In an effort to support more sustainable practices in business, organizations are examining the value of diversity in the workforce. Besides regulatory compliance, what benefits make having a ‘diverse workforce’ good for business?

Some key outcomes of maintaining a diverse workforce (i.e. age, gender, ethnicity, religion, skill set) include the ability to:

• Enable innovation and creative thinking by bringing together fresh ideas voiced from differing points of view

• Improve your capacity to understand and serve your different customers, partners and shareholders by representing their diversity in house

• Better support market expansion by region, culture and demographic

• Encourage talent acquisition and retention

• Foster organizational adaptability by maintaining a well-rounded pool of varied skills

SAP, the highest-ranked software company in the 2009 Dow Jones Sustainability Index for two years running, has an interesting perspective on the business value of diversity in the workforce. 

To learn more about how a diverse workforce can help you achieve sustainable business performance, I encourage you to visit SAP’s Sustainability Map (and check out the Sustainable Workforce / Diversity field).