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Diversity as key strategy

At The Mouse and The Elephant, we have no interest in delivering a diversity initiative as an add-on. Our interest is in identifying organizational objectives and challenges, and delivering an initiative that integrates our understanding of diversity, inclusiveness, communication, storytelling, team development, process improvement, and culture development into the organization to tackle those challenges and meet those goals—in other words, to deliver an initiative that leads to greater effectiveness, and impacts your bottom line.

We believe that a few years down the road, business leaders will think about diversity issues in much the same way they now think about environmental issues: as a key part of their business strategy.

In the early days of the environmental movement, when a company paid attention to their ecological impact, they did so largely as a matter of conscience. Yet the question companies ask themselves has shifted over time, from “How can we be more green, and thus be a more socially-conscious company?” to “How can being more green make us a better, more effective, more profitable company?”

That shift is happening with diversity and inclusiveness right now, as the question becomes less “How can we embrace diversity and thus be a more socially-conscious company?” and more “How can embracing diversity make us a better, more effective, more profitable company?”

This is the lens through which we look at diversity: How can more effectively integrating the principles and practices of diversity and inclusion make you better, more effective, and more profitable?

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Beyond black and white

Looking at diversity through a new lens requires not only new thinking on how to construct an initiative, but thinking about the very language of diversity in a new way. An initiative that makes the company more effective and more profitable has clear appeal to the executive leadership. But for the initiative to be embraced by employees at all levels of the organization, we must reframe perceptions. A diversity initiative can no longer be a field trip (or series of field trips) to the Museum of Cultural Sensitivity.

An effective initiative focuses on examining, understanding, appreciating, embracing, and perhaps most important, leveraging difference in all its forms. Difference impacts employees every day—but often in ways they don’t even consider.

Put another way, this is beyond issues of black and white. While race is certainly important, and a diversity issue that is easily understood, building effective teams and organizations requires paying attention a much broader range of difference, including everything from religion, gender, and sexual orientation to learning styles, family status, and physical ability.

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The diversity value proposition

What are the potential payoffs from investing in an integrated diversity initiative? The initiative can improve two major areas: organizational effectiveness and employee satisfaction, two target outcomes that each support the other.

Organizational Effectiveness

Communication. Though everyone at your company may speak English, that doesn’t mean they all speak the same language. Different experiences lead to different vocabulary, different communication choices, and different communication styles. An effective diversity initiative can improve organizational communication, which can lead to clearer expectations, fewer errors, and more productive teams, as well as increased employee satisfaction.

Culture. Your organizational culture defines “How we do things around here,” and as a result impacts everything from employee expectations and work ethic to how your people treat clients and each other. An inclusive culture helps people feel not only included, but also invested in the work of your company.

Innovation. Innovation has become the battle cry of the new decade, and one of the keys to being an innovative organization is to be open to and able to embrace and incorporate different ideas and viewpoints. A company that truly embraces diverse perspectives is more likely to foster and cultivate innovation at all levels of the organization.

Adaptability. America’s shifting demographics are a topic in countless discussions of political, economic, and global concerns. What will these shifting demographics mean for business? It’s impossible to say—but a business that embraces diversity and inclusiveness now will be able to adapt to whatever changes may come, as they come, and will be better prepared for the future, whatever it looks like. Such an organization will be, by definition, more flexible, more adaptive, and more capable of including new experiences, perspectives, and skill sets, all of which will be critical for long-term success.

Employee Satisfaction

Recruitment. A workforce that seamlessly integrates diverse people, perspectives, and experiences will be more welcoming to new talent and better able to assimilate that new talent. It will also recruit better, thanks to word of mouth (happy employees recruiting friends, and leading your recruitment marketing efforts voluntarily) and the personal experience of prospects who come to interview with you and meet your employees as part of the interview process. Top recruits are more likely to come work for you if they feel welcome, and feel genuine enthusiasm from the people they meet in interviews than if they worry if they will fit in or don’t feel the love from their future co-workers.

Retention. According to a Psychology Today article from December 2011, a Gallagher Organization statistic “reports that more than 60 percent of current employees are planning to leave their positions as soon as another opportunity presents itself.” As the economy rebounds and hiring picks up, more and more companies will be faced with more and more employees seeking greener grass. But satisfied employees—who value their work environment and get along well with their teams—will be less tempted than unsatisfied employees to jump ship. An integrated diversity initiative can lead to better employee retention through improved communication among employees, and ensuring that all employees feel heard, valued, and validated.