5 Ways Diversity Inspires Creativity in the Workplace
5 Ways Diversity Inspires Creativity in the Workplace
Diversity is quickly becoming a key practice among organizations looking to establish more ethical and all-inclusive working environments that more effectively represent modern time. While these diverse hiring methods allow for organizations to genuinely reflect their own respective values, developing a diverse workforce can also help businesses work towards continual success and longevity in over-competitive markets.
The modern-day competition associated with entrepreneurial endeavors allows for only the most innovative of companies to establish themselves as industry leaders in these heavily saturated markets. However, even these so-called industry leaders must learn to maintain their relevance in a market that continues to grow, evolve and change. Diversity has proven to be a significant factor in helping to promote a business’ longevity and relevance. By bringing together different styles of thinking and perspectives to work towards the success of a business, diversity can have a beneficial impact on a number of different industries.
Here are 5 ways that diverse hiring practices and a diverse team of employees can help inspire consistent creativity in the workplace:
1. Innovation
Most employers understand that diversity is good for promoting innovation in the workplace, but they don’t understand why. However, thanks to a recent Harvard-funded survey, the impact that diversity has on innovation in the workplace is now measurable.
The nationally representative survey helped to measure diversity’s impact on innovation by determining two types of diversity needed for success—inherent and acquired. As established by the survey, inherent diversity includes traits individuals are inherently born with. For example, a person’s ethnicity and sexual orientation would be considered inherent diversity. Whereas, acquired diversity involves traits individuals gain from experience like living abroad, higher education, previous job occupations and so on.
The study encourages companies to work towards establishing two-dimensional diversity, which can be done by creating leadership teams that demonstrate an even mixture of inherent and acquired diversity. Two-dimensional diversity encourages free-associative thinking, innovation and a safer workplace where differences are showcased and embraced. Companies exhibiting two-dimensional diversity are more likely to report market share growth than companies lacking diversity. These same companies are also better able to develop compelling and innovative ideas to serve underrepresented, and previously underserved, markets.
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2. Creativity
Creative thinking requires a critical mindset that is capable of connecting two or more pieces of information together in order to create a new idea. However, humans are creatures of habit and the human mind tends to reflect that by sticking to a normal, albeit constrictive, thinking pattern. Additionally, the human brain has a tendency of turning to past experience for a solution which further restricts the framework that the human brain is thinking within given that the solution may not always be in the past.
Instead, a diverse workforce can simulate the process of divergent thinking on a much grander scale. Divergent thinking is a spontaneous, free-flowing process where ideas are generated by connecting seemingly unrelated pieces of information and breaking out of one’s normal thinking pattern. If every employee possesses a thought process unique to their own experiences, then the ideas generated will be as broad and diverse as the team itself.
Exposing oneself to new experiences and varying points of views are the driving factors to enhancing creativity and by bringing that to a workforce, the work environment created is perfectly suited to promote wide-scale creative thinking. This combination of differing perspectives in a workforce results in fresh ideas, allowing companies to grow in their competitive fields. Although certain hinderances can also arise from differing world views, a diverse workplace is necessary for any company seeking to increase their innovation and creative output.
3. Empathy with Customers
Due to the wide variety of brands now available, modern customers want to support businesses that represent them and their values. The more diversity within the team, the more likely the team will be able to empathize with a widely diverse customer base. An organization with members from all races, sexual orientations and belief systems are better equipped to connect with customers and create stronger, longer-lasting brand loyalty.
For example, according to journalist Angela Stringfellow’s research, disabled Americans possess an estimated $544 billion in annual disposable income and yet, are completely being underserved even in the modern-day market. Only organizations that employ disabled employees will, in theory, possess the necessary insights in order to not only reach this customer base but to completely satisfy them.
Currently, marginalized groups face tremendous barriers when interacting with brands. While judgement and discrimination are the first obstacles that may come to mind, it is much deeper than that. Marginalized customers can also fear the refusal of services based on gender identity, language barriers, physical ability, and being “outed” or “othered” by business providers. Diverse staff can better relate to these marginalized customers in order to help brands further empathize and serve their underserved and underrepresented audience.
4. Adaptability to Change
Consumer behavior is constantly evolving, meaning that companies must increase their internal diversity in order to be better suited and adaptable in a forever changing market. No matter the budget corporations allot to analysis, market research, or consultations, the only way to properly prepare for an unforeseeable change in the market is to have a diverse company makeup that is capable of divergent thinking.
Firms that utilize their employees’ unique backgrounds to venture into a broader range of services are better prepared for the changes their respective industries may face. A diverse team of personnel are more likely to have the necessary perspectives to help a company adapt to the challenges ahead. If anything, a diverse profile can help any organization modernize into the type of brand worth being loyal to.
5. The Bottom Line
A study from one of the world's largest strategy consulting firms, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), found that an increase in the diversity of an organization’s leadership team seems to correlate with not only higher levels of innovation but also with improved financial performance. BCG’s data further revealed that teams with more diverse management are able to produce a higher level of revenue. This information is groundbreaking for sectors in need of innovation for growth like tech companies and start-ups but more importantly, for companies looking to further distinguish themselves in competitive markets. Even massive corporations like Gap Inc., Dove and L’Oreal SA attribute some of their success to diversity.
Organizations determined to assemble a more diverse workforce must be willing to establish teams that possess members from all walks of life—all genders (binary and non-binary), all educational backgrounds, all religions, and so on. These varying perspectives will allow for unique solutions to complex problems. Each of these individuals will also be able to connect to a wide range of distinctive networks, providing companies with vast meta-networks that would otherwise not be accessible.
Diverse change begins with leadership and management. It is up to corporation leaders to hire employees that can bring these rare perspectives to the table and oversee that all these varying points-of-view are working towards a singular goal. Diverse hiring practices offer companies a wide range of necessary skills required by these companies looking to adapt and succeed in the competitive modern market.
