Why is it essential to have diverse and inclusive executives leading a company?

The advantages an organization gains from hiring diverse employees and creating an inclusive company culture are clear. Employing people with different backgrounds, training, and ideas naturally gives rise to innovation and success. When diversity and inclusion are part of the company leadership and permeates every management level, the benefits abound. Read on to learn more about how establishing a diverse and inclusive executive team benefits corporations.

Diversity and inclusion bring their own strengths to an organization.

I work on building better retention pipelines for organizations focused on developing cultures of inclusion through behavior changes at all levels. These [changes] acknowledge our biases and that we have control over our behaviors and thought patterns and can allow us to do better. I do this through equity analysis of policies and recommendations for more equitable policies and methods, training, and emphasize coaching. Behavioral norms create a culture outside of the framework of policies.

A diverse executive leadership team brings an important perspective to leadership, as well as an unspoken confirmation of workplace culture, which can be critical to attracting and retaining employees. Diverse executives bring innovative ideas and insight into diverse communities that might serve as partners or clients of the organization, which can help the organization’s bottom line. In addition, demographically diverse executives can tap into a diverse array of networks to recruit new talent. They help develop a culture that celebrates diverse ideas, that is mindful about microaggressions and unconscious bias, and can help champion underrepresented communities. Diverse executives also offer an example of possibilities within the organization, helping more diverse employees feel that there is a path to reach their goals.

An inclusive executive team is perhaps even more critical. Inclusion allows executives to bring in diverse perspectives, listen to them carefully, and focus on the content to ensure that they capture new ideas and can innovate. Inclusion also means bringing alternative ideas by tapping into their organization’s diversity. These [diverse] perspectives can inform executives of [employee] perception [of culture] more broadly, which helps to develop an inclusive culture. An inclusive culture respects that people have different ideas and needs and creates spaces to acknowledge these needs and address them without shaming or excluding [anyone]. It requires discipline in behavior to ensure that we think carefully about what we say and who we engage with. While it can feel exhausting, [these actions] pay huge dividends, attracting diverse ideas that help a company thrive with a culture that increases retention of employees and partners who wish to engage with a company that is humble.

Exhibit better problem-solving skills

Diverse teams have been shown to exhibit better problem-solving skills, more agile responses to industry change and upheaval, and more empathetic and human-centered business practices thanks to the diversity of approaches and worldviews.

Additionally, having a diverse and inclusive executive team often means people from a wide range of linguistic and cultural backgrounds, which naturally implies international networks and global outlooks, which are both prerequisites for sustained success in a constantly globalizing world with global opportunities.

Here are some advantages of having a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture:

Greater retention rates

When you include your employees in the decision-making process and value their input without discrimination, they tend to stick around for longer. It’s natural to move on from a workplace where you feel underappreciated.

More innovation

Businesses today thrive on originality and creative ideas. The likelihood for original ideas and newer concepts increases when you employ people from diverse backgrounds. Each [individual] will have something new to bring to the table. When your target market is diverse, you’ll need to diversify your workforce to ensure you’re creating and marketing products or services in a way that appeals to all and offends none.

A larger talent pool

[When] you keep your options open and avoid discriminating among candidates, you’ll better be able to see what you were missing out on. A diverse talent pool means countless applicants showing promise and potential to boost your business.

Better problem-solving skills

Employees belonging to underrepresented minorities have often faced challenges in the past and toughened up because of it. They’re generally more resilient, and you can count on them to effectively handle challenging situations.