Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

Katie Reynolds, a freelance blogger and writer, shares her thoughts on the benefits and challenges of cultural diversity in the workplace and how it affects the ones who work in these environments in an article with Hult Blogs.

Importance of cultural diversity in the workplace

Katie believes that diversity and global mindedness are an integral part of an organization. She further adds that culture influences the way people see the world and a variety of viewpoints along with the wide-ranging professional experience of a team can offer new perspectives. This cultural diversity can inspire colleagues to see the world and the workplace differently. Diversity of thought enhances creativity and drives innovation, helping to solve problems and meet customer needs in new and exciting ways.

A multicultural workforce gives an organization a crucial edge while expanding into new markets. Often, products or services need to be changed and adapted to succeed overseas. Understanding local laws, regulations, as well as the landscape helps a business to thrive. Moreover, local connections with native language skills and cultural understanding can immensely increase international business development exponentially.

Katie feels that being competitive ultimately means being more profitable. DiversityInc annually recognizes the top 50 most diverse companies and measures their success against the broader market. Recent research from McKinsey suggests the fact that diversity is great for a business as ethnically diverse companies were shown to be more likely to have financial returns and profits

The article mentions that according to a Glassdoor survey, two thirds of job hunters show that diversity was important to them while evaluating companies. In a competitive global market, demonstrating a business is invested in fostering a multicultural place can make you stand out to the right candidate. Making diversity an important part of the recruiting process will help your talent pool.

The range of experience, expertise, and working methods that a diverse workplace offers increases problem-solving capacity that leads to increased levels of productivity. In fact, studies show that organizations with diversity and inclusion are both happier and more efficient.

In conclusion Katie mentions that cultural diversity and inclusivity creates a win-win situation for the company as well as the employees.