‘New research makes it increasingly clear that companies with more diverse workforces perform better financially.’ McKinsey & Co.

Employee Engagement is one of the finest attributes of leadership in any organization. The moment job satisfaction and organizational commitment started losing their shine, employee engagement evolved from the need to derive meaning from the manifestations of employee behaviour. The scope of employee engagement goes beyond satisfaction and commitment to include the ways in which employees are motivated to improve business results. It is both an emotional commitment and a willingness to give your best at workplace. It’s hard to find a major organization today that does not devote time and effort to this agenda.

With massive shifts and disruption taking place due to technological changes, business complexity continues to increase manifold. The amount of time employees spend on work continues to increase in proportion. It is, therefore, inevitable to witness our workplaces becoming an extension of our lives. Offices are designed to offer a more holistic space for fun and games. It is not uncommon for employees today to re-create workspaces that help them feel at home.

Previously, it was all about trying to gain the loyalty of an employee by ensuring longevity in tenure. Once this was attained, the agenda shifted towards motivating the employee to ensure enthusiasm at work. Today, as organizations evolve, the shift in focus is directed towards building a thriving workplace; one where employee conversations revolve around creating meaning, purpose and subsequent impact on the community.

It behooves us therefore to leverage the strengths of our leaders, who act as enablers in unleashing the true potential of our people through active coaching and mentoring. Leveraging on diversity will help people build a network of like-minded individuals. Multi-generational diversity in a workforce is a necessity.

Diversity means hiring a bunch of people with different gender, diverse background and varying beliefs and opinions. The onus of maximizing the benefit of such diversity lies with the leaders and the HR team. These stakeholders help create the right platforms for these teams and employees to succeed. Successful employees usually translate in successful business results and getting closer to the higher purpose that the organization is trying to drive.

In an article, PwC states, “Creating an inclusive environment – where all of our people can reach their full potential and be their best selves – is critical for us. We want all PwC member firms to be inclusive environments where all differences are valued.”

In an organization I am closely associated with, one of the enablers is to place inclusion at the center of the talent life cycle – starting from hiring, development and challenging moves to promote the internal pool of employees.

Inclusion and diversity should be the focus area for achieving great results and performance.We should make an effort to create a culture that encourages diversity in thought and practice. This is gathering more pace as leaders have begun to see the positive business impact that a diverse team can create.

In my view, diverse teams drive more innovation because each member has a distinct point of view and the challenging opinions create breakthrough ideas. Diverse teams push each individual out of their comfort zone and together come up with ideas that are far more powerful than a homogenous team would. A diverse workforce is critical to the success of an innovative business that will succeed in today’s ever-changing environment.