5 Statistics that Prove the Unparalleled Importance of Cultural Diversity

How diverse is your workforce?

This is a question that a rapidly growing number of workplaces are asking themselves every year.

Check the numbers: a whopping 8 billion dollars are spent annually on diversity training in the US alone.

Why? Research shows that a diverse workforce can have a vast range of positive outcomes.

These benefits range from enhanced employer branding to greater market share and increased revenue.

Diversity is vital to your business.

Now, diversity can refer to gender, sexuality, race, religion, age, background, expertise and so on. But we want to talk about the particular importance of cultural diversity here.

Read on to learn 5 statistics that prove cultural diversity is crucial to your business.

5 Statistics About the Importance of Cultural Diversity

Here’s how cultural diversity can help in the workplace.

1. Diversity Is a Deciding Factor for 67% of Potential Employees

Job role candidates care about diversity levels in your workplace.

Glassdoor’s research showed that two-thirds of potential employees consider this metric when evaluating a job offer.

The numbers only increase for minority groups: 89% for black respondents, 70% for Latinos and 80% for Asians.

Develop your brand as an employer and attract more employees by fostering greater diversity.

2. Diversity Increases the Likelihood of Outperforming Competitors by 35%

Diversity gives you a competitive edge.

McKinsey research found that companies with the highest racial and ethnic diversity were 35% more likely to have higher returns than low-diversity competitors.

This statistic is unsurprising given that diversity is said to foster innovation, culture or global opportunities.

3. Diversity Increases Your Likelihood of Market Share Growth by 45%

Diversity can help you dominate your market.

Harvard Business Review found high-diversity companies were 45% more likely to experience market share growth compared to the previous year.

Racial diversity is a strong predictor of a company’s competitive positioning.

4. High Racial Diversity Companies Boast 15x More Revenue

More diversity equals more money.

By considerable amounts too. Research by Cedric Herring found that the revenue of low racial diversity companies is (on average) 15 times less than their high racial diversity peers.

Josh Bersin’s research showed similar money-related findings, including up to 2.3 times higher cash flow per employee where diversity was highest.

5. Racially Diverse Companies Attract More Customers

But check this out: the highest and lowest racial diversity companies (as found in the same Herring research) had 35,000 and 22,700 customers on average, respectively.

Cultural differences at work can win more customers.

Some Final Thoughts

Hopefully, these stats demonstrate the importance of cultural diversity in the workplace.

Simply put, companies with the highest diversity enjoy numerous advantages.

Firstly, employees want to work for them! But then they get a major competitive edge too. They generate higher revenue, control the market and attract more customers than their competitors.

Diversity is now more than just a social responsibility. It’s a business imperative.

Hopefully, this serves as inspiration for workplaces aiming to increase the diversity in their workforce.

Now we want to hear from you. What are the benefits of diversity that you enjoy in your business? Do these facts align with your own experience, or were they a total surprise?

Be sure to let us know in the comments.