Multi-Cultural Talent Acquisition (a.k.a DIVERSITY) Ensures Organizational Survival

 Does your management team pass the EYEBALL test?
 
When you look at the Senior Leadership page of your website, does it scream: “Too old, white, and too male?”
 

 
Does this look like your Management Team?
 
In the famous words of Game of Thrones “Words are wind” or…talk is cheap.
 
Your organization may talk the talk, but do they “walk-the-walk” when it comes to achieve a truly DIVERSE and INCLUSIVE ORGANIZATION built to compete and win on the global playing field?  If they don’t no worries.  After all, you’re not alone.  Of the Fortune 500 top U.S. firms in 2013, only 4% of those companies had female CEOs.  The glass ceiling is still firmly in place.
 
Why bother striving for a diverse workforce?  Because building a global team to seize opportunities in new markets takes a global (thus multi-cultural) perspective.
 

 
 
When recruiting in the 5 generation society, appealing to the matures, baby boomers, GenXers, Millenials, and Next Gen segments requires an appeal to all.Diversity can help to bridge the generational divide.  Before you begin down this diversity road ask yourself: “Do I truly have the support, buy in and long-term commitment of my management team?” If yes, proceed. If NO, stop!  Build diversity into your culture.  Go ahead…walk around your organization. Does it look like the rest of the country? Be honest.
 
Understand that diversity is not synonymous with filling quotas. It’s so much more than finding the right balance between age, gender, ethnicity but a Global Village view embracing divergent backgrounds, beliefs, values, lifestyle, military service, etc.
 
How does your organization embrace differences? Are you prepared to take your organization from a mindset of merely tolerating diversity to advocating for a diverse workplace?  The benefits your organization derives from achieving true diversity and inclusion extend far beyond legal compliance to include:

 

  • More effectively connecting with your customers;
  • Motivating your employees;
  • Fostering greater innovation and creativity since people from different backgrounds challenge each other and having people from different backgrounds fosters a constantly evolving culture;
  • Becoming a preferred employer, which makes your job easier;
  • Larger recruiting pool; and
  • Ability to conduct business in more markets across cultural boundaries.

 
 

In a VillageLife.com survey conducted by Melissa Lauber it was reported that the federal Glass Ceiling Commission found that diversity has a positive impact on organization’s bottom lines:
 
Organizations which excel at leveraging diversity (including the hiring and advancement of women and non-white men into senior management jobs, and providing a climate conducive to contributions from people of diverse backgrounds) will experience better financial performance in the long run than organizations which are not effective in managing diversity.” (Equalitymagazine.com)
 
The Covenant Investment Management firm conducted significant research into diversity.  It rated the performance of the Standard & Poor 500 on a series of factors relating to the hiring and advancement of women and nonwhites. The study concluded that the annual return of the 100 companies with the LOWEST in equal employment averaged a 7.9%, compared to 18.3% for the 100 companies that rated HIGHEST in equal employment
 
According to the Society for Human Resources Management: “Diversity is marketable!”  Diversity can be the catalyst you need, to achieve a better ROI on human capital:
 

  • Minorities are a majority in 6 of the 8 largest US metropolitan areas;
  • Black, Hispanic and Asians combined for more than $870 billion in purchases in the U.S. annually; and
  • Women are the primary investors in more than half of U.S. households.

 
 
Embed/infuse diversity and inclusion in all of your hiring efforts: discuss your diversity strategies in all of your company marketing promotional materials, job postings, and emphasize your organization’s vision, mission, values, and story. MAKE DIVERSITY PART OF YOUR BRAND!
 
– Ethan