11 statistically proven benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace
February 21, 2023
November 16, 2024
DEI&B (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) is on everybody’s lips and in everyone’s mind in the corporate world. On top of tackling a crucial ethical matter, what are the benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace? The advantages of working with a diverse and inclusive team go beyond ticking some ESG boxes. It makes businesses and people grow. Many studies give clear statistics about this topic and good reasons to be even more active in creating a diverse, inclusive, and fair work environment.From increasing your revenues (+19%) to attracting talent and watching your employees’ innovation performance rise (+ 19%), workplace diversity and inclusion bring significant benefits and are no topics to underestimate. Let’s explore the pros of embracing a more diverse and inclusive culture.
1. Attract and keep the talents your competitors want by your side
As an employer or a manager, you want to surround yourself with the best people in your industry. Breaking news, your competitors do, too.
Promoting DEI&B practices can make a great difference for the people you try to hire, especially if they are Millennials or Gen Z.
“More than 3 in 4 employees and job seekers (76%) report a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers,” according to a Glassdoor 2019 Diversity and Inclusion survey. Differences in gender, religion, race, education, or background should not influence a person’s career path. Yet, in reality, it still does. Consequently, encouraging a diverse and inclusive corporate culture becomes a key motivator to increase talent acquisition and lower employee turnover. Moreover, it also expands your recruitment process to a wider talent pool (especially if you enable flexible work arrangements). It allows you to enhance inclusion and welcome talent you couldn’t have hired before.
👉 Learn more about the different examples of workplace diversity.
2. Watch your company revenue and profit grow
Numbers don’t lie. Statistics show that organizations that strongly promote DEI&B register higher revenues (+19%) and are more likely to be profitable (+25%).1 Two goals all companies want to achieve, right?
DEI&B benefits corporations in many ways, as we will dig into in the upcoming lines. All the improvements resulting from these initiatives indirectly contribute to better outcomes and business growth. For example, having a diverse team at every level of your organization increases the opportunities to acquire new markets (+70%).2
Diversity and inclusion enable you to bring new perspectives to the table, build a more resilient workforce, and attract the best talents in your industry. Boosting this aspect is undeniably a strategic move to increase your financial performance.
3. Get a higher Workforce Happiness Index
There is a strong correlation between employee happiness and productivity and a deep link between DEI&B and happiness at work. U.S. workers who consider that their organizations don’t do enough in this regard register a Workforce Happiness Index score of 63. However, those who think their companies are doing “about the right amount” or going too far with DEI&B practices get a score of 75.3
Diversity creates a work environment where everybody can be represented and feel valued. Inclusion ensures all employees have equal opportunities and can express their authentic selves. Not being the only person with this or that background makes team members feel more understood, comfortable, and connected.
Interacting with colleagues from different backgrounds enriches personal and professional knowledge. Lastly, as working for an organization that shares the same values becomes increasingly important for workers, evolving in a work environment where DEI&B is promoted makes them feel like they are in the right place with the right people.
4. See your employees’ performance and productivity arise
Create a team with people from various communities and experiences to have a resourceful, solution-oriented, and creative team by your side. As mentioned in our article about the benefits of diversity in the workplace, diverse companies are 19% more innovative than others. But you must foster inclusion simultaneously to get the most out of your diverse team.
Bringing communities and minorities together is the best decision you can make as an employer and a manager. Everyone has unique experiences (professional and personal) and skills. Working with a homogeneous team composed of people with the same profiles lowers your chances of brainstorming fresh ideas and ultimately growing.
For Millennials and Gen Z, inclusion is not only an essential criterion for job satisfaction but also an opportunity to welcome new visions, learn from colleagues, and step outside their comfort zone.
💜 Learn more about Millennials and Gen Z in the workplace!
5. Work with more creative and innovative teams
Different backgrounds and experiences make diverse workforces more eager to develop innovative and creative ideas. Again, focusing on including diversity at every level of your organization is key to witnessing the positive outcomes of this melting pot of experiences and perspectives.
Another reason DEI&B fosters innovation is that promoting a diverse, inclusive, and fair workplace culture creates an environment where employees feel safe and supported. Such a work atmosphere encourages people to express their ideas and take initiative more than in organizations where some voices aren’t considered.
How much difference does diversity and inclusion make in enhancing creativity and innovation? Diverse and inclusive companies are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders in their industry.4
6. Unleash faster and smarter decision-making and problem-solving
Another key advantage of boosting diversity and inclusion in the workplace is the positive impact on decision-making and problem-solving. Unsurprisingly, diverse teams make faster and better decisions than homogeneous workforces and fix issues quicker than their peers. In a world where time is money, this is nothing to underestimate.
According to Korn Ferry Research, employees who evolve in a diverse and inclusive work environment are 87% more likely to make better decisions.5
Gender diversity improves decision-making by 60%. Is your staff taking too much time to choose the right option? DEI&B is the answer to your problem.
