Modern Companies: How Businesses Are Becoming More Diverse

Brooke Chaplan

March 26, 2014

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Fact: by the year 2050, 19 percent of U.S. citizens will be immigrants versus 12 percent today. Fact: the Baby Boom generation will result in an explosion in the elderly population, while other age segments decrease. Fact: in order to be positioned as a viable business in today’s economy as well as one poised for future growth, diversity is essential. Have businesses become more diverse in the global economy?

Workplace Diversity

Diversity in the United States originated in the 1960s as the Civil Rights Movement demanded that workers, regardless of race, ethnicity, or gender, be treated equally within the workplace. Known as Equal Opportunity Employment, the recognition of true age, racial and cultural diversity took half a century to be truly implemented in any significant ways.

Cultural Diversity

Outside the workplace, an explosion in multiculturalism demands a profound effect on businesses to regroup to meet the needs of a wider age, cultural, and racial population. In fact, according to the U.S. census, by 2050, no one racial or ethnic group will be in the majority in the United States.

Internal Diversity

As anyone with a Marylhurst University bachelor degree in business will tell you, in order to effectively address a diverse marketplace, businesses must mirror diversity within their own ranks. Those that do, and do so effectively, derive a host of potential benefits. It’s a basic no-brainer, but the more diverse the employee population of a business, the more likely the business is to appeal to a broader demographic pool of customers. Likewise, by expanding its pool of applicants, a business is more likely to attract the crème of the crop which not only increases its ability to appeal to a more diversified audience, but also strengthens its competitive advantage. As a result of these demographic shifts, business managers are shifting their hiring practices to broaden their employee base demographically.

External Diversity

With a more diverse employee base, businesses are better equipped to appeal to a broader range of customers. Simply put, the more businesses meet the needs of a wider demographic audience, the more successful they will be. This external diversity is a direct result of effective internal diversity practices. Businesses that don’t have a mirror image of their customer base within their employee pool need to incorporate sensitivity and multicultural training in order to truly meet their customer needs.

Whether from internal or external perspectives, businesses today face a host of new challenges in meeting the needs of diversity of employees and customers. Start evaluating your company today and see what you can do to add diversity to your group, and gain more clients and customers for your business.