diversity
Diversity? Go for it! Diversity within organizations is not just an idealistic pursuit of a society in which everyone has a place. It is also a good strategy for organizations to generate creativity, flexibility and new solutions – and thereby ultimately to increase profits. What does science say about diversity within organizations? And what are the experiences of drivers of diversity in the Northern Netherlands?
By Aafke Kok
‘W
hen the police arrived at 12.30 a.m., Mr A. had been dead for at least an hour.’ ‘The police found traces of X.’s blood on the knife.’ ‘G. proclaimed that every person has the right to have a weapon to defend themselves.’ These are three random clues that you could be given as part of the murder mystery task. At Northwestern University (US), test subjects had to identify the murderer, the murder weapon and the motive using a series of these kinds of clues. But not on their own – they discussed this ‘whodunnit’ as a group of three students, all members of the same student association. Five minutes later, another student joined them. If the fourth student was a member of a different student association, the outcome of the discussion was more often correct than if all students were from the same student association. This is one of many studies into the effects of diversity on team performance. Time after time, groups with members that have different backgrounds acted more objectively and monitored individual members better. A different background might be a d ifferent social background, as with
the murder-solving students, but diversity can also originate from ethnic differences or an equal man/woman ratio. From solving murders to estimating prices of supermarket products: more diverse teams are better at it than homogeneous teams. Most people are, of course, not solving murders on a daily basis, but do often work in teams that may or may not be diverse. How does an average organization benefit from diversity? Consultancy company McKinsey decided to answer that question by conducting its own research. This showed that companies that were more diverse had higher profits. Diversity apparently pays off. A review study from the University of Utrecht complements this: studies from, for example, Columbia Business School, Xavier University and University College London showed that diversity within organizations is associated with innovation, flexibility and, ultimately, financial gain.
More closely monitored This does not show a causal link. Successful companies may just be more inclined to employ people with different backgrounds – rather than having diversity cause their success. However, scientists from the University of Amsterdam suggested otherwise. Quoted companies cannot be grown in a lab, but by letting students run a company for an entire year,
researchers were able to identify cause and effect concerning diversity and success. Groups of students with equal male/ female ratios made more profit with their companies than groups with imbalanced ratios, because they were monitoring each other more closely. So, science appears to be convinced of the usefulness of diversity within organizations. Yet diversity is not self-evident. In the Netherlands, it is still the case that more men (83 percent) than women (73 percent) have a paid job. Furthermore, the proportion of women in top positions is low, as shown by figures from Statistics Netherlands. And whilst the government has met its target for women at the top – 30 percent – ministries are lagging behind regarding cultural diversity. Moreover, employing workers with different backgrounds alone is not enough. To retain diversity, organizations must invest in a climate that gives all employees a sense of belonging, according to the review study from the University of Utrecht. That can be tricky. Current employees may, for example, wonder about the competences of new colleagues. Were they appointed because they are good or because they have a certain background? Three drivers of diversity talk about the state of diversity within organizations in the Northern Netherlands. special diversity matters | New Scientist | 23