7. Strengthen the sense of connection and belonging in your workplace
When employees are in a professional environment where all minorities are included, they tend to feel more comfortable expressing their opinions. It fosters trust between workers and managers, vital for healthy and successful relationships.
50% of American workers require more DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) at work, according to Diversity in the Workplace Statistics 2023 Zippia’s study.6 By meeting this expectation, you create a sense of belonging and community. This makes your team members feel like they are in the right place, with the right people. These are two main components of a great workplace connection, the third being finding purpose in one’s job.
Workplace connection is essential to:
- boost engagement;
- increase productivity;
- lower absenteeism;
- reduce turnover;
- improve mental health;
- decrease employee burnout.
8. Discover the positive outcomes of a great employee experience
Employee well-being and experience are also fundamental for companies that understand their workforce is their main asset and, therefore, want to foster an employee-centric approach. But how can people enjoy their jobs if they face discrimination at work? How can they stay motivated and avoid frustration, knowing some colleagues have a better chance of being promoted than others?
This is the difference between focusing on diversity only and promoting DEI&B. In an inclusive work environment, team members can speak up, share their ideas, and climb the professional ladder, whether they belong to a minority group or not.
This fosters a strong, people-focused organizational culture where workers feel valued for who they are and are recognized for their personal and professional skills. Knowing everybody is represented, treated fairly, and has the same opportunities for career evolution boosts employee experience, happiness, and engagement.
👋 Discover key tips and insights to develop your employee experience strategy.
9. Embrace the outcomes of a deeper customer understanding
Understanding your customers’ needs is paramount to growing your company. However, there is no way you can succeed in developing your business by focusing on only one type of demographic group. The main reason is that it is almost impossible as we are all different from a gender point of view, religious beliefs, racial background, sexual orientation, personal experience, educational level, disability, and so on. Therefore, to sell your products and services to as many customer profiles and markets as possible, you must have team members who represent people from these groups.
For example, developing products for women without an equal gender-diverse representation in your team makes no sense. Including female employees fairly at every level of your organization gives you a strong advantage in creating the right product and making it successful.
10. Benefit from a greater brand image and reputation
Improving your brand image shouldn’t be your main motivation for becoming more inclusive. This can come across as disingenuous and, in turn, compromise the positive outcomes inclusion can have on your business. However, a better brand image is one of the indirect positive results of genuinely encouraging inclusion at work.
Job seekers, partners, and customers are paying more attention to which companies promote these values and how they treat their employees. With the rise of social media, consumers can be quickly made aware of discriminative corporate culture. People are much more eager to support a socially responsible business than an organization with a bad reputation regarding working conditions and practices.
Not only does taking a genuine stand on DEI&B matter, but it can also increase your revenue, help you attract and retain the best talent, and make your business thrive. Again, creating a diverse workforce isn’t enough. Giving all communities the chance to be represented at every level of your company is key.
👉 Read more about the difference between workplace equity vs. equality.
11. Start to be seen as a strong leader and competitor in your industry
78% of people think diversity and inclusion make a company more competitive, according to the 2017 Diversity and Inclusion Deloitte survey.7 You might wonder, what does creating an inclusive work culture have to do with competition? The answer is all the benefits mentioned in this article. But here is a quick recap of the main reasons a diverse and inclusive workforce makes your business a stronger opponent in your industry:
- Diverse and inclusive organizations attract and retain more talent.
- Diverse and inclusive businesses witness higher revenue and more profit.
- Diverse and inclusive practices boost employee happiness and engagement.
- Diverse and inclusive teams are more satisfied with their job and, therefore, more loyal and dedicated.
- Diversity and inclusion in the workplace enhance innovation and creativity.
- Diverse and inclusive workforces make faster decisions and are more solution-oriented (this is a huge advantage in crisis times).
- Diversity and inclusion at work strengthen your brand image.
- DEI&B approaches provide a better understanding of customers from different markets.
The benefits of diversity and inclusion in the workplace not only improve the social environment in your company but also represent a strategic move. Promoting DEI&B practices is essential to attract talent and meet the youngest generations’ job expectations, and so many reasons are mentioned in this blog post. In the past, bringing all communities together might have raised some challenges for organizations. How can parents, especially women, juggle a CEO position and their private lives? How could we hire people with disabilities if our office is not adapted to accommodate them? Thanks to the rise of more employee-centric initiatives like hybrid work, it is now easier for businesses to diversify their workforce and provide equal opportunities for all.
Request a free demo of the deskbird app to discover the perks of a user-friendly hybrid workplace management app and facilitate DEI&B at work!
Sources:
1 How and Where Diversity Drives Financial Performance, HBR.
2 How Diversity Can Drive Innovation, HBR.
3 CNBC|SurveyMonkey Workforce Happiness Index: April 2021, Survey Monkey.
4 Why Diversity and Inclusion Has Become a Business Priority, Josh Bersin.
5 The importance of inclusion in the workplace, Korn Ferry.
6 60+ Incredible Diversity In The Workplace Statistics [2023]: Facts You Need To Know, Zippia.
7 Diversity and inclusion: The reality gap, Deloitte Insights.
