Driving Success Through Diversity: Strategies to Create a Thriving Workplace

Diversity in the workplace: yes, the concept is?nothing new and many organisations are well acquainted with the benefits that fostering a diverse workforce can provide. Some of these include:

• An increased level of innovation –?Research ?from Josh Bersin finds that companies that have inclusion built into their business are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders.
• Employee engagement –?A survey conducted by Diversity Works NZ found that 76% of employees at diversity-inclusive organisations feel engaged and connected to their work, compared to only 55% at non-inclusive organisations.
• Higher financial returns –?Research ?has shown that companies run by a diverse team have 19% higher revenue than companies with lower diversity scores.
• Faster and better decision making – According to a?report from Deloitte , diverse teams see a 60% improvement in decision making.
• An overall better company culture -?The Inclusion@Work Index 2021-2022 by the Diversity Council Australia reveals that inclusion significantly increases performance, wellbeing, satisfaction, and innovation in the Australian workplace, all factors that can contribute to a positive organisational culture and reduce the negative impacts of the 'great resignation' trend.

What is lesser known, is the best means to educate team leaders, management and senior business executives about the ongoing necessity of diversity in the workplace. Diversity can’t be a ‘box ticking’ exercise. Rather, for diversity to be ingrained into the mindset of a business, education and systemic inclusion in the hiring, promoting and succession planning of the workforce, is critical.

Today, diversity in the workplace covers a broad continuum. These include:

• Workers from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds
• Indigenous workers
• LGBTIQ+ workers
• Workers with disabilities
• Workers across all genders
• Workers with diverse religious beliefs
• Workers from a broad range of age groups
• Workers with families and children

My aim with this article is to provide you with valuable resources for your business to enable better education around diversity in the workplace. And, if needed, to inspire ingrained workforce change tailored to diversity and inclusion of all peoples.

1 Provide HR with the best industry training

There are multiple opportunities for diversity education of your HR team, through in person and online learning. Here, I’ve source three that we believe are worth considering.

• A full suite of online workshops and courses offered by?Diversity Works NZ , New Zealand’s?national body for workplace diversity, equity and inclusion.
• This program ?from Udemy, provides all the tools for HR to be diversity smart, in hiring and strategic workforce management.
• Diversity Australia has a suite of training programs to help oganisations create a positive work environment by helping their employees recognise and be tolerant of differences among co-workers.
• This program ?from the University of Surrey, allows HR practitioners to better understand the nuances of communication, in a diverse workplace setting.

2 Regularly share credible information

Including regular diversity content in your communications with management, is key.

And it’s a simple, easy means for keeping diversity top of mind.

Below are some of the better online sources of diversity information for your consideration. Keep in mind, that it’s worthwhile to include data from local and global information sources, so your leaders maintain a broad scope when it comes to diversity.

DELOITTE : As always, Deloitte offers superior, far-reaching analysis and guidance. With over 120 articles across every diversity spectrum, the Deloitte advantage can help you to establish best-practice diversity in your workplace.

DIVERSITY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA : The DCA offers a helpful Australian focus on the profound importance of diversity in Australia’s workplace. This enormous resource will provide your managers with unique and esoteric perspectives.

DIVERSITY WORKS?NZ : As mentioned above, Diversity Works NZ is New Zealand’s?national body for workplace diversity, equity and inclusion. Their online resources have been designed to help organisations assess their diversity and inclusion maturity and explore and implement a range of diversity, equity and inclusion strategies and initiatives to create a more inclusive Aotearoa.

DIVERSITY.SOCIAL : An incredible global resource, educating leaders across the Western world. Diversity.Social also offers comprehensive diversity solutions for your business, including training portals for management, with feedback from business leaders and academics.

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3 Deeper analysis: Diversity in the workplace

From time to time, your business will need to focus on specific issues around diversity, to maintain the optimum diversity profile. Accessing ‘deep dive’ information in these situations is critical.

So, in addition to the resources listed above, I recommend the following eBooks and whitepapers, for deeper diversity analysis.

New Zealand workplace Diversity Survey 2023 : This annual survey contributes to a better understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion issues for workplaces in Aotearoa plus looks at emerging trends.

Workplace Diversity Case Model : A review of the best available evidence for the advantages of workplace diversity and inclusion in Aotearoa.

AHRI:?THE STATE OF Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Australian Workplaces published earlier this year,? provides a perspective on the current state of DEI in Australian workplaces. The research for this report included a survey of 307 HR professionals.

LORMAN : This whitepaper looks at the concept of tying executive bonuses to diversity initiatives.

EY : Not a whitepaper, but another powerful diversity resource, this time from EY. You’ll find in-depth analysis from industry leaders, that could become your go-to diversity source.

DIVERSITY AUSTRALIA : Diversity Australia offers eBooks, whitepapers and training for your management team. Some are free. All are worth your time.

And finally…

We’ve been a culturally diverse population in both Australia and New Zealand, for most of our history. And as the population of these two cousin nations continues to expand and ethnic minorities become less minority and more mainstream, it makes sense that our working populations continue to diversify. Gender identification is now more liberalised. And the important work of helping more disadvantaged or disabled people have access to work expands the opportunity for companies and workers alike.

So, make sure your approach to diversity in the workplace is entrenched in your workforce planning, to get the most from your investment in talent.

Here are a few more local resources you’re sure to find helpful…

• The?Aotearoa Inclusivity Matrix provides a framework for New Zealand organisations to understand their current capabilities, identify areas for improvement and the information needed to create a roadmap for transformation.
• The Australian HR Institute’s?Diversity & Inclusion Maturity Model is benchmarked against international best-practice organisations and is a guide to help HR leaders, executive teams and stakeholders understand the business case for diversity and inclusion, measure their current diversity management, and make a plan for the future.

If you’d like to see examples of New Zealand companies that are succeeding in their diversity efforts, take a look?here . And there are some great examples of how some of Australia’s top companies are getting diversity right,?here .

And if you’d like to?discuss the diversity of your own workforce, and how you can achieve a better diversity profile, please get in touch with me.