In this era of globalization and technology, many Australian companies are making a serious effort to hire diverse talent. Organizations create a diverse workplace when they hire employees from a range of different backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, and sexual orientations.
Increasing Workplace Diversity in Australia
We live in an increasingly interconnected, complex and competitive world shaped by the forces of globalization. Diversity works as a valuable asset for the business as well as for its employees. A diverse workforce has the potential to foster empathy, innovation, and creativity in a way that homogenous environments rarely can. However, it takes the conscious implementation of strategies and mindful nurturing to unleash the true potential of a diverse team.
When organizations recruit a diverse workforce, it benefits the company and its employees. Having well-rounded staff means an increase in global perspectives which in turn shows up as a stronger product or service.
In today’s corporate world, diversity is about much more than gender. The term includes employees with different political, religious and cultural beliefs as well as differently-abled workers and members of the LGBTIQA+ community. An increasing number of companies are now discovering that having diversity and inclusion initiatives means they achieve much more than just legal compliance.
Symmetra offers customized unconscious bias online training solutions that deliver quantifiable outcomes and sustainable change. We strongly believe that an integrated approach and consistent framework can help you achieve diversity objectives.
Business Benefits of Hiring a Diverse Workforce
While there is a weighty moral argument in favor of diversity, it also offers substantial advantages in terms of business benefits and organizational growth.
Recruiting and retaining diverse employees helps give your organization a competitive edge. They each bring their own set of ideas, mindsets, world views and perspectives which help address multiple angles of a problem. Companies can capture diverse markets and enhance customer experiences with a broader range of interpersonal tools.
Diversity is not just a box-ticking exercise or a legal requirement to fulfill; it forms an integral part of a successful business model. There is substantial research to show that diversity and inclusion bring several advantages to the company including stronger governance, better performance, improved profitability, and better problem-solving abilities.
In simpler language, organizations with diverse teams are more resilient and out-perform their less diverse competitors. Moreover, diversity fosters flexibility and versatility: Two sought-after qualities that drive success and innovation. Experts predict that by 2025, Australian workforces will consist of 70% or more millennials. If your organization is looking to hire and retain a millennial in the not-so-far future, diversity and inclusion must be an integral part of your team culture.
Unconscious Bias Can Be a Hidden Obstacle to Diversity
Diversity and inclusion is not something that happens spontaneously overnight. Unconscious biases are cognitive shortcuts that shape our opinion of others on the basis of subconscious prejudices and stereotypes. Diversity and inclusion initiatives need to be implemented at multiple levels of the organization and shouldn’t be considered merely as tick-boxes to check every now and then.
As leading diversity and inclusion consultants, our team at Symmetra offers a range of exclusive leadership training programs that identify barriers to diversity. We help eliminate practices that sustain unconscious bias and help organizations create inclusive and diverse workplace environments.