World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development also known as Diversity Day is held on the 21st of May each year. It is a day devoted to celebrating the richness of world culture and diversity and to acknowledge the importance that the role of intercultural dialogue has for sustainable development.
Apleona Ireland recognise the significance of diversity and inclusion. Our focus is to create an equal, inclusive, and diverse environment where colleagues can take pride in working for an organisation which promotes diversity, inclusion, and equality. Including and diversifying our workforce creates a culture that allows employees to balance their career goals with their personal lives.
7 Benefits of Cultural Diversity in the Workplace
1. Wider Talent Pool
2. Inclusive Communication
3. Promotes Creativity and Co-Creation
4. Company Culture and Collaboration
5. Language Exposure
6. Increased Employee Engagement and Performance
7. International Opportunities
Wilder Talent Pool
Employees seek organisations that help with career development as well as a place for personal growth, challenge, and acceptance. A company that welcomes diversity attracts a wider set of candidates who are looking for a constantly growing environment. This in turn benefits not only the candidate but the employer. They have access to a larger talent pool – embracing diversity in backgrounds, ethnicities, ideas are substantial factors to find good hires.
Inclusive Communication
Every workplace needs to have a space where everyone feels like they belong. Here employees feel comfortable to share their ideas with colleagues - where there is no judgement, employees are happy to receive constructive feedback.
Promotes Creativity and Co-Creation
It is evident that workplace diversity enables innovation. Employees can share different viewpoints and ideas with each other from different life skills to different skillsets. A new environment or circumstance is known to spark fresh and inspiring ideas – this diversifies the way a team thinks and leads and empowers colleagues to promote and share their innovative ideas and work.
Company Culture and Collaboration
An organisation that hires candidates from different backgrounds, experiences and paths of life have a better and more welcoming inclusive workplace – this has a positive impact on how employees perceive the organisation. A sense of belonging boosts employees’ sense of belonging and collaborative thoughts and procedures.
Language Exposure
Multilingual employees can aid the organisation communicate more effectively and are able to build stronger relationships with clients which facilitates an overall cultural exchange for the business. Language expose improves proficiency of the business and raises social awareness for further business development. Interpersonal interactions at work are also exchanged, which stimulate employee interaction with each other and can encourage mentorship partnerships and skill sharing amongst colleagues.
Increased Employee Engagement and Performance
A diverse workforce leads to an environment where employees can feel comfortable being themselves. This in turn leads to employee satisfaction and productivity. Cross-cultural learnings and sharing different experiences, education leads to the improvement of problem-solving abilities and make employees better agile thinkers. When employees are comfortable, they are more inclined to become more open and share their thoughts with colleagues. This overall leads to better engagement, collaboration, and performance across the organisation.
International Opportunities
Being culturally aware means that organisations can strengthen their business strategy to enter new foreign and global markets. Being able to learn about different country backgrounds and how they practice business etiquette is an important feature when organisations are securing new client relationships.
