Re-published: “Diversity”, by Annika Lagerholm, Universum Quarterly 2006, Issue 1

Embrace diversity: It’s necessary to meet an increasingly diverse customer-base and be able to recruit and retain skilful employees. If you fail to introduce diversity into your workforce, it’ll cost you missed business goals and even potential lawsuits.

For many years, diversity was regarded an unimportant issue. Yet, due to demographic changes that have lead to shortages of skilled workers, employers need to recruit from a broad and complex talent pool. The success of diversity initiatives generally depends on three key factors:

3 success factors for diversity initiatives

1. Develop formal structures and processes in the organization, such as recruitment, compensation, promotion and career development

2. Change personal attitudes and behavior, such as corporate culture, leadership styles and attitudes amongst employees and managers

3. Include everyone in the organization