Creating a more diverse workforce is a task that’s always worth pursuing. While it’s often talked about in a purely intellectual manner, the truth is that diversity brings very concrete benefits to a business. If you put in the effort to create a workforce that’s more gender-diverse, you’ll soon start to see major differences in the way your company performs and interacts with each other. The biggest questions, though, still surround what type of changes a company must make to gain these gender diversity benefits and what benefits the company will receive from making these changes.
When looking at gender diversity, it’s important to look at the concept as something more than just having both men and women employed in the office. True gender diversity is ensuring that both men and women are employed in a variety of roles in the business, allowing the company to reap the rewards of diversity at all levels of employment. If your company properly invests in this type of diversity, it will certainly find a number of interesting benefits coming its way. Below are just a handful of the ways that better gender diversity will impact your business for the better.
It’s always better to have a move diverse team than one that is less diverse. One reason that this tends to hold true is that a multitude of viewpoints often leads to a multitude of paths towards success. Men and women tend to view the world in different ways and approach tasks in different manners, which opens up a number of possibilities in the workplace. Gender diversity in the workplace makes teams more successful because these diverse teams can better predict the wants and needs of a diverse customer base and find solutions to problems that otherwise might stymie a mono-gendered team. Pushing for better gender diversity almost always leads to teams that perform better and that come up with innovative solutions.
It’s rare for a business to make any move that won’t improve the bottom line. As such, it’s important to look at the benefits of gender diversity from a purely profit-driven standpoint. Statistically speaking, one of the major gender diversity benefits is bigger profits. Those companies that invest in a gender diverse workplace are more often than not those companies that also see the greatest level of financial success. This might be due to better problem solving, a closer relationship with the target office or just better productivity, but the numbers simply do not lie – gender diverse businesses are more successful businesses.
“In 2016: Gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to earn above-average revenue.”
-www.blog.clearcompany.com
Recruiting the best people is a fantastic way to ensure that your business remains successful. If you want to get the best, you have to open the door to everyone. Failing to push towards a more gender diverse workforce will stop you from interviewing some of the best and brightest candidates simply due to their gender. As your reputation for fair hiring practices becomes better known, your company’s reputation will also improve. This, in turn, will also lead to better employees seeking out your business.
Learning how to increase gender diversity in the workplace isn’t as simple as balancing the gender ratio in your office through making a few strategic hiring choices. It’s a process that requires you to radically revamp not just how you hire, but how you seek to retain your best employees. If you want the most important gender diversity benefits, you’ll need to consider the following changes to how your company operates.
The best place to start is with your job descriptions. Take a moment to notice how these descriptions are structured and who they are most likely to attract. Try to strike out gender-specific language when possible and attempt to replace them with more neutral terms. It’s also a good idea to look at the general language used to determine if the language tends to appeal to one gender more than the other. Finding a good balance will allow you to bring in a more balanced group of candidates.
If you want to reap the best gender diversity benefits, you have to recruit a more gender-diverse workforce. A good place to start this process is by looking at who is doing the interviews for your company. Instead of assigning a single person, make sure that you’re working with a diverse group of people who can provide input on potential hires. This group should represent a cross-section of your company’s employees, with an eye towards maintaining diversity. The final decision might be up to management, but it’s important to get the points of view from multiple sources.
To what degree is your company’s culture promoting gender diversity? If you don’t know the answer, it’s time to take a close look. Your company culture is a make-or-break factor when it comes to recruitment and retention, so make sure that it’s inclusive enough to appeal to a broad range of people. Company cultures that focus on making sure that everyone feels at home are often the best at promoting gender diversity. If you can convince your leaders to buy into a more diverse and inclusive culture, you’ll be able to create a more inclusive workforce.
Gender diversity in the workplace is important. If you want to ensure that your business gains these gender diversity benefits and is successful in building a more diverse workforce, you might need professional help. PayTech offers a variety of HR services from helping with payroll matters to assisting you with the hiring process that can help you to better create the kind of workforce that will benefit your company. When you’re ready to embrace change, make sure to visit PayTech and find out how we can help you.
