Welcome to Talent Talk. Here, you’ll find a collection of thought leadership articles from industry experts in the recruitment and HR tech space.
Why is diversity in an organization important, and why should you strive to build a diverse team? At its core, this is a true "global citizen" perspective for forward-thinking TA and HR Leaders.
I'm sure you have heard and read a lot about inclusion and diversity initiatives; however, have you done anything in that direction yet? Don't worry, even if you haven't, it's not too late to start the conversation now!
In the following article, I've prepared some insights based on years of experience working with fully-remote colleagues from over 19 nationalities across four continents.
Getting straight to the point, why should you focus on diversifying your team now?
1. Mixing different backgrounds and experiences fosters sustainable organizational growth
Hiring with diversity in mind gives you a wealth of different backgrounds and gained experience. This may include hiring from different industries and different company sizes - from startups to corporations. The employees who come from startups bring creativity, autonomy, and a self-starter mentality. The ones from corporations bring in good practices and processes. This is useful when you want to implement some structure and organize the workflow in a scale-up. People coming from startups can prototype new products or service lines, which adds value to large organizations that need some fresh ideas and innovation.
2. Cultural differences are a very good thing
Let's look at different local and cultural differences. Bringing onboard someone who initially worked in a western culture into an eastern environment can be a catalyst that pushes you to question your assumptions about your mission, vision, and daily operations. Incorporating talent who is used to a certain communication style and letting them speak up can make you a better communicator and elevate your company vision.
3. The history and evolution of mankind add value
So women are from Venus, and men are from Mars, right? Historically, we've inherited different social roles and mindsets, which we bring as assets to the workforce. Women, for example, have proven to be more empathic and resilient toward stress, especially in an environment that requires lots of multitasking.
Regardless of your ethos, religion, origin, or gender, we are human first. Let's remember that inclusion is possible when you allow each and every person in your team to contribute. Show them they matter, and they will care and bring their best selves to work every day.
Yanislava Hristova
Founder and CEO of Remote IT World
4. All generations contribute equally when included
All ages bring value. The ideal team composition may seem at first like it's from people who are more alike than different. However, question this. You are limiting your organizational diversity of knowledge if you bring people with similar backgrounds from similar age groups. What if you instead mix the contributions of seasoned professionals with the Generation Z global internet citizens and cultivate sustainable performance and a hub for new ideas at the same time? That's priceless.
5. Underneath it all, we are all humans
Regardless of your ethos, religion, origin, or gender, we are human first. Let's remember that inclusion is possible when you allow each and every person in your team to contribute. Show them they matter, and they will care and bring their best selves to work every day.
How do we achieve diversity?
Remote working fosters inclusion by design. As the whole world has come to understand in this great social experiment called COVID-19, remote work still allows us to measure performance based on results. We are incredibly effective. One powerful way to increase the diversity in your team is by hiring remotely.
On top of it all, you have all the talent in the world to choose from. Yes, it's 2020, and remote work is here to stay. It's the way we do business.
With COVID-19, we saw fully distributed workforces unleash their potential, going beyond what we thought was possible. Remote work is applicable for every job that can be done via a computer connected to the internet. In case these are the types of jobs you are hiring for, I invite you to consider a bold and wise move and work on diversity in your team. Doing it remotely, though, opens an entirely new realm of possibilities.
Deep dive into our resources pool on Diversity & Inclusion here.
