Diversity and Engagement Go Hand in Hand

By Richelle Taylor

This paper explores the relationship between diversity and employee engagement in the workplace.
Research shows that companies lacking diversity have a higher percentage of disengaged workers.
Organizations that effectively capitalize on the strengths of all employees and leverage their differences
and unique values have the most engaged employees. Companies looking for ways to improve employee
engagement have found success through formal employee engagement programs that encourage and
reward positive behavior.

Overview
We all know that diversity is important in the workplace. A workplace that lacks diversity, or has a poorly
implemented diversity program, can negatively impact the organization, leaving employees feeling
misunderstood and disengaged. Regardless of race, color, creed or sex, people have a positive attitude
and feel empowered when they are surrounded by a culture that recognizes, appreciates and utilizes the
unique perspectives and backgrounds of others. When that environment is the workplace, employees
have a strong bond of trust, a sense of loyalty and are highly engaged in their corporate culture.

Great companies are made by leaders who approach diversity and inclusion efforts with passion.i That’s
because those organizations effectively capitalize on all of the strengths of each employee and leverage
those very differences and unique values that come with diverse human capital. Unfortunately, one of
the challenges organizations face is leading all employees—from the CEO to the hourly workers—to the
realization they must embrace diversity to become the best. Organically, engagement will follow.

If companies acknowledge diversity and promote acceptance, employees will have a positive, happy
attitude toward their workplace in general. Research on happiness in the workplace suggests that
employee well-being plays a major role in organizational performance and that there is a strong
relationship between worker happiness and workplace engagement.ii

The Seeds of Disengagement

Research supports that companies lacking diversity have a higher percentage of disengaged workers.
According to an Employee Engagement report by BlessingWhite, only 29 percent of workers are actively
engaged at work. The question executives want answered is, “Why?” Typically, the answer is because
the company and its employees are not in sync due to poor communication. Lack of or low levels of
communication lead to misunderstanding. When employees feel that they are not being included they
can become negative and their attitude toward work can be affected resulting in disengagement.
Instead of being the organization’s cheerleaders, they turn into dissenters. In the absence of consistent
and frequent communication, disengagement can happen fairly easily.

Your company’s internal communication to its workforce is as important as its external communication
to its clients. For example, a company may feel it is doing all the right things because diversity laws and
policies are in place—they may be “by the book.” But, the employees on the receiving end of corporate
communication sense management is just going through the motions for compliance reasons and that
the execs “just don’t get it.” Simply enforcing government regulations will not make you the best. In that
example, there was no mutual inclusion or connection between employee and employer.

Measuring Employee Engagement

Employee engagement levels are measured by the degree to which workers feel job satisfaction and an
emotional connection to the success of their businesses, resulting in improved productivity, innovation
and retention. As with diversity, highly engaged employees use their passion and discretionary efforts to
"go the extra mile" and to do whatever it takes to ensure the organization meets its business goals.

Companies that are successful in creating an environment of acceptance and inclusion have open lines
of communication and create diverse teams for corporate problem solving and collaboration. They stop
thinking in terms of individual self-interest or even departmental self interest, and begin working
together. Unified human potential translates into powerful financial results.

Employees with the highest level of engagement perform 20 percent better and are 87 percent less
likely to leave the organization, according to a survey by TowersPerrin. A study by the Hay Group found
engaged employees were as much as 43 percent more productive.

Creating an Engaged Workforce

Once your organization understands diversity and its role as a critical business and individual success
factor, it can implement employee engagement improvement tactics such as structured manager-to-
associate or peer-to-peer recognition programs, team collaboration and problem solving, and
customized incentive initiatives to reward performance. Good diversity and engagement tactics must be
job-relevant, skill-specific and assist team members in understanding the current workplace and market
realities. Organizations which link diversity and engagement to their business strategy and core values
increase performance, productivity and customer satisfaction.

Common Factors in Diversity and Engagement

Factor Description Diversity Engagement
A corporate culture that puts priority on trust and respect for all, diversity of
Corporate Culture opinions and perspectives, a safe working environment, a company with branding    
as a leader in diversity and corporate social responsibility.
Effectiveness of communication in the company (organizational communication),
consistency in management behavior, employees are given clear understanding of
Communication
what the company expects and employees freely discuss solutions as a team.    
Communication is regular and ongoing.
Relationships with supervisor, relationships/recognition with/from upper
Management management, overall recognition and praise, coaching, mentoring and feedback,    
clear expectations, clear and consistent performance reviews.
Relationships with colleagues/teammates, membership in employee-resource
Peers
groups.    
Opportunity to attend external seminars/training, access to technology and
Training
training, resources to complete the job well.    
Real and perceived career-advancement opportunities, opportunity to participate
Personal in decision making, work/life balance, compensation, alignment of personal values    
with company values, job security.
Positive impression of corporate culture, sentiment about work environment is
Attitude
favorable.    
 The benefits of cultivating a diverse and engaged culture are undeniable. Beyond simply fulfilling state
requirements or mandatory Equal Opportunity Employment training, your organization will attain
increased productivity, retain talent, boost morale, cultivate innovation and the total quality of work life
will improve. Reductions in turnover, lawsuits and internal conflicts will decrease, saving valuable lost
time and dollars.

Keys to creating a diverse and engaged workforce:

 Gaining the key competencies for leading a diverse team, and being a successful contributing team
member who can serve multilingual and multicultural customers
 Acknowledging individual frames of reference and understanding how different perspectives impact
personal and business objectives of both clients and employees
 Acquiring skills for working productively and respectfully with all team members and customers
 Leveraging the talents, skills and experience of everyone to meet individual and organizational goals

Key Points
 Organizations which link diversity and
engagement to their business strategy and
core values increase performance,
productivity and customer satisfaction.
 As with diversity, highly engaged employees
use their passion and discretionary efforts
to "go the extra mile"
 Research supports that companies lacking
diversity have a higher percentage of
disengaged workers.
 When implemented well, an employee
engagement program will positively impact
your organization’s reputation and its
bottom line.
Conclusion
There is a natural fit between diversity and engagement initiatives in
corporate programming. Companies such as Excellence In Motivation
specialize in such areas to assist organizations in designing employee
engagement technology platforms, training reinforcement and
recognition programs. Excellence In Motivation has implemented
robust employee engagement platforms for multi-national clients in
the telecommunications, automotive, healthcare and technology
sectors among others. In each engagement solution, the client’s core
values and business objectives were translated into meaningful
measurable behaviors to drive increased performance. Ongoing
communication, recognition and reporting provided a return on
engagement for the organization and a more positive attitude by its
employees and customers.

 Once your organization understands

diversity and its role as a critical business
When implemented well, an employee engagement program will
and individual success factor, it can positively impact your organization’s reputation and its bottom line. It
implement employee engagement
improvement tactics. will be a happier, more productive place to work and a better company
to do business with. The benefits go hand in hand.

Richelle Taylor is a Product Manager at Excellence In Motivation, Inc.

EIM is a full-service performance improvement company headquartered in Dayton, OH. It provides support for many Fortune 1000 clients
through a network of strategically located sales offices. EIM creates comprehensive performance incentives and business-improvement
strategies aimed at positively changing the behavior(s) of one or all of the audiences that matter most to our clients’ business performance:
employees, channel partners and customers. For more information about EIM, visit www.eim-inc.com.

i
Diversity Inc. and Cari M. Dominguez, former chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
ii
Source: Helium Inc.