In short, yes. As years progress, Diversity, and Inclusion are paramount factors when seeking a job. According to a survey conducted by GlassDoor, 72% of women (versus 62% of men), 89% of African Americans, 80% of Asians, and 70% of Latinos ranked workforce diversity as important in their job search.
Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace is one of the most important advantages that a business can have in 2020 and the years following it. America in itself is a melting pot of different cultures, ethnicities, environments, personalities, perspectives and with over 627,000 new businesses every year according to the SBA.
As the years progress, our society learns to be more aware of the current events surrounding them. In reality, we’re a society that when as a majority, has been able to call out situations that were displeasing as well as praise the moments that were positive for us. We’ve found that other people around us have similar points of view, and those that don’t, we try to understand a point of view different from the one we have; It may not happen all the time that we’re able to understand each other, and there are always situations where another majority is clearly against it, but we’re never nor have we ever been alone.
It’s through thoughts and actions like these that we’re able to see an increase in holding preference towards a business that has Diversity and Inclusion strategies in place to one that doesn’t have it. As our previous article mentions, 45% of Americans have suffered from discrimination and/or harassment in previous jobs.
The businesses that don’t yet have D&I in place need to begin looking into how to incorporate it into their current business practice. Having and practicing D&I in the workplace not only improves the current workforce financially and ethically but also becomes an appealing factor when it comes to recruiting by attracting top talent.
As for the businesses that already have D&I in place, it’s always a good idea to revisit these strategies and practices on a regular basis with the mindset of improving them or continuing to build from them in order to remain competitive and sustainable with the promise of scaling.
