Diversity (business)

For financial strategy, see Diversification (finance).

Diversity, in a business context, is hiring and promoting employees from a variety of different backgrounds and identities. Those characteristics may include various legally protected groups, such as people of different religions or races, or backgrounds that are not legally protected, such as people from different social classes or educational levels. A business or group with people from a variety of backgrounds is called diverse; a business or group with people who are very similar to each other is not diverse.

Proponents argue that businesses benefit by having diversity in the work force.[1][2][3] The business case for diversity stems from the progression of the models of diversity within the workplace since the 1960s. In the United States, the original model for diversity was situated around affirmative action drawing from equal opportunity employment objectives implemented in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Equal employment opportunity was centered around the idea that any individual academically or physically qualified for a specific job could strive for (and possibly succeed) at obtaining the said job without being discriminated against based on identity. These initiatives were met with accusations that tokenism was the reason an individual was hired into a company when they differed from the dominant group. Dissatisfaction from minority groups eventually altered and/or raised the desire to achieve perfect employment opportunities in every job.

The social justice model evolved next and extended the idea that diverse workers should be given disproportionate opportunities within the workplace, not only because it was instituted as a law, but considering it to be a moral good. Kevin Sullivan an ex-vice president of Apple Inc. said that "diversity initiatives must be sold as business, not social work."[4]

In the deficit model, it is believed that organizations that do not have a strong diversity inclusion culture will invite lower productivity, higher absenteeism, and higher turnover which will result in higher costs to the company.[5] Establishments with more diversity are less likely to have successful unionization attempts.[6]

  1. ^ "Why Diversity and Inclusion Are Good for Business". The University of North Carolina at Pembroke Online. 27 October 2021. Archived from the original on 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  2. ^ Ely, Robin J.; Thomas, David A. (2020-11-01). "Getting Serious About Diversity: Enough Already with the Business Case". Harvard Business Review. ISSN 0017-8012. Archived from the original on 2023-05-03. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  3. ^ "HR022/HR022: Diversity in the Workplace: Benefits, Challenges, and the Required Managerial Tools". edis.ifas.ufl.edu. Archived from the original on 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
  4. ^ Jean Helms-Mills; Kelly Dye; Albert J Mills (10 September 2008). Understanding Organizational Change. Routledge. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-134-25316-6.
  5. ^ Harvey, Carol P. (2012). Understanding and Managing Diversity. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. pp. 51–55. ISBN 978-0-13-255311-7.
  6. ^ Ferguson, J.-P. (2016). Racial Diversity and Union Organizing in the United States, 1999–2008. ILR Review, 69(1), 53–83. https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793915602253