Forms Of Diversity: 7 Types You Can Find At a Workplace

Many HR executives and administrators in modern organizations promote new practices and programs aimed at promoting workplace diversity. Diverse firms are more adaptive, exhibit steady sales growth, and set the norm as industry leaders. In addition, diversity in the workplace refers to a community built up of individuals of different races, ethnicities, genders, ages, religions, physical abilities, and other attributes.

Also, when assessing organizational developmental objectives, it is vital to identify the unique diversity, fairness, and inclusion deficits in your workforce. Measuring your company's unique characteristics is an objective approach to track DEI growth and success. The features and attributes that separate individuals from one another are known as diversity. 

Also, the list of factors that characterize diversity is endless. Individuals' unique hereditary and biological traits, experiences, and diversity training shape your workforce as who they are as people throughout their lives. Moreover, such training helps organizations diversify and develop the community, allowing people to connect and learn new things and habits from their coworkers. 

Significant Advantages of Workplace Diversity

Why should you diversify? To begin with, it is beneficial to your business productivity. Diverse employees offer a variety of expertise, abilities, and life experiences to their jobs, which boosts creativity and innovation. 

Diverse leadership garners financial benefits, and according to 2019 research, businesses in the top 25% for gender-diverse leadership positions were 25% more likely to achieve above-average earnings than companies in the lowest quartile. 

Similarly, companies in the top quartile of social and linguistic workplace diversity reported 36% higher profitability than those with no social workplace diversity. Second, it helps with marketing. Diversity training improves a firm's reputation, and a solid reputation helps a company recruit top personnel.

As per a study, 32% of millennial and Gen Z employees believe that corporate social responsibility, including workplace diversity, is essential for modern organizations. Ultimately, it is profitable to employees and administrators. 

Multicultural groups enrich the workplace experience, and employees enjoy working with colleagues from different backgrounds and skills. In addition, diverse teams collaborate better, which promotes workplace happiness and a sense of team solidarity.

What are Various Forms of Workplace Diversity?

• Neurodiversity

The National Conference on Neurodiversity defines neurodiversity as "a notion in which neurological variations are to be acknowledged and appreciated like any other phenotypic variation." These distinctions can include persons diagnosed with apraxia, dyslexia, ADHD, dyscalculia, autism spectrum disorder, Tourette syndrome, and other conditions." 

While there are preconceptions and taboos associated with neurodiverse people, studies prove that some diseases, such as autism and dyslexia, improve an individual's capacity to spot patterns, retain knowledge, and succeed in math, all of which are necessary skills for any successful career. 

• Character and thinking diversity

Bringing a diverse range of personalities and thinking styles into the workplace can result in both; stressful conditions and distinguished innovation. To avoid the first, organizations prefer hiring for cultural fit, which effectively halts the latter. Businesses should instead recruit for culture and distinct personalities who work well together and push one another's ideas and thinking.

Because it is challenging to determine someone's character and viewpoints from their application or even an interview, 22 percent of organizations require job applicants and workers to complete personality evaluations. It enables companies to understand their advantages, weaknesses, and gaps and create a company culture that encourages extroverts, intellectuals, and everyone in between.

While many businesses brag about their company's great "diversity of opinion," this should not be the only parameter by which your company gauges its diversity. You will organically obtain people with varied mindsets and viewpoints if you hire people with a wide variety of diverse qualities.

• Cultural diversity 

Different cultures get represented by diverse factors such as food, speech, religion, and customs. While many individuals like learning about other cultures. Working with people from diverse cultures is an altogether different scenario. 

Cultural differences can provide a variety of learning possibilities and some complex difficulties for workers who are unfamiliar with another culture. 

For instance, cheek kisses are pretty prevalent in French culture, and if you have a coworker or applicant who engages in such conduct, they may see it as a warm hello, whereas you may find it rather improper at work. 

Therefore, it is crucial to inform your workforce about diverse cultures and to embrace the differences. Establishing a culture that supports open communication can also allow employees to learn about each other's cultural diversity without creating a hostile work environment.

• Physical disabilities 

Hiring people with different disabilities and backgrounds will assist your team in creating a more varied and inclusive atmosphere and contribute different viewpoints and ideas to help your firm reach a larger market of clients. 

Begin by comparing your business to the national Disability Equality Index. Next, you can check the EEOC online platform for fundamental methods to increase disability inclusion in your business and throughout the employment process.

 Additionally, verify that your workplace remains ADA compliant and that ramps, automatic doors, visual elements, telephone helmets, screen readers, and facilities for service pets are present. It will make job seekers with some disabilities draw towards your organizations as they will remain assured that you can readily accommodate their needs. 

• Sexual orientation

Sexuality or sexual orientation is about who an individual remains attracted to in society or the workplace. While it is a private affair, your workforce must feel secure to express their sexual orientation with their coworkers without suffering any prejudice or workplace harassment.

In addition, the LGBTQ+ population includes individuals from various interests, backgrounds and thus encounters numerous hurdles at work. Therefore, a company must warrant safety for employees belonging to sexual minorities to boost job content and employee retention.

• Gender and gender identification

Half of the world's population consists of women; therefore, it is necessary to possess fair representation for them in the workplace. Also, it is one of the most apparent forms of diversity as holding a gender-diverse workplace culture is never about the number of females and males in your organization but equality.

Therefore, to become a successful gender-diverse company, it is crucial to converse with the workforce about the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap is where the female employees get less compensation for the same job as male equivalents. In addition, to be a gender-diverse company, companies need to examine the hurdles encountered by every gender when adding to the workforce and understand how they can ease some of those limitations for their workforce.

• Socioeconomic status and cultural background

Employees in an organization come from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and hold differing viewpoints towards specific life factors, like wealth, social standing, education, etc. 

For instance, a person who grew up in the poor strata of society can bring a distinct viewpoint than someone who comes from an affluent family. Therefore, it is necessary to notice if your company concentrates on recruiting people from all social backgrounds and no employee gets judged for their socioeconomic status. 

The Bottom Line

In a nutshell, remember that every employee in your workforce is distinct due to their differences. Individuals from all sorts of diversity on this list will face various forms of bias, which might undermine their capacity to excel in the workplace. 

Therefore, creating an environment that encourages individuals to succeed will only help your team develop and thrive. Also, when developing a diverse and inclusive workplace, educate your team on why diversity and inclusion are significant so that everyone remains on the same page.