Gaining Competitive Advantage through Diversity and Inclusion
In the present worldwide competitive arena, successful organizations make the most of diversity and inclusion as way of competitive advantage. The target market of the organization is far from homogeneous. In same manner, the workforce comes from various skills, behavior and aptitudes. Far from being a challenge, long way from being a test, diversity can have competitive advantage by increasing acceptance, innovation and critical thinking capacity.
Acceptance
Organizations whether large or small are all having their operations internationally. Even domestically, organizations are facing a shift in employee base demographically along the lines of nationality, language, race and religion. Hence, customer expectations about how a company is working is changing and their needs, and the best way of getting customer acceptance is to reflect the diversity which the customer base has. For instance, providing multilingual support and service will improve customer satisfaction and provide various opportunities in different sectors of the market.
Innovation
Diversity does not only include having a diverse workforce. Organizations should apply this concept in development of new products, services and business concepts. Now managers and leaders are increasingly realizing that diversity of opinion, experience and background help in conceiving new ideas. Creating innovative products and services as well as successful commercialization of such products and services is important way to competitive advantage.
Groupthink
Groupthink is an approach in which team members in a small, cohesive teams stick to their team’s mentality and values to this extent that they do not pay attention to realistic different views from outside the team. Groupthink might bring every team member to one page, but it might not be the best decision. Hence it is something very disastrous in the face of diverse problems and challenges in current competitive market. Diversity and Inclusion can prevent this from happening by providing new ideas and opinions.
Process
To have a competitive advantage based on diversity, the concept should prevail in all processes and operations of the organization. Diversity is not applied only in recruiting processes; it is also relevant to decision making, promotion, product development and other company’s procedure. Managers can also develop diversity goals in the organization and conduct a gap analysis to understand where the company stands right now with the desired progress and state.
Conclusion
Diversity and inclusion are critical for businesses aiming to stay competitive in today’s market. It is not enough to treat diversity as a checklist item; it must be actively practiced and ingrained in the daily operations of the organization. The benefits of a diverse and inclusive workplace are manifold, and in the modern business landscape, embracing diversity is essential for future growth. All employees must play an active role in implementing and upholding these values to truly capitalize on the potential of diversity and inclusion.
