Diversity and inclusion has become mandatory criteria for many professionals that want to follow down the path of a rewarding career.
Diversity and inclusion has become mandatory criteria for many professionals that want to follow down the path of a rewarding career. Why do a rapidly growing number of professionals want to be part of an organization that values inclusion and diversity?
Let’s review the reasons why professionals seek out employers with diverse workforces.
Development of Mutual Respect
If you have ever worked on a team of professional peers that came from diverse backgrounds, then you understand how the experience encouraged the development of mutual respect. The development of mutual respect comes from many sources that include learning about the struggles other professionals had in overcoming numerous social and cultural obstacles. Diversity in the workplace allows professionals to recognize the strengths and skill sets of other professionals in a team environment.
Opens Up More Career Options
Globalization has dramatically transformed the economic paradigm for virtually every company operating in every industry. Without the mindset of attracting customers from all over the world, a company can expect to lose sales to rival businesses. With that in mind, it is essential in the era of economic globalization for professionals to seek out employers with diverse workforces. By working with a diverse team of professionals, you open up many career advancement doors.
Improved Conflict Resolution Skills
Mastering conflict resolution skills starts and stops with recognizing the difference we have with each other. Before the expansion of diversity and inclusion programs, differences in the workplace involved mostly philosophical differences about how to conduct business. When inclusion became a major initiative for savvy business operators, differences morphed into social, cultural, ethnic and gender differences. The new paradigm among professional peers has fostered a more flexible approach to resolving conflict in the workplace. Improved conflict reduction is a strong selling point for professionals in most business niches.
Stronger Professional Reputation
Imagine attending a professional networking event. After revealing where you work, other professionals come up to you and congratulate you for choosing a company that values diversity and inclusion. The focus on diversity and inclusion initiatives over the past 20 years has made working for an employer that values a diverse workforce powerfully important for building a stronger professional reputation. Your professional credentials now include association with an employer that is way ahead of the curve when it comes to establishing a diverse workforce.
Exposure to a Broader Group of People
They say the most accomplished professionals never stop learning. Since that is true, learning about how professionals from other cultures think and feel goes long way towards ensuring you never stop learning on your long career path. It is not just cultural differences that help many professionals learn more about their chosen field. Age differences are perhaps the greatest differences among professionals. For example, the up-and-coming professionals from the millennial generation can take a thing or two from professionals of the baby boomer era that are heading towards the twilights of the careers. Conversely, boomers can learn much from millennials.
Expand Social Network
It is not all work and no play for successful professionals. In fact, finding the ideal balance between your personal and professional lives is often a delicate act. However, when you meet professionals from different cultures that come from a wide variety of age groups, you get the opportunity to enhance both your professional credentials and your personal relationships. Finding an employer that values diversity and inclusion will expand your social network. More friends typically equals a more satisfying lifestyle.
Helping Marginalized Professionals
We do not talk about it much, but many professionals that benefit from the new diversity and inclusion model came from employers that did not emphasize the importance of a diverse workforce. The result was far too many professionals felt marginalized in the workplace because of exclusion. By joining an organization that values a diverse workforce, you can expect to work with other professionals that have experienced discriminatory hiring and employment practices. This give you the opportunity to help previously marginalized professionals.
Learning How to Promote Diversity and Inclusion
The recent emphasis on encouraging a diverse and inclusive workforce means there have been many failed experiments at promoting diversity and inclusion. Many professionals seek out employers that value a diverse workforce because one day, the professionals will be responsible for overseeing similar policies when they advance into management. There is not a better learning incubator for promoting diversity than by working for an employer that has implemented a successful diversity and inclusion program.
Employers that Value Differences
Depending where you are on your career journey, you might have worked for an employer that did not value a diverse workforce. According to Stan Kimer, who is the founder and president of Total Engagement Consulting, finding an organization that encourages diversity means you have found an organization that values the differences among its team of employees. “Job-seeking candidates should most definitely seek out employers with excellent support of diverse workforces,” Kimer says. “This will signal to job seekers that the unique skills, experiences and background they have will be truly valued by the company, and they will be encouraged to bring their whole selves into the workplace for maximum positive impact. They will be respected, listened to, integrated as part of the team which will lead to very high levels of job satisfaction.”
There used to be a time when professionals heard the mantra “We need to be on the same page.” Now, the mantra is “We need to learn how to bring the different pages together.” Professionals that seek out employers with diverse workforces will enjoy more vibrant and rewarding careers.
