It is time to re-imagine workplaces around diversity

As the world becomes more inter-linked, people's problems on the other side of the planet begin impacting our daily lives. Trying to solve these complex problems with wide-reaching implications for everyone, like climate change, while looking for a solution through just one lens is not going to work. They require collective action from us since we are all stakeholders now.

Diversity allows us to leverage various competencies, experiences, ideas, and talents to develop solutions we may not have seen otherwise. It will enable multiple skills to work together to understand problems better and find the correct answers.

This is why, for example, gender diversity plays a crucial role in providing a complete understanding of the issues, the solutions they require and their impact. Women comprise half the population - to deprive society of their insight and experiences would mean to miss crucial perspectives.

An inclusive workplace

However, the challenges that stand in the way of achieving a true representation within workplaces are not easy to address and require introspection, communication and transparency. Employers need to consider placing special consideration on the type of environment they foster for their employees, so that they feel comfortable speaking up when they face workplace issues or problems in their personal lives. This level of open communication between employees and management allows employees to feel good about the company they are working for.

Work-life balance

The difficulties that employees face outside their work affect their performance. This is even more true today as the line between one's professional and private life is getting blurrier each day.

It is possible to address an essential email in the evening. Similarly, taking care of an important personal matter during the day should also be possible. Rather than focusing on pure, rigid rules, employers should look towards performance as the barometer for productivity. Not looking over the employee's shoulder, giving them the flexibility to address their issues and focusing on their daily output will promote a more stress-free and productive environment.

To that end, parenting is one of the key areas that prevent gender equality in the workplace. Women are often put at a disadvantage in the workplace against their male colleagues dealing with the constant battle between the desire to raise a family and pursuing their career goals. Thus, having often to choose or compromise with their male counterparts does not need to take. This results from inflexible working environments or a lack of tools imposed by companies tailored to outdated societal expectations.

As a result, organizations risk losing out on valuable competencies and ideas by not providing a framework for working women to build their careers without sacrificing family and vice versa. Male employees also need to be flexible to focus on their family lives and personal well-being to ensure that they are not overworked and play the role they are supposed to take in their family.

Role of technology

Businesses want their workplace to be an environment where talent thrives. Subsequently, companies want to ensure they have access to the best talent regardless of geographical or cultural barriers. These constraints can be solved through digital tools like remote working, allowing for greater flexibility for employees and facilitating collaboration between people despite any physical barriers. This shift in the workplace has come about relatively recently, as the pandemic forced businesses to reimagine the workplace model.

Besides providing greater flexibility to workers, remote working is also beneficial in other regards, such as enabling companies to hire and retain talents from different parts of the world that would otherwise be overlooked. Instead of pushing out valuable skills and competencies, technology allows workplaces to adapt to the employee's needs by providing a flexible framework eventually getting more valuable outputs from the workforce.