A 2019 study by Adobe found that 38% of consumers were more likely to trust brands that showed a diverse cast of characters in their advertising. Another study in 2020 showed that businesses with a diverse workforce made more money. Yet, most businesses only give lip service to diversity. The Chemung County chamber of Commerce explains what businesses can do now to improve workplace diversity.
Although the jury is still out on how effective workplace diversity courses are, they are still better than nothing. The courses’ aims are for workers to recognize when they are biased, and how to see things through the eyes of others.
This helps people of vastly different backgrounds to communicate and work together. Some studies indicate that lessons from the courses can be forgotten over time, so they need to be repeated. Someone raised in a biased culture finds it is easy to fall back on old habits rather than learn new ways.
Other things that businesses can do to foster diversity in the workplace are to fire any racist employee, promote good workers of all races, and find out what their customer base looks like. After finding out, hire more employees that look like their customers. Considering that white people are not expected to be in the majority by 2045, the chances are high that most businesses’ customers are people of color.