Diversify, Diversify, Diversify!

Diversifying our workplaces is making the headlines at the moment. In particular, there is the focus on educating young women in the STEM disciplines – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – to ensure their place in these areas in our workplaces. There is no doubt this diversification is needed for many reasons and it’s been coming for a long time.

There are many benefits to having a diverse workforce. These may include lower turnover and absenteeism, improved productivity, attracting a wider variety of potential employees and access to a diverse client base. This will change how you market your business. It may also have a positive effect on the image of your company. Companies are receiving awards for their diversity programs!

However, diversity is not just about women in STEM roles (apologies if I offend anyone). Diversity covers age, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexuality, people with disabilities and more.

In the old days, this was called Affirmative Action. The purpose of Affirmative Action was to provide ‘positive recruitment, training or promotion of women or persons from minority groups and procedures for internal auditing and reporting to ensure compliance and to measure the success of the plan’. Sound like diversity? The first mention of Affirmation Action I can find was in 1961 when President John F Kennedy signed an Executive Order. Not so new!

I was speaking with someone recently who had been asked to provide a human resource who met certain criteria. The criteria had nothing to do with their skills or experience but related wholly to their gender and ethnicity. Once we decide to start ticking boxes to meet a target rather than making a decision based on merit, i.e. they have the right skills for the job and ‘fit’ for the team, you will experience ‘pain’. Your diversity program will begin to cause division rather than provide the rewards it is designed to meet.

So take a look around your office. How diverse is it? What is the age range, what cultures are represented, what genders are represented? Importantly, did you choose these employees based on merit?