7 Advantages of Cultural Diversity in the Workplace

Our society is becoming more open every day. We meet different people every day and we can choose if we wish to have some of them around us. However, the workplace is not always that flexible when it comes to picking who you’re going to interact with during your day. Even though we might not like or approve a certain type of behavior, interests, or we don’t know enough about a certain culture, it’s important to understand that diversity is what kept us going as a species all this time.

To put this notion into perspective here are seven reasons why cultural diversity makes your workplace better.

Different background – different skills

When it comes to hiring employees, their professional skill is the most important aspect that we take into account. The ability to get a job done is what drives the whole team forward, as well as the company. Nevertheless, in a team of people that work together in order to complete a particular project, diversity can come in handy. People that come from diverse backgrounds have their own individual set of skills that could be of use. Working on a project for a foreign company can be a lot easier if you have someone who is related or familiar with the local customs and culture.

Diversity gives birth to colorful ideas

It’s difficult to think outside the box without someone to give you a little push in the right direction. Sometimes we can’t see a solution until a person with another perspective introduces us to a new approach. Moreover, some of us are good at crafting project guidelines and goals, others could be better at execution.

Breaking the language barrier

Meeting with foreign partners can be a chance to scale our business sky-high. On the other hand, with language as a barrier, meeting foreign people can be somewhat awkward. With someone who is familiar with the language and business culture of the people you’re meeting with, the doors are wide open. The discussion goes smoother, more relaxed and the chances for a misunderstanding are lower.

More efficient marketing capabilities

Experienced content writer Paul Landeros from CareersBooster once wrote: “To create a good marketing campaign you need to understand what drives your target audience.” This means that having someone on your team who is acquainted with the local audience is a great advantage. The last thing you want to do is to promote a product in a country where your tagline has no marketing sense, sounds weird, or insulting. Various countries have different graphics aesthetics, so doing things in a manner that’s working in your culture could have a negative effect abroad.

Diverse working environment attracts talents

In a survey conducted by Glassdoor, results show that people prefer employers that show nurturing of cultural diversity among their employees. The results show that two-thirds of the people that took part in this survey find cultural diversity important part of the job seeking process. This means that you’ll have more chances of hiring top talents if you show that there are no prejudices or bias in your dictionary.

Diverse teams are more productive

It sounds logical that homogeneous working environment produces a more stable team that can work together well. However, studies show that diverse teams are more productive. They produce versatile ideas, there’s a healthy competitive spirit that springs colorful ideas and approaches to various issues. Higher productivity ultimately leads to economic benefit, and the ability to focus on other burning topics that demand your attention.  

A chance to open up to new markets

In the global market, it is almost impossible to successes without an international pool of talents at your side. The global working environment allows your company to benefit from a broader set of skills that the local job market doesn’t offer. This also allows your company to offer more products and services crafted for individual markets. This is important because the global business environment doesn’t allow static companies to thrive, it demands a dynamic and flexible business agenda.

Conclusion

It could be a challenge to put together a team of people with different backgrounds and have them all working together in the same direction. However, once you manage to find the right set of people and make them all work as one, the possibilities for success grow beyond imagination. With the right leadership and clear vision of the future, your company and the entire team will prosper.

by Eva Wislow