The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development state that diversity recognises that people from different backgrounds can bring fresh ideas and perceptions which can make the way work is done more efficient and products and services better. This considers the internal definition, but to gain true value from diversity many organisations and now addressing the different communities or businesses they serve.
Rasmussen described Diversity as:
"The mosaic of people who bring a variety of cultural,
social and historical backgrounds, styles, perspectives, values and beliefs as assets
to the groups and organisations with which they interact"
This quote also summarises the positive benefits from employing people from the many diverse communities, a fact acknowledged by many organisations, but begins to bridge the gap to customers and clients.
Recognising the substantial opportunities that can be gained from actively targeting these same communities with your products and services to deliver competitive advantage is not commonplace.
A further quote (from Skapinker 2001) by the Proctor and Gamble CEO Alan
Laffey provides the proof of an effective strategy:
"A diverse organisation will out-think, out-innovate and
out-perform a homogenous organisation every single time"
Remember that some parts of the country, including cities such as Leicester, will
have an ethnic majority in the near future.
Can you afford to ignore over 50% of your
potential marketplace?