The power of diversity in the workplace

Globally, workforces are becoming increasingly diverse. Different racial, cultural, gender and educational backgrounds all come together to create the potential for vibrant and idea-generating teams. Diversity fuels innovation and enhances problem-solving capabilities – diverse views = diverse solutions. Diversity also leads to positive financial and company growth impacts. According to diversity and inclusion research from Deloitte, “diverse and inclusive companies are six times more likely to innovate, six times more likely to anticipate change, and twice as likely to meet or exceed financial targets”. Now those are some good reasons to prioritise diversity within your organisation.

Diverse and inclusive companies are

Source: Deloitte, The right mind-set: Approaching diversity and inclusion in South Africa, Value Beyond Compliance Series, January 2020

But in certain sectors, diversity is a tricky task, and the construction industry is just one such example. South African research highlights an industry with a shortage of qualified personnel and tradesmen (brought on by disparities in access to education and certification facilities), as well as an ageing workforce. Underrepresentation of women is also a key concern with only 11% making up the total construction workforce, as is a lack of adequate representation (of women and Black Africans) at management and executive levels in general. According to the same research from Deloitte, out of 26 255 South African companies researched, only 11% of top management was Black African.

But the good news is there are positive inroads being made. The advancement of women in the construction industry specifically is being spearheaded by the South African Women in Construction initiative, which aims to give women access to contracts, training and finance and the Construction Education and Training Authority has also mandated that all apprenticeship programmes have 50% female participation.

Overall, diversity in the South African landscape is supported by legislation such as Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Codes of Good Practice, and others like the Employment Equity Act. But, to make this legislation really work, requires more than ‘check-box’ thinking. It requires a commitment to acting out this legislation daily, taking it from “mandate to movement” according to Deloitte.

Globally, there are also key players advancing the diversity, equity and inclusion agenda in similar industries. The Chartered Institute of Building in the UK has released a Diversity and Inclusion Charter which outlines steps businesses can take to improve the representation of women, the differently abled and people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups.

And it’s not just in your workforce where diversity can make a lasting impact but in your executive team too. According to a 2020 McKinsey & Co report “companies with ethnically diverse executive teams were 36% more likely to have above-average profits than companies whose teams were the least ethnically diverse”. Yet another good reason to start promoting and living a diversity agenda within your organisation.

On top of the benefits already mentioned, ensuring a diverse workforce also helps foster a greater sense of workplace belonging which can lead to a “a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% reduction in turnover risk, and a 75% decrease in employee sick days”.

A greater sense of workplace belonging can lead to:

increase in job performance

reduction in turnover risk

decrease in employee sick days

Source: Harvard Business Review, The value of belonging at work, Evan W. Carr, Andrew Reece, Gabriella Rosen Kellerman, and Alexi Robichaux.

Diversity, inclusion and equity are goals you should be supporting in the workplace, and your teams should feel this in terms of the make up of your leadership, policies and procedures and in how they’re treated by colleagues and managers alike. At iLodge we pride ourselves on upholding diversity and ensuring smooth working and living conditions when diverse individuals come together as one workforce. Our focus is on ensuring a happy, healthy team, who knows they’re supported and can speak to our iLodge client service team 24/7.