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Workplace diversity increases revenue

Kristy Hulass | October 15, 2014

More diversity, more revenue? It’s true. We don’t usually think about how many different kinds of people we work with and how it may or may not affect the company, but according to recent studies, there is a link between greater diversity in the workplace and greater profits.

Increase revenue simply by adding diversity to your office. From Ruth Sanderson.

Diversity, including diversity of race, gender, age, background and more, affects interactions between coworkers and clients. Sara Ellison, an MIT economist, studied workplace diversity and concluded that, “Having a more diverse set of employees means you have a more diverse set of skills,” which “could result in an office that functions better.” Her studies also showed that a lack of workplace diversity could cause employees to perform less well regardless of how “comfortable” they are. Based on these studies, the economists discovered that offices split evenly along the gender lines had higher revenues by 41 percent.

Diversity brings a well-rounded set of skills to the office. This is healthy and certainly effective in that it helps to encourage and promote company growth. With varying opinions and perspectives, a business can creatively stay relevant, appeal to different audiences, and serve the public successfully. Essentially, greater social diversity implies a greater diversity in experience, which increases the knowledge of the group.

However, the study revealed another unexpected observation about diversity in the workplace. “In offices where people thought the firm was accepting of diversity, they were happier and more cooperative,” Ellison says. “But that didn’t translate into any effect on office performance. People may like the idea of a diverse workplace more than they like actual diversity in the workplace.”

Diversity is not necessarily easy to achieve in the workplace. It actually is difficult and possibly more work to foster workplace diversity. Diversity brings differences, challenges, and opposition. This can make it hard to really achieve diversity. The thought of having a diverse office is ideal, but actually having a diverse office is harder to realize. Then again, does the easy way ever lead to success?