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Date posted: 01st September 2018

01st September 2018

Growth through diversity: How businesses are walking past huge opportunity

Growth through diversity:  How businesses are walking past huge opportunity

By Matt Manners

I’m sat here on a beautiful summer’s Sunday watching the cricket whilst doing some household chores to keep me in my girlfriend’s good books and a few things have occurred to me.

England are playing India. It’s going well for England. In the commentary box we have an Indian, an Englishman and West Indian. This isn’t a precursor to a bad joke, but relevant.

They are all there due to their expertise. However cricket can be slow, so as viewers, we tend to hear their worldview and cultural take on all things cricket and beyond. It really is fantastic. I could sit for hours listening to them debate different points of view and learn lots in the process. I could even forget about the cricket.

Whilst listening, I was looking at LinkedIn where I saw that Chester Elton had just published something simple and powerful – “Let’s get back to being kind to one another”

These two things: Cricket and Chester lead me to the point of this post…

When I met the Global VP of Employee Experience at HP earlier this year, I discovered that they have a strap line – “Growth through diversity.” – It’s something that instantly struck a chord with me.

In essence, what they’re saying is, it’s growth through our people. ALL of our people.

It has been proven by our partner, Temkin Group, that people-centric businesses deliver a better customer experience that go on to outstrip their competition in the marketplace.

From a personal, and utopian, point of view it saddens, angers and staggers me that people feel they can’t be themselves and feel threatened because they are deemed to be different because they’re in a minority.

But if a business doesn’t embrace and foster inclusion, it isn’t just being neglectful and failing its employees but walking past one of the huge competitive advantages that could drive their business forward. Drive growth through their people. ALL of their people. Diversity brings different ideas, different strengths, different insights etc etc

So as Chester Elton said, let’s “just get back to being kind”, celebrate diversity and foster inclusion for the greater good, both in and out of the workplace. There is only upside.

Want to be part of that journey then join The EEA at their event this month in London. Paving the way for Inclusion. Find out more and register here

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