Diversity and Inclusion- Why does my company need it?
By: Sankhe Sourabh
Tags: Diversity And Inclusion, Diversity, Organizational Culture

Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) has become more than just HR checklist items but it has grown into a company's culture. Its important that companies are embracing this practice. There is more to diversity than just ticking boxes and making sure we recruit candidates based on their identities, backgrounds or gender. Diversity is a concept that sums up how different everyone is not just based on looks or their ethnicities, but on personalities, experiences, ideas, identity, hobbies, career aspirations and lifestyles. While Inclusion can be anything from making sure you have the right processes, policies, practices or tools in place to ensure employees feel valued and included in corporate decision making.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

So why is Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) so important now than ever before.

Attracting Talent: Diversity and inclusion programs build up their people from the inside out, and foster an environment that is more attractive for prospective employees. A higher caliber of industry professionals will want to join a company that strives to provide a comfortable, supportive, and inspiring atmosphere where people of different ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations can flourish. Confidence in the Company: The importance of having a culture that embraces diversity and inclusion plays a huge role in the overarching confidence of the company. This allows for a larger platform for innovation, creativity and a variety of perspectives that will leave your employees feeling like they are in a safe place to be themselves and produce their best work. Having this momentum present in the office also improves employees’ wellbeing and enhances how they feel toward the company overall. Employee Engagement: If you want workers to be excited about and actively involved in where they work, a strong diversity and inclusion program can instill a passion that’s contagious and shared throughout the company. Within ADP, business resource groups (BRGs) allow the company to tap into the energy of passionate and engaged employees marrying technology with interoffice communication. BRGs inform employers and employees with newsletters, videos and upcoming meetings and events. Tools like this can enhance employee engagement, which also contributes to enhancing discretionary efforts company-wide. Diverse Teams Are Critical for Innovation: When companies establish inclusive business cultures and policies, they are more likely to report higher creativity due to the uniqueness in the idea generation process. They are better in the decision making process and stats show us- Diverse and Inclusive teams have

59.1% increase in creativity, innovation, and openness. 37.9% better assessment of consumer interest and demand.

Diversity and inclusion in the workplace is an essential business practice that high-performing companies prioritize — building environments that help their employees thrive.

In conclusion, having a D&I team and taking steps to build strategies towards this initiative you’ll be giving yourself one of today’s biggest competitive advantages.