happen, the focus needs to be on:
1) Finding ways for people from different teams, businesses, and backgrounds to interact. Whether you do it through physical arrangement of workspace, the way in which projects are structured, frequent job rotation, or another strategy, the idea is to offer multiple opportunities each day for people to collaborate with others who don’t look or think like they do. Only by being exposed to a diversity of thought patterns, worldviews, problem-solving strategies, values, and behaviors do people become familiar with different upbringings, different cultures, and different ways of doing things.
2) The unique traits that every individual brings to the table rather than pushing for everyone to quietly adapt to the system already in place. When you encourage people to bring their whole selves to work, rather than leave part of themselves at the door, they bring their passions and interests along. And it is by tapping into your employees’ passions and interests that you can connect them with projects that are a better fit. It is by accepting each person wholeheartedly that you will fully empower them and engage them with your company’s goals. That’s what makes for the most loyal employees.
If familiarity with someone leads to a feeling of comfort, and feeling comfortable with others leads to trust, the best way to reap the benefits of a diverse workforce is by helping people to get to know each other rather than keeping groups apart. It’s by appreciating that individual differences enrich the work environment and contribute to your company’s success.
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