‘Cultural diversity is a hot term in today’s professional workplace, but what does it actually mean? What makes a workplace culturally diverse, and why should you care about cultural diversity? The short answer is that cultural diversity means that your workplace accepts people from all backgrounds. And, the workplace benefits from a better talent pool.
What is Cultural Diversity?
Cultural diversity, synonymous with ‘multiculturalism’ is the view that all people are equal–regardless of their cultural, ethnic, and religious background. It’s the idea that your organization won’t prioritize or penalize employees from a specific background.
For example, a culturally diverse business will treat their black employees the same way as their white ones, their Muslim employees the same as their Christian ones, and their straight employees the same way as their LGBTQ+ ones.
In a culturally diverse workplace, everyone feels a part of the organization, and one feels like they’re judged for who they are. Instead, the organization treats everyone equally and considers their cultures and backgrounds to be equally valid and important.
Why is Cultural Diversity Important?
Cultural diversity is important nowadays because our society is becoming increasingly diverse-ethnically, religiously, and culturally. So, our workplaces are also becoming more diverse. We have to accommodate people from all backgrounds and take advantage of diverse talent.
Cultural diversity can provide a great competitive advantage to any organization because it lets them hire and retain diverse talent. A diverse workforce gives an organization more talent and internal cohesion.
For example, a culturally diverse workplace has access to the best talent from all communities. The diverse workforce benefits from having diverse professionals with diverse skills and perspectives that all contribute to the company.
What Are The Qualities of Cultural Diversity?
There are many different aspects of cultural diversity, but the following 3 are some of the most important:
1. Ethnic Diversity
With America becoming an increasingly ethnically diverse country, ethnic diversity is more beneficial now than ever. An ethnically diverse workplace harnesses talent from all ethnic communities in the country.
Talented members of minority ethnic communities are much likelier to join your organization when it’s known for being inclusive.
2. Linguistic Diversity
There are billions of people on the globe, who all speak thousands of different languages. So, a culturally diverse workplace has employees from many different linguistic backgrounds.
The importance of linguistic diversity is that people who speak multiple languages can think in different ways. Being able to think in different ways means that employees can provide unique perspectives.
3. Religious Diversity
There are many different religions and religious communities in the world, including Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Hindus. A diverse workplace accommodates people from all religious backgrounds and treats them equally.
The result is that your organization becomes a safe space for members of all faith, especially minority ones.
How Do Organizations Manage Cultural Diversity?
Cultural diversity is a great asset that provides a competitive advantage to businesses. But, you have to properly manage cultural diversity to benefit from it. Cultural diversity can’t be a passive policy for any company because it needs careful and active support.
For example, if your company has employees from minority backgrounds, you must ensure they’re not discriminated against. Members of your company’s ethnic majority might hold discriminatory or bigoted beliefs against the minorities.
Unless members of the majority aren’t educated about the minority and taught to address their biases, it could cause problems. The worst situation could be outright hostility between members of different ethnic communities in your company.
The Benefits of Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity isn’t just an ethical choice, it also has these practical benefits for any progressive workplace:
1. Increased Compassion
A culturally diverse workplace has less judgment and better compassion for its employees.
2. Improved Innovation
A diverse workforce has diverse perspectives and ideas, so they’re better able to innovate
3. Higher Productivity
Diverse talent performs better and produces more and better results because no team members feel discriminated against.
How Can Your Organization Support Cultural Diversity?
Your organization can support cultural diversity by having open recruitment and anti-discrimination policies. Your organization’s hiring managers should be formally trained to treat all applicants equally-regardless of their personal background and hire on merit.
Secondly, your organization could promote a diverse workplace culture by encouraging employees to interact with other cultures. For example, you could hold event events or provide days off to members of minority groups during their cultural or religious holidays.
Your organization’s goal should be to create an inclusive workplace where anyone can join if they’re talented enough and no one feels discriminated against. Everyone should feel like they’re an equal part of the organization.
How Do Organizations Manage Cultural Diversity?
Cultural diversity is a great asset that provides a competitive advantage to businesses. But, you have to properly manage cultural diversity to benefit from it. Cultural diversity can’t be a passive policy for any company because it needs careful and active support.
For example, if your company has employees from minority backgrounds, you must ensure they’re not discriminated against. Members of your company’s ethnic majority might hold discriminatory or bigoted beliefs against minorities.
Unless members of the majority aren’t educated about the minority and taught to address their biases, it could cause problems. The worst situation could be outright hostility between members of different ethnic communities in your company.
Wrapping up, cultural diversity is when your organization accepts and accommodates people from all backgrounds. A culturally diverse organization benefits from improved morale, access to talent, and higher productivity. But, you need to actively manage your organization’s cultural diversity to benefit from it.