As more companies seek to become more diverse, it’s important to understand what that word really means. It’s easy to think racial variety makes a more diverse workforce. But, while it helps to have a mix of people of different races, there’s more to it than that. There are 4 primary types of diversity that businesses should strive for. Personal characteristics, including race, are just one. The others are personal experience, role, and worldview.
Personal Characteristics
Otherwise known as “internal diversity,” this phone number list category includes attributes that people are typically born with, such as race, ethnicity, country of origin, generation, sexual orientation, and physical and mental ability. These characteristics can’t change, not even by the person that possesses them.
Employers should be careful not to confuse race and culture. While 2 people of the same race might embrace a similar culture, it’s equally possible that they don’t. For example, 2 people of Asian heritage may come from very different places and hold entirely different cultural standards. Releasing assumptions about a person’s culture based on their race is one more step toward a more diverse and inclusive workplace.
Companies that want to be more welcoming to people with a variety of personal characteristics should develop training programs to help team members overcome unconscious biases.
Personal Experience
Personal experience, otherwise known the role of wireframes in web design and development as “external diversity,” includes individual attributes that may be more fluid, such as education, appearance, location, familial status, religion, and socioeconomic status.
Many of these attributes contribute to the larger concept of culture, which impacts a person’s expectations, manner of speaking, preferred foods, and world views. Employers can promote the notion that the various cultures carried by employees can meld together to form the larger company culture. Another aspect of inclusivity regarding culture is a company value of willingness to listen to someone else’s perspective.
To attract more workers with a variety of personal experiences, companies can make it a point to address cultural needs. For example, people of different religions may have different days in the year that they need time off to engage in rituals or celebrate holidays. They may also need specific types of medical care.
Role
Otherwise known as “organizational diversity,” this category includes differences between people that are assigned by the organization. It includes job function, work location, pay rate, and seniority.
Pay rate is an excellent area to focus resource data on in creating greater diversity in the value employers place on workers. According to employee engagement expert Vantage Circle, “In order to be a truly gender-diverse company, businesses need to address issues like the gender pay gap, where women are routinely paid less for the same jobs as their male counterparts.”