Cultural diversity in the workplace
Abz Abi
Managing Consultant
I hadn’t fully realised the importance of diversity in an organisation, until I saw the lack of it. I was at a client workshop about 6 years ago. This workshop had 24 senior representatives who oversaw various departments of the client’s organisation. Normally in these workshops, you have people challenge each other’s opinions regularly, and these differences of opinions lead to some of the best outcomes and ideas. However, this was a very different workshop where everyone was in agreement, straight from the get-go. One person would say something, and the rest of the room would agree, there was no opposition, no creativity, no challenges towards ideas and propositions. I remember looking around the room and it slowly hit me that 23 of the 24 people were of the same gender, ethnicity and roughly the same age.
Culture, age, gender, skill, ethnicity, and diversity of thought are just a few examples of diversity. Diversifying the workforce is one of the best ways to get a competitive advantage in this ever-changing market. Diversity in the workplace is important not just because it benefits the organisation in areas such as brand management, client engagement, and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), but also because it attracts diverse professionals that drive innovation as “Cognitive diversity drives innovation by up to 20%”.
Our cultural diversity is one of my favourite things about Finyx. We value our differences, and we seek ways to celebrate them. We have created an atmosphere where everyone has a feeling of belonging and can make a difference, and this is a key pillar of our culture. This is evident with people at all grades taking ownership of large internal initiatives such as Marketing, Recruitment, Training, Onboarding, CSR, Sustainability, Mental Health, and many others.
We have a mentorship scheme where everyone at the firm is aligned to a career coach as well as a mentor who can help guide you through challenges and long-term goals. We put a lot of emphasis around progression and employee relationships, and this is emphasised by our quarterly review cycles and ongoing coaching and mentoring sessions.
We don’t have the perfect model just yet but we’re making excellent progress. One of the big initiatives that we pushed in the last year is our focus on Women in tech. You might’ve seen our incredible articles over the month of March! I’m incredibly proud that we’ve hired and retained very talented women here at Finyx. 32% of our permanent staff are now female and the percentage of female staff at Finyx has almost tripled in the last year.
When striving to create a safe, open, familial work environment, it’s critical to have a culture where everyone is appreciated and heard. Regularising freedom of expression and having employees practise raising issues can lead to a workplace that is more open to different points of view and feels more connected. Organisations should attempt to create a culture in which employees are not afraid to be themselves and feel at ease performing cultural customs. Managers can undertake sensitivity training to learn how to avoid bias and appreciate diverse cultures more effectively. By encouraging internal ownership across all grades our people at Finyx have come up with innovative ways where they can make a real impact at the heart of the organisation. People across all grades challenge leadership and have successfully owned and implemented great internal initiatives.
Additionally, businesses could provide various mentorships. Mentorship programmes ensure that everyone has the chance to progress while also strengthening employee relationships. Creating an inclusive mentorship programme can aid in the promotion of diversity. As previously mentioned, everyone at Finyx is allocated a career coach and a mentor and these relationships help our colleagues feel more valued and ensure emphasis on career progression and development.
Having different types of employees in your firm with different backgrounds and experiences leads to increased creativity and innovation. When you have a varied workforce, you’ll have a wide set of perspectives and a diverse style of thinking, which is critical for creating fresh ideas and input that will benefit the company.
Diversity in the workplace encourages employees to be themselves, recognising that everyone may bring new, creative, and innovative ideas and solutions. Employees with various backgrounds and experiences can bring a range of viewpoints to bear on issues, resulting in increased productivity and better results. Diversity brings together a varied range of talents to work toward a shared objective while employing a variety of skills, increasing employee retention and productivity. “Racially diverse teams report a 35% increase in performance compared to their competitors”.
Diversity in a firm helps to strengthen its brand and makes it more interesting and a more desirable employer. Interacting with a wide group of people boosts their capacity to function in an atmosphere with a variety of styles, cultures, and personalities. Diversity in the workforce can help an organisation better satisfy the demands of each market.
A diverse company can recruit and retain talent, both young and seasoned experts, giving it a competitive advantage. This allows the organisation to compete on a global scale or to expand its diversified client base and market share.
At Finyx we like to work smart and play hard. Our people are actively involved in events throughout the year. We enjoy social hours, as well as larger other events involving families.
Check out the “Our People” page to meet some of our incredible and diverse team!
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