Cultural diversity in the workplace is a top agenda item for savvy businesses around the globe. These savvy businesses understand the importance of diversity and inclusion, as well as the benefits it can bring to the overall success of their operations. The fact is that ignoring cultural diversity is no longer an option. As our world, our country, and our communities become increasingly diverse, so does our workforce. By embracing cultural diversity, you’ll find countless advantages that include, but are not limited to:

1. A more productive, engaged workforce
2. An increase in creativity and innovation in your team
3. A lift in bottom-line revenue and increased profits
4. A recruiting edge in the form of positive culture and employee retention
5. A brand and public relations win with improved company reputation

So, if you haven’t started paying attention to cultural diversity and how it impacts your company, now’s a great time to get started – especially with this mini-guide from the team at Spring-Green, your neighborhood lawn care specialists since 1977.

How To Create A Sound Cultural Diversity Plan For Your Business

First things first. What exactly is cultural diversity in the workplace? While it might seem obvious, it’s very important that a clear understanding of terms is established. Cultural diversity in the workplace can be defined as a workforce that is made up of employees from all sorts of different backgrounds. In some cases, companies must be proactive in assembling and recruiting a diverse pool of people. Your workforce, essentially, should reflect the community you serve with varying gender, age, religion, race, ethnicity, cultural background, sexual orientation, religion, languages, education, and abilities.

Got it, but how much does it really matter?

Let’s start with a few powerful statistics:

• A recent report from the online decision-making platform, Cloverpop, found that diverse teams made better business decisions up to 87% of the time.
• McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, published research results that found companies with diverse teams were top performers.
• Deloitte also published research that showed higher levels of employee engagement in companies that prioritized diversity and inclusion.

In today’s ultra-competitive business world where attracting top talent is harder than ever, every move a business can make to improve their reputation is quintessential to their success. Add to this mix that millennials, the largest age demographic in today’s workforce, prioritize qualities like culture, engagement, and social consciousness with salary and consider their potential employer’s cultural diversity a priority too.

But, where do I start?

If you understand the terms and statistics regarding cultural diversity, you may be thinking it’s time to begin. Your next logical question might be: What does a cultural diversity plan look like for my business? Here are some tips on where to begin your plan:

• Assess the current state of affairs. Where is your current workforce in terms of cultural diversity? And, what does your business’s community look like in terms of cultural diversity? If these two assessments sync up, you may be well ahead of the game. If there is a disparity between the two, you know you have work to do. 
• Provide diversity training. Training your hiring and recruiting team to help you succeed in your diversity initiative is a crucial next step, but rolling out an organization-wide communication about cultural diversity in the workplace will also help foster a positive, thriving environment.
• Consider flexible working options. A shift has been occurring in the American workforce for quite some time now. More and more workers are seeking flexible work arrangements with their employees to support better work/life balance. As remote work relationships increase, this creates an opportunity to add more diverse workers to the team.
• Keep communication flowing. The measurement of the success of your cultural diversity plan in your business will hinge on garnering feedback from your team. By implementing surveys and feedback opportunities, you’ll gain true insights into how well things are working.

Spring-Green offers assistance by providing hiring best practices from our trained and knowledgeable staff. Owning a Spring-Green franchise gives you access to a personal business consultant and diverse support team to help guide you through these decisions and assist in growing your business from staffing to operations challenges.

Of course, measurement is important?

Once you have an understanding of where you are and where you want to be, it’s time to create some goals that you can reflect on to measure your success. You might measure your cultural diversity initiative in terms of percentages of roles filled by a set of employees that fall into the category of diverse based on gender, race, religion, age, disability, etc. You might also add into your measurement goal a retention number. In other words, how do you retain your diverse workforce as compared to others or compared to the past? Additionally, what success milestones does this group accomplish within the business?

Collective Knowledge Of A System

As a Spring-Green franchise owner, you will have access to the collective knowledge gained from 42+ years of supporting successful small businesses. A group of over 75 franchise owners will be your peers and will provide the experience and tips you need to help build a diverse workforce and create the right culture for your business to recruit and retain the best people.

Learn more about how Spring-Green can expand your lawn care services and support you as you take your business to the next level. Call 1-800-777-8608 or visit us at www.growmygreenindustrybusiness.com.