Most Bay Area businesses aim to embrace diversity and inclusion as integral parts of their core values. However, these objectives are often not well-defined. For instance, a company might be committed to diverse hiring in terms of gender and ethnicity, but they may still face challenges in fostering inclusion. Additionally, many managers find it challenging to measure and communicate the precise benefits of diversity and inclusion to their superiors or board.
At Structure Law Group, we believe that diversity and inclusion are not just marketing buzzwords. Rather, they are goals that many businesses must meet for professional and legal reasons. The Silicon Valley employment attorneys at Structure Law Group can advise you on this and other issues related to the recruitment and management of employees.
How Diversity Can Drive Your Business to Greater Success
According to the international management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, diversity and inclusion do have a measurable impact on a company’s bottom line. For example, the firm noted in a 2019 report, “Companies with more than 30 percent women executives were more likely to outperform companies where this percentage ranged from 10 to 30, and in turn these companies were more likely to outperform those with even fewer women executives, or none at all.” Yet McKinsey also found that while there had been significant gains in diversity and inclusion over the past decade, there were still “high levels of negative sentiment about equality and fairness of opportunity.”
So how can your Silicon Valley business demonstrate a more positive attitude towards diversity and inclusion–and why should you make that a priority? Here are a few considerations:
- Diversity Drives Engagement: Having a more diverse workforce makes it easier for individual employees to feel empowered to voice their opinions. This means they are also more likely to listen to and consider the views of others, which makes the entire workforce more engaged and improves morale.
- Diversity Increases Institutional Knowledge: Diversity and inclusion is more than just checking off boxes for characteristics like race, gender, or age. Drawing employees from a more diverse pool of talent gives your business access to a broader range of institutional knowledge and skills.
- Diversity Drives Innovation: It is no secret that the most successful Bay Area companies are the ones that know how to innovate and bring new ideas to the marketplace. This kind of creativity requires a diverse workforce who can foster and nurture these new ideas.
- Diversity Drives Recruitment: When you draw from a larger pool of talent, you will find it is often much easier to find exceptional candidates to fill your vacant positions.
Speak with a Bay Area Employment Lawyer Today
Aside from the direct benefits to your business as described above, emphasizing diversity and inclusion can help boost your company’s reputation with the public at-large. Such goodwill is often the most valuable asset your business can possess. So if you need additional guidance or legal advice regarding your own workplace’s diversity and inclusion initiatives, contact SLG today to schedule a consultation.