Diversity has been making a buzz for a long time. In fact, LinkedIn’s 2018 Global Recruiting Trends Report that one of the trends shaping the future of hiring is diversity. Numerous studies and researches have also pointed out its amazing benefits. Because of this, more and more organizations are making an effort to hire a more diverse workforce.  Still, trends may come in go. So, you might ask yourself: is hiring for diversity just a fad?

 

Why Hiring For Diversity Is Not Just a Fad

Your customers are diverse. Depending on your product, you surely will have a different target market for it. Your company may be offering products or services that are directed to women only. Or you may be providing solutions for a certain niche in the market. The logic here is that to better cater to the diverse market, you have to have a diverse workforce.

This is where hiring for diversity comes in. You might not notice it, but your organization is already diverse. When you look for talents, different positions will require different types of people. This already creates a variety of people in your company.

So this means that you have been already hiring for diversity, it’s just that it’s limited and not your main objective when filling up your positions. The goal of diversity hiring is to identify and remove potential biases in your hiring process that may be ignoring, turning off, or accidentally discriminating against qualified, diverse candidates.

 

Why You Should Start Hiring For Diversity

A 2017 study by the Boston Consulting Group suggests that increasing the diversity of leadership teams leads to more and better innovation and improved financial performance. This means that aside from reaping profit if you want to make innovation happen at your workplace, having a more diverse workforce can help you achieve this.

Aside from this, here are some reasons why you should hire for diversity:

  • Have more productive teams — A 2014 study conducted by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and George Washington University, found that people are happier working with employees of the same gender. But while people are happier working with people of the same gender, gender-diverse teams tend to be more productive.
  • Increases creativity — different kinds of people will see the world and think differently. This means that they have different and fresh ideas that can help boost creativity.
  • Get a more qualified workforce — having a more open-minded hiring process will allow you to see each candidate without the bias clouding you. This will help you find the best talent for the position you’re working to fill, and in turn, will give you a more qualified workforce.
  • Improve your employer brand — more and more talents are looking to work for an organization that supports diversity. Hiring for diversity will help you boost your employer brand, making you more attractive to talents.

 

Hiring for diversity is not just a fad—it’s a smarter way to do business. And it’s not just a trend either. Talents are scarce, and the constantly changing HR landscape means that hiring would continuously bring new challenges. Hiring for diversity can give you a real competitive advantage, may it be in catering to your customers, or improving your organization.