Diversity in the corporate world is a hot topic raising complex questions. No matter where the company is based, or how advanced the conversation about inclusion might be, diversity remains a somewhat challenging goal to achieve or work towards, even if the process seems simple in theory.
1- The benefits of diversity and inclusion
But no matter how hard it currently is, the benefits and potential of diversity and inclusion in the workplace are beginning to display a business value employers can’t ignore. A diverse workforce goes beyond morality and corporate responsibility, disrupting traditional models and providing the company with new business opportunities.
From a strategic point of view, a diverse workforce influences the direction of operations, the process leading to its success, and present an enticing software company for potential employees, business partners, and industry experts.
Team members of different ethnicities provide a previously non-existent point of view, global perspectives, stories, and mindset. Their unique background, social experience, values, and morals can be the catalyst for new innovative initiatives within the company, especially for the SaaS example.
2- Expanded target demographics
To put this into perspective, it’s vital to understand that a SaaS company’s goal is to make its products available for global use. More often than not, these companies focus on clear and defined markets where demand for their products is acknowledged and established, where the majority of their clients are located. In this scenario, secondary markets that haven’t been explored become a lost unreachable cause, simply because there’s nothing to bridge the gap between software and consumers that might not know they need it, speak its language, or notice its existence.
A diverse workforce can catalyze change in this regard, providing input on local markets, consumers, audience preferences, and needed adjustments. They are also capable of bypassing the language barrier, further enriching the company linguistically.
The targeted audience automatically expands for the marketing and sales teams allowing them to reach, understand, and speak to new demographics. This goes for consumers just as well as it does partners and business collaborators, covering both b2b and b2c endeavors.
3- Innovative point of view
Innovation isn’t always the result of visionary acumen or a Master’s degree in business development. It’s often found in individuals with a unique perspective, or those who have experienced the need for a certain solution and found available software lacking in one regard or another. This can range from language support and localized payment methods to specific features and user experience.
Taking our own company as an example, ‘s diverse nature had an immediate effect on software optimization and client satisfaction. It allows our sales team to speak the client’s language, to understand their needs on a deeper level. It also affects the priorities that our software developers outline in their day-to-day operations, allowing Manatal’s ATS to grow and accommodate customer needs.
Diversity can also influence the process itself. Industry experience in different regional markets can give managers an idea of where to localize improvement. This can include different understandings of the software’s development potential or a different approach to problem-solving to name a few.
4- Workplace & company culture
The benefits of diversity in this regard are twofold. First, it affects the company on an internal level. Once such measures are in place, it’s been shown that the workplace becomes more productive. Consequently, diversity correlates with better business results, increasing revenue, and testing the limits of industry earnings.
An article in the Harvard Business Review (David Rock and Heidi Grant, Ph.D.) outlines the results of research conducted in the US, UK, Central America, and Canada. It displays clearly that socially diverse teams tend to be more productive, and actively produce more innovative products and ideas than homogenous teams would.
Additionally, diversity’s effect on a SaaS company’s culture can be external. It reaches the various audiences that any company would be fortunate to cultivate an interest in. Targeted clients become a lot more diverse in background, location, and languages, providing a rare opportunity for large scale global growth.
But most importantly, diversity provides an opportunity to simplify future recruitment by spreading awareness of the company’s nature, its inclusion, and its potential. In fact, it helps the marketing team frame their tone and message around the team’s diverse nature. This leads to rising interest from potential employees, going as far as to maintain a passive flow of qualified talent that can be leveraged at any time.
At this point, companies find themselves able to grow beyond their traditional business model while building an enticing company culture and atmosphere. Companies aiming to scale should begin by analyzing how they can incorporate diversity and inclusion into their day-to-day operations, and building a strategy that effectively improves talent recruitment and retention, company culture, targeted audience, and business opportunities.
Diversity has been at the heart of our company since incubation and we are proud to lead in this regard. Not only does it help to innovate at a fast pace, but also gives us the means and the knowledge to deliver Manatal’s recruiting software services to countless companies in over 70 countries.
Originally published at https://www.manatal.com on May 29, 2020.
