Here at Best4Systems we just read a great article over on Jabra’s blog about Group Norms which sets out to explain this statement:
Group norms are powerful, invisible forces that determine how we interact with others. Here’s how they shape our behaviours and how we can create ones to build high-performing teams.
We enjoyed the article ( which can be read here ) and it got a few of us thinking.
In general the products and services in the line of communications improve productivity and efficiency in the workplace but we realised that there was something else that makes a huge difference as well and that is diversity.
In life one tends to surround oneself with people who share common interests and even beliefs/ outlooks. Of course that is not to say that we do not mix with others, just there is a tendency to do this – to have a sort of social comfort zone in which to exist.
Diversity Defined
Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization. That sounds simple, but diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, personality, cognitive style, tenure, organizational function, education, background and more.
Not quite so in the workplace – we may choose our friends but we rarely have the opportunity to choose our co-workers. Thus we find ourselves in a mix of people from very different backgrounds and that is a great strength. At Best4Systems there is a complete dedication to employing anyone that can do the job and that adds greatly to the working practices in the company.
The accepted advantages of workplace diversity are the following :
- Better Adaptability – people with differing life and workplace experiences will often bring more variety of viewpoints to the table when discussing a route to be taken
- Increased Service Range – the company is better provisioned to deal with customers from all areas be they cultural, linguistic or educational backgrounds
- Better Performance – there is a reported increase in productivity in diverse teams than from more homogenous groups
- Tighter Bonds – although it could be considered counter intuitive to some, human nature is such that the belonging to a diverse group does indeed create stronger internal bonds
Of course the idea is not just that we want to increase sales, though we are transparent in that as any business, but rather we want everyone to be happy in the workplace, we want a well balanced team of individuals who can think and act for themselves and who can bring all that they have experienced in life to work and share it with each other and our customers.
VIVE LA DIFFÉRENCE
Further information is available here Our Ethical Policy and http://www.hse.gov.uk/diversity/