A comprehensive 1993 study of U.S. workers' attitudes bears out Rowe's assertions. The first installment of a planned quadrennial survey, the privately funded National Study of the Changing Workforce found that perceptions of discrimination take a heavy toll on job performance. More than one-fifth of minority workers reported they had been discriminated against by their current employers. From an external perspective, a diverse workforce can also provide a distinct competitive advantage for your firm and enhance its success in today's increasingly global marketplace. Your lack of understanding can also affect existing relationships.
Diversity is both a customer service and a business development issue.
This message was emphatically driven home when a Maryland biotechnology firm, seeking to relocate, recently rejected Des Moines, Iowa, for being too homogeneous. As it turned out, however, money wasn't everything. Company officials on a scouting trip realized that almost all the faces they saw in Iowa were white and decided to turn down the generous offer. The failed deal cost the state 250 new jobs and potentially millions of dollars, graphically illustrating the powerful economic ramifications of the nation's diversifying work force. But then somebody in their group said, 'I think we may be uncomfortable here.