Diversity at the workplace more important than ever

A diverse society, the search for talent and the globalisation of business: they all contribute to greater diversity on the work floor. But what policies are companies pursuing to promote diversity, and with what results?

More and more companies acknowledge the importance of diversity within their organisation. Given the political, economic and social developments, this comes as no surprise. Society itself has become more diverse, and that is reflected in the workplace.

The search for talent

In addition, there is a shortage of professionals on the labour market, which means that companies do their utmost to recruit talent from all groups in a society, be it men and women, different generations, employees with a physical disability or employees with different preferences or cultural backgrounds.

International sales markets                      

A third reason is the globalisation of business. The sales markets of companies are international. Cultural diversity in the workplace helps companies to operate abroad.

In this sense, a good diversity policy is an important building block to meet the challenges companies face in the coming years. More than 92% of those surveyed (92.4%) consider a good diversity policy to be one of the success factors for the company.

How firmly is diversity anchored in the corporate culture?

The number of companies where the diversity policy is firmly anchored in the corporate culture is still in the minority, at just over 44%. According to the results of the survey, 18% are still in the start-up phase. For 18% it is an important topic for the near future, but there are still no concrete plans. For almost 20% the subject is not relevant at the moment and in the near future.

Specific policy for more diversity

Many companies have developed policies to support specific groups within the organisation. For example, 40% offer services that are tailored to the belief or convictions of their employees, such as prayer rooms or adapted menus in the canteen. A further 20% of companies have a policy to increase the percentage of women in the organisation.

It is interesting to note that smaller companies are much more successful on one point than larger companies: 40% have adapted roles for older workers or for workers with physical disabilities. For larger companies this is only 25%.

What are the results of more diversity?

Does a diversity policy also deliver what companies expect of it? The companies that invest in diversity mention various concrete results. For example, 63% say that the atmosphere in the workplace has improved thanks to the policy and almost a quarter (24.1%) see that employee satisfaction has increased. In addition, 63% of companies say that their diversity policy has made them more attractive to candidates, and more than 20% report that diversity leads to better products and solutions.

Still much to gain in terms of diversity

At the same time, this PageGroup study shows that there is still a lot to gain. After all, a good diversity policy is more than putting together various teams. The next step is to have employees from different backgrounds and generations work well together. In this area, companies can still learn a lot from each other.

Wondering about all the results? Download the complete study here.