Does diversity in the workplace really make a difference? This author agrees that it does. Evidence abounds that when diversity is leveraged, positive results will occur. Measuring diversity’s impact is not easy, and it is not just a matter of dollars and cents. However, the challenge is to figure out how best to use the varied perspectives that people bring to the office. Some workplaces are still trying to recruit a more diverse staff. Others may look diverse but have an undercurrent of cynicism because employees liken diversity with yearly being held hostage for a boring seminar that shoves one person’s values down another person’s throat. Nevertheless, where there is a top-down commitment to diversity, it is becoming much more intertwined with other aspects of employee improvement and responsibility. (Racial Diversity Reconsidered)

According to ABC News, racial and gender diversity did not have any resounding impact — positive or negative. However, if you understand leveraging diversity, you can get results that are more positive from diverse groups by providing the skills to help people learn from each other’s background. Learning better communication skills, conflict and negotiation skills, as well as drawing out the strengths of different people will aid in achieving the positive impact of diversity.

Diversity brings us strength because it allows us to tap in to diverse viewpoints and perspectives. Since our workforce must be hired primarily from the local populace, and that population is made up of all kinds of people, it only makes common sense that we will want to be a focus for and preserve the best employees not considering their gender, race, religion, national origin, physical ability or other distinctiveness.

Diversity is making a difference in the workplace. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the number of job discrimination complaints filed by workers against private employers declined by 3.7 percent in the 12 months ending in September after hitting a seven-year high in 2002. (DiversityINC, 2004) As workers become more accustomed to a diverse workforce, the differences between diverse individuals and groups will begin to fade.

Given all this, does diversity make our workplace stronger? Absolutely! We do benefit by learning about and from each other. We do make better decisions about how to serve our customers when we truly identify with our customers. We do open our workplace to the best available talent when we remove barriers based on age, race, gender, physical disability, religion, and so on.