Infusing Diversity Into Business Consciousness

With the current world economy, companies dependence on globalization to stay competitive, the shifting of talent from one base in the world to another, Diversity is only set to rise and to take on new significance on impacting the bottom line of today's organizations.

Indeed I believe the argument for Diversity has been made years ago and that argument has been answered and won time and time again. Diversity affects the bottom line of organization and its effects are seen to find its way into the marketing organization, the this in turn has an impact on the company's products and services and in turn the marketing channels and marketing categories which these products are classified in. The results? More business more sales more targeted and satisfied customers which is the impact on the company's bottom line.

With this in mind, it is imperative to Infuse Diversity into the Business Consciousness. So, what do I mean by that? In summary, Diversity should be an integral part of the company's business practices as a matter of course. Diversity needs to be part of the company's Strategy, Structures and Process, Performance Metrics And Awards and its Culture and Behavior.

Strategy
Diversity needs to be a part of the company's vision and infused into the day to day consciousness of how we run our business. The outcome for this is for Diversity to be a key driver of business success. This will lead to establishing the organization's presence in diverse markets, build an winning workforce and also develop the company's image and reputation in diverse communities.

Structure And Processes
The objective here is to establish (if necessary) and strengthen partnerships and teams within the Human Resources community. Strategic partnership networks should also be formed to ensure diverse perspectives are at work to enhance the company's ability to reach different marketplaces and communities.

Performance Metrics And Rewards
Their must be support and recognition from the management team for the Diversity champions. Global organization metrics need to be implemented and the individuals within the organization who are accountable for the Diversity program need to be identified and this needs to be communicated throughout the organization.

Culture And Behavior
The awareness of Diversity needs to be increased within all teams throughout the organization by setting up and communicating the relevant connection between Diversity, Inclusion, Innovation and the effect on the companies bottom line.

This framework while not complete is a good foundation to structure any company's Diversity initiative around.

Some key points to emphasize are that Human Resources, the management team, Diversity Champions and those from the specific Dimensions Of Diversity must work together in order to be successful at 'infusing Diversity into the business consciousness. In particular it is essential for the higher management team to be readily seen participating in Diversity initiatives and articulating the benefits of Diversity within the organization whilst making the link between the company's Diversity program and the effect on the company's bottom line.

Human Resources may well officially own the Diversity program and managers may well own their particular departments, whether that be Accounting, Manufacturing, Logistics or Marketing but but managers are inherently responsible for the success of the Diversity program and its Infusion into the business consciousness of the organization.