How to manage diversity in companies?

The principle of diversity in companies is a measure designed to combat stereotypes and discrimination in the workplace. It is one of the main pillars of the CSR approach in companies. What exactly is diversity in companies? What are the obstacles to diversity management strategies in companies ? Why is this issue so important from a social and economic point of view ? How to develop diversity in companies? How to measure the diversity of teams? How to measure the diversity of teams? The diversity of selection criteria for candidates? We will provide you with all the keys to carry out your project successfully.

What is corporate diversity?

Corporate diversity is a term that refers to all the strategies put in place to fight against discrimination in companies (gender, origin, disability, religion, sexual orientation, social class, age, etc.). The objective of a corporate diversity strategy is to offer good working conditions to each employee, equal opportunities to develop, but also to turn individual differences into performance levers for the company.

What are the barriers to diversity in business? ?

The fight against discrimination is not easy. Despite numerous advances concerning the integration of disabled people in companies, or gender equality, stereotypes are still very present and few companies really respect the principle of diversity in their workforce (despite the fact that French law perfectly defines no less than 18 different discrimination criteria).

One in four people would still complain of discrimination at work, with the main acts of discrimination concerning :

• Age : people aged 15-24 and those aged 50 and over have great difficulty in finding a job (18.8% unemployment for 15-24 year olds and 6.1% for the over 50s).
• Gender : the wage gap between women and men is 16.8% for the same job. Only 17% of positions of responsibility are held by women and 28% of women work part-time.
• Disability : only 3.4% of the beneficiaries of the employment obligation (BOE) are employed.
• Social class : young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods are 2.5 times less likely to find a job and 2.5 times more likely to be unemployed.
• Sexual orientation and gender : one in three LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified or other) people complain of being discriminated against at least once in their lives in school, in their job search or in their professional environment.

Raising awareness of diversity and introducing a new working charter can help to promote diversity at work. Find out why this kind of concrete action is essential for everyone in the company.

Why diversity in business is an important issue ?

Ensuring diversity in business is important for many reasons :

• The inclusion of all employees is very important to ensure that everyone feels they belong and remains motivated.
• Valuing differences is a source of involvement, belonging and internal cohesion. Employees who are treated equally, regardless of their ethnic origin or gender, and who are well integrated, whether they are heterosexual, homosexual, male or female, or senior, are more productive and serene.
• Mobilisation of individual skills: good diversity and taking into account the differences of each individual allows for better overall performance.
• Fairness in the workplace reduces the legal risks of discrimination.
• A better image for the company.
• Attraction of potential customers and employees who share the same corporate values.
• The introduction of a non-discrimination policy leads to a better understanding of the market.
• Reduced turnover.
• Recruitment based on skills and talents alone provides qualified staff and allows the strengths of each individual to be pooled. Career management is simpler, and the cultural and skill diversity brings a lot to the company. Recruitment should be based on the professional, not the personal.
• More relaxed relations in the company, less time spent on conflict resolution.

Is it possible to train in diversity management ?

Implementing a diversity of policy is essential for the ethics of the company, the well-being of its employees, but also its economic performance and its image. Women and men, the disabled, employees of all ethnic origins or sexual orientation must be able to find their place in the company. Do you want to implement a diversity of policy in your company? Promote professional equality and equal treatment within your company by training in diversity management. This training will give you all the keys to remove the obstacles to diversity and involve minorities in your company's activities under the best possible conditions. IPAG offers you a training course on diversity management within teams. This one-day training course allows you to obtain a training certificate. It will enable you to reposition the issue of diversity in the company and to implement a management strategy that takes into account the principles of diversity.

Diversity management training

You've got it: promoting diversity at work is essential. Do you want to learn more about human resources management to fight against all forms of discrimination? To implement diversity in your company? Discover all our training courses for parity and mixity in companies: CSR training

CSR training