Like education, more and more companies pay attention to diversity and inclusion when establishing their company culture and mission. On the one hand, excellent people are more likely to stay in a place that allows them to develop personality and potential. The more diversified and inclusive a company is, the more successful it is in attracting and retaining high performance employees. According to Korn Ferry （2015）, 84% of responders said that the lack of diversity and inclusion within company causes turnover. On the other hand, everyone has unconscious biases that limit our thinking. Only by ensuring that there are diverse employees who can consider from different views at all times can the company continue to create innovative ideas and products ahead of competitors.
In addition to the advantages of human resources, diversity and inclusion also help the business build its image of brand especially under the internet environment. If a company’s post on social media related to customer segmentation and employment strategy is slightly deviated, the problem will immediately be magnified a million times. In particular, diversity and inclusion are the most vulnerable areas in the image of the enterprise. Once a problem occurs, it is likely to cause irreparable damage. Also, towards director’s offline action or words, consumers may spread online and initiate boycotts. For example, the industry’s leading The American retailer Nordstrom (Nordstrom) decided to remove Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand products. This decision stemmed from the #GrabYourWallet activity on social media against her father’s contempt towards women.
In order to further create a diverse and inclusive working environment, company leaders need to spend time understanding each of their employees from recruitment to departure. Then they will know what strengths each staff has, and maximize their strengths to improve the efficiency of the operating process. Social media is a good tool to monitor or regularly check employees’ mental status and potentials. As we discussed before, the HR department could eliminate candidates who have made discriminatory comments on social media platform. Also, if current workers make similar comments online, the company can take actions such as warnings and dismissal to maintain the company’s inclusiveness.
Finally, for businesses, when considering product design, they need to have an inclusive attitude toward “all” consumers. It can be noticed that many brands have published related products to support LGBT groups on social media, which represent their corporate culture of inclusion and equality. As Moore and Schnellert (2016;2017) said, education should think about inclusion based on personal, social and intellectual purpose. Business also need to establish inclusion combining personality, organization and ability. And it’s not only in a physical space, but also in the virtual reality such as social media platform.
Reference
Executive survey finds a lack of focus on diversity and inclusion key factor in employee turnover. (2015, ). Business Wire. Retrieved from：https://go-gale-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/ps/i.do?p=ITBC&u=uvictoria&id=GALE|A403610004&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon
Moore, S., & Schnellert, L. (2016;2017;). One without the other: Stories of unity through diversity and inclusion. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Portage & Main Press.
Hi Mike,
I loved that you brought up biases in your post. I agree that we all have biases, and that these biases are based on our experiences. So in order to recognize our biases, we need to continue to seek opportunities to experience different walks of life! You made some great connections between inclusion and business in your blog, awesome job!
Awesome use of outside stories from the reading to add context to your interest. You aligned education concepts in business well.
Hello Mike,
I think your blog post is very useful and informative for me! I agree that a more diversified and inclusive company will be more successful in attracting high performance employees. My new thinking after reading your post is that an inclusive company with diverse employees will not only bring more beneficial values to the company, but also will bring more new and different perspectives in order to create more innovative products or services. Also, the example that you shared in your post about Nordstrom is clear and effective. It can help me to better understand how important the image of brand and the inclusion of a company should be. I really liked how you relate inclusion and business in your blog post!
Chunlin