Camping Trade World – Issue 05

BECOME A BETTER BUSINESS DIVERSITY
The benefits of a more diverse workforce
New ideas
Naturally, by having people from a wider
range of backgrounds within your staff,
you are bound to have an influx of new
ideas. If all of your staff are from similar
socio-economic backgrounds, countries,
ethnicities etc, then they are all likely to
have had similar life experiences. This
can lead to a stagnation when it comes
to idea generation. By having a diverse
workforce that truly represents the
wider world, you can give your company
the best chance of creating genuinely
exciting new ideas – whether that is for
product development, manufacturing
processes or any other way of working.
Better creativity and innovation
A diverse and inclusive workforce will
usually be more creative and innovative.
This is down to the fact that people will
feel more comfortable and confident
voicing their ideas if they feel the
company has a culture where all views
count. If you don’t have a very diverse
workforce, you could lose a great idea to
someone lacking the confidence to get
it out in the open. Additional creativity
and smart new ideas are also more likely
to be found if your workforce is made up
of all different types of people.
More engaged employees
By creating an environment where
everyone feels like an equally important
part, you will naturally increase the
engagement of the employees you
have. It sounds simple when you say
it like that, but it can be so easy for
employees to become disengaged if
they feel discriminated against or that
they don’t fit in in some way. By having
more engaged employees who feel
like they (or anyone for that matter)
belong, you will reduce your turnover
of employees because you will be
creating a place to work where they
feel comfortable. Sadly, this is still much
rarer than it should be.
Widens your reach
Having employees from a wide range
of backgrounds will help your company
expand its reach to new client bases
that you may not have enjoyed much
success with before. Diverse employees
bring with them diverse language skills
and also knowledge of a wider range
of cultures and communities. They
may even bring existing relations with
different communities that you have
not previously been able to enjoy much
success with in the past. By breaking
down the barriers that may have
stopped you hiring certain groups of
people in the past, you will be breaking
down barriers into potential new
markets leaving no stone unturned.
Boosts your reputation
When your company has a diverse
workforce, it will show naturally in every
public facing thing you do. Whether
that’s customer service, sales, events
– it doesn’t matter. Your diversity is
visible and this will give your company
a reputation boost in the subconscious
of most people you deal with, whether
that’s B2C or B2B customers. The feeling
that your company is welcoming,
inclusive and diverse will strike a chord
in the minds of many people – it will
help you build an image as a socially
responsible company. Several studies
also show that companies with more
diverse workforces generally tend to
have increased profits and earnings,
which will also help to boost and enforce
your reputation within a market.
Attracts better talent
If you restrict your hiring to one
group (even if, as is most likely, it is an
unintentional and unknown bias), you
are restricting yourself to not being able
to get the most talented people for the
job. By having a diverse workforce with
people from all different backgrounds,
you will be able to more easily attract
talented people from a wider pool. Think
about it, if someone sees your company
as hugely dominated by one particular
group, they may never apply for that job
position you’ve been trying to fill – and
they could be the perfect fit, they just
don’t see it themselves.
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