When you are a growing company, you dismiss diversity simply because of time and suppositions. You might have the misassumption that diversity is too broad to handle and that you prefer prioritizing other areas that need more attention, but you would be surprised to find out its importance. Diversity and inclusiveness are not only buzzwords, they are an advantage for companies and an opportunity to expand their knowledge. 

How do we do it in Tribe?

Diversity and inclusion are two words that are engraved in our DNA. We have an inclusive culture where we accept our colleagues as outstanding as they are. Having a diverse group of talent from different parts of the world is something we take pride in. 

We have a culture that fosters diversity, inclusiveness, and equality regarding career opportunities and compensation for all regardless of your background.

As we recognize and honor their diverse background, we offer them the possibility to adapt their working days according to the holidays of the country where they are based.

In addition, we provide learning-oriented workshops such as “Culture of belonging” and “Cultural Shows” to train our peers about inclusiveness practice and make them embrace their diversity.

Reshaping your workplace

The more, the merrier right? Well, the more diversified your work group is, the more different perspectives you can receive. Here is the dilemma, normally people associate diversity with cultural barriers. However, it is partly true but it all depends on your way of managing diversity.

Companies with inclusive cultures tend to attract more candidates. Who doesn’t want to join a company that welcomes diversity, equity, and inclusivity? The outcomes of embracing these are: 

Implement the inclusive workplace model

Creating an inclusive culture in the workplace can make your peers feel valued, supported, and proud of their own culture. It is important to first acknowledge the differences that might exist and then introduce diversity and inclusiveness initiatives. By implementing these practices, you can see an increase in employee retention and turnover rates. Most importantly, a diversified team can be beneficial as it can produce better work. 

Foster a creative thinking environment

Hiring people with different backgrounds can foster creativity in the workplace, giving you a diverse approach to working and handling problems. A varied team of employees can bring new knowledge and fresh ideas to your business, allowing you to embark on new challenges that will enable you to grow.

Boost productivity and performance

You can create a positive environment that would translate into being more productive and outperforming. From another perspective, go-to-market strategies can be employed by diversifying your ways of recruiting. This creates a unique value proposition not only for your clients but also to provide a better candidate experience, leading to a competitive advantage.

Build a positive brand image

Not only candidates are searching for work in companies that embrace these values. Clients also seek to do business with companies that share an appropriate code of conduct and promote diversity in the workplace. A varied team can attract the attention of more talents, improve employee engagement, boost employee motivation, and create positive organizational support.

Best Practices & Tactics

From a recruiting perspective, building a diversified candidate pool is also essential. The best strategy is to use these 4 well-used steps: 

1. Build a specific list of requirements and skills needed
2. Set clear goals for hiring diversity, including in non-traditional career paths
3. Use blind hiring tools for diversity hiring
4. Highlight minority groups on your career page

Hire people that think out of the box belonging to a different culture

The first piece of advice is to dare to have an open mind, listen and then evaluate the idea. It may sound crazy, but crazy ideas can bring you success if you translate them into a workable business plan. 

Avoid discrimination and stereotypes

As a company, you need to ensure there is zero tolerance for comments that may hurt people’s emotions. Just because someone has a different background doesn’t mean it’s okay to attack them with stereotypes about their customs or insult them by creating inappropriate jokes about their accent. If you see this behavior, make sure to punish them from the beginning. 

Make sure to provide fair and meritocratic career opportunities

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2022, the gender employment gap is 68.1% (World Economic Forum, July 2022) and 10.8% in Europe. In many companies, gender parity is not a priority, and this is a detrimental mistake. Companies shall build and promote equal opportunities for all employees and remuneration should be based on experience, skills, and performance. Reference: Global Gender Gap Report 2022, World Economic Forum, 2022. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2022.pdf

Build an inclusive culture

First, you need to recognize the differences and assess how they can contribute to the company. Another infallible tactic is to cultivate employee engagement strategies, such as conducting diversity training, having mentorship programs, and using an open-door and inclusive policy. Remember, all diversity should be valued and if anyone has questions about it, ask! Communication is key to reducing bias.

Conclusion

For growing companies, having a team belonging to different countries and cultures can become a competitive advantage since you can create more opportunities through them.