Understanding Diversity (Definition)
What is diversity? Diversity encompasses acceptance, respect and an understanding that each individual is unique allowing for the recognition of individual differences, especially at your workplace or business. These differences may be along the lines of age, gender, sexual orientation, social-economic status, religious beliefs, political beliefs and physical abilities among others.
Diversity entails exploring all these differences in a safe, positive and nurturing environment. The end goal is being able to understand each other and move beyond simple tolerance and embracing the richness in everyone.
So what does it meant to embrace diversity at the workplace or business? Diversity, means more than just the acknowledgement and tolerance but also acceptance of differences. It is a combination of practices made consciously that entails an understanding and appreciation of the interdependence of humanity, cultures, and the natural environment.
Besides, embracing diversity is the recognition of the privileges in some and sustaining disadvantages in others by eliminating personal, cultural and institutionalized discrimination at the workplace. It is also about partnerships and bonds enhanced across the differences to create an effective team.
Research has shown that for diversity to exist at work or business must people practice mutual respect for qualities and experiences that are not same with our own. An understanding of diversity as ways of being and ways of knowing enhances mutual respect and acceptance.
People need to know how to relate to different qualities and conditions that are different from our own. Nonetheless, these categories of differences are not always rigid but evolve daily There is hence the need for respect of individual rights to self-identification.
Benefits of Diversity & Diverse Teams at Work/Business
1. Diversity Creates Team Synergy for your Business
Why is diversity important in the workplace? It is very critical that people support and protect diversity as the value from these individuals and groups creates a successful oriented, cooperative, and caring workplace drawing intellectual strength from the synergy of its people.
Such a synergy reality is created from the broad spectrum of demographic and philosophical differences that your team at work has.
2. Embracing Diversity Results in High Productivity
The synergy created from diversity in return boosts the productivity of the employees and the teams. It is one of the major benefits of diversity for businesses. It brings the effort of people of different backgrounds together who have lived different life experiences.
Embracing diversity for SMES’ creates ideas and perspectives that may not have been put into consideration before. Everyone has different perspectives and ways of viewing an issue, as defined by their individual experiences.
Experts has also proven that having different choices makes choosing the most effective and efficient of the choices easier.
3. Improved Performance, Effectiveness and Efficiency
Areas for businesses that especially benefit from diversity are decision making and problem-solving. When an organization embraces diversity, work is more effective. This happens because different views from different people are sought rather than adopting just one line of thought.
In the workplace for small businesses, the different employees and teams work for a common goal. Everyone and every team are also different as they are shaped by different experiences.
Diversity brings these differences towards a common problem or goal to improve their productivity. It is one of the key benefits of embracing diversity for small businesses.
4. Diversity Inspires Innovation and Growth for Small Enterprises
Innovation in all forms of life is also borne from diversity. Diversity equals creativity which leads to innovation that workplaces can benefit from. As proven by multiple studies, this implies that a diverse society is more creative and innovative in solving its problems.
The result is multiple solutions to solve issues the workplace is facing effectively, efficiently and in new different ways. The innovation will come with different diverse investments that every individual will benefit from.
5. Exposure to World Diversity
In addition, diversity exposes businesses to world’s diversity. Integration with people from different cultures in society exposes them to different cultures and ways of living life. It enhances life experiences in a way that contributes to a good quality of life and learning.
The regular exposure to people, cultures, traditions, and practices that is different from our own enriches the individual and the society at large. Further people acquire skills such as communication and interpersonal skills of interacting and communicating with people.
It ensures that small business and workplace, gains a more worldly view of other organizations and societies globally. The result is an enhanced social development which makes it easier for people from different cultures to work together.
6. Diversity Enlarges The Perspectives Of Businesses
In the same relation, diversity enlarges the perspectives of people in the workplace for enterprises. When one hears the experiences of different people, it creates a new perspective than our own and understands the actions behind another. Knowing the past of an individual allows us to understand his/her actions and behaviors.
Even talking to some new and different people often spurs one to change his/her mind and priorities as well as be motivated through hardships. This is very crucial for SME to enable them retain diverse employees.
7. Helps Eliminate Discrimination at Workplace
In the workplace, diversity is also very effective in eliminating forms of discrimination by enhancing the acceptance of the different. Because of this, diversity has a very crucial benefit. Promotion of diversity is the core step not just tolerance but true acceptance of what is not like our own.
The increased contact, exposure and communication with different people with unique ideas open the employees to what is common between us that not is straightforward. Also even with remarkably differences, people become comfortable with the difference.
Read: How to Deal with Pregnancy Discrimination at Work
8. Creates A Richer Life Experience for Employees
Lastly embracing diversity is important in creating a richer life experience for employees . Diversity is so colorful and makes life beautiful for people of all walks.
A diverse SME workplace hence allows a richer and beautiful life for its employees than living among people with similar views, culture, opinions and perspectives among other ideologies. Life is hence more fun and tolerable in the face of life challenges for SME employees.
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