The Advantages of Workforce Diversity for the Bottom Line

• A truly diverse workforce includes employees of varying races, ethnicities, national origins, genders, ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, religions, sexual orientations, disabilities and intellectual perspective. A diverse work group will often make better decisions over the long term than a group of experts. Better decision making skills are bound to have a positive effect on an organization's bottom line. By linking diversity to the bottom line, an organization has a far better chance of maintaining a competitive edge in a global marketplace.

Increased Customer Diversity

• A diversified workforce can more easily anticipate the needs of a diversified customer base. A homogeneous workforce runs the risk of focusing its marketing efforts on a narrower customer base than a diversified workforce. By marketing products and services to a wider base of consumers, an organization can expect to see a positive impact on the bottom line.

Intellectual Diversity

• Intellectual diversity entails the maintenance of a workforce that is diverse in both educational background and socio-economic status. Intelligence comes in many forms. A workforce that includes individuals of varying educational backgrounds as well as a variety of life experiences will bring a fresh perspective to the organization. Innovative ideas are more likely to come from a diverse work group than one in which all workers share the same experiences. Innovation is what drives a particular organization to excel over all others in the industry.

Adaptability

• A diverse workforce is an adaptable workforce. A homogeneous workforce is more likely to run the risk of failing to recognize threats to the organization. However, with a diverse workforce, the greater variation in perspectives allows for a wider world view. Workforce diversity allows the organization to draw from a number of different types of talents in any given situation. The organization is thus better able to adapt in a changing world. Companies that are incapable of adapting to outside changes are doomed to fail.

Improved Morale

• Workers who feel their individual talents and accomplishments are valued contributions to the overall effort tend to be more engaged in their work. Employee engagement is an effective gauge of workplace morale. Additionally, happy employees tend to be productive employees. A diversified workforce is more likely to offer improved goods and services, which is a major advantage for the bottom line.