As future degree holders, the youth are aware they will need to hold a job position after they graduate. Those youth who seek for jobs outside their own country may wonder if the company they want to apply for will have employees from different minority groups. Oftentimes, people coming from minority groups are rejected at interviews based on how they sound, on their background, because of stereotypes associated with them, or sometimes, not even being invited for an interview only based on their name! If workplaces are to create inclusive environments for everyone to feel welcome, they will need to hire such types of people. There are many benefits associated with inclusion at the workplace, as will be discussed below.

First off, before any inclusion happens, the culture that is present at a job needs to be acceptable of people from all cultures and ways of life. With acceptance comes an open, friendly, and warm environment, which makes people feel included in the conversations that happen around tables during lunchtime. The reason for why an inclusive environment is needed is that it helps with performance during the long run. In their research, McKinsey states that ethnically diverse companies are 35 % more likely to outperform other companies in terms of productivity. By representing people from different cultures and religions, a company gains ideas which can generate business slogans and initiatives that would otherwise not be gained from people of the same cultural mindset.

Moreover, Sarah Nahm, the CEO at Lever, favors the inclusion of women at work. Sometimes a company needs a female mind to run its course. In this article, it has been found that women do much more of the office chores and work longer hours, but with less recognition from managers. This, with time, leads to the underperformance of the women who do not feel valued, and who would feel more valued as a homemaker than their job as a company employee. However, if managers and male employees both help with this gender imbalance in terms of recognition and understanding, the workload can attain higher proficiency levels. Those companies that have successfully done so have attained “greater profits, sales, quality, effectiveness, revenue and customer satisfaction.”

Having a diverse company flow also includes hiring people with disabilities and making them feel at ease. Many stereotypes surrounding people with disabilities reduce their chances of getting a job. Disabled people can provide for a company in terms of creativity, even when they, for example, cannot physically walk. There should be more sign language learners in the marketplace to vouch for disabled people who are deaf and mute. Sayce says there is a prevailing culture, where people feel embarrassed to talk about their mental or physical disability or an accident that has happened to them when applying for a job. Yet, employers who do hire disabled people report that providing accommodations and facilities for their disabled employers result in benefits like retaining valuable employees, improving productivity and morale, and improving the overall company diversity. Their companies are better able to win in terms of employee satisfaction.

Hiring and retaining a diverse, inclusive group of employees allows a company to reflect the community around us and makes the team more able to develop fresh ideas that will meet the needs of the whole marketplace. It is when the minorities at your company can look around and feel safe that you can be sure your company has achieved its inclusive potential.