Building a strong corporate team with diversity and inclusion

Liesl Leary-Perez at Hubilo argues that business leaders need to build inclusive and diverse workplaces if they are to navigate successfully through today’s challenges

With the after-effects of successive lockdowns still placing corporate strategies in flux, businesses might be wary of building and expanding a new leadership team. However, enterprising and ambitious organisations are currently seizing this opportunity to shape the world’s ‘new normal’, scaling their corporate teams to harness rapidly evolving market trends.

At a time when one size fits none, strengthening a leadership team with diverse skillsets and backgrounds can generate the momentum needed to implement new go-to-market teams, thereby exceeding client demands across traditional demographic and geographic boundaries.

Rise above current challenges

Recruitment and onboarding have always been tricky, but they certainly don’t have to be. Even during the era of staff shortages and what’s been named as the Great Resignation. Rather than thinking of the mass job exodus in a sense of watching skilled people walk away, businesses should see the situation as an opportunity to re-shuffle and refine their corporate culture.

Thanks to today’s technological advancements and digitalisation, organisations can attract great talent from all corners of the world. The virtual world has no borders and businesses simply must turn it to their advantage.

With many senior employees looking to make a switch to a better work-life balance or become part of an inclusive, purpose-driven team, now is the time to redefine the strategies, think big, set up virtual job fairs, online interviews, and more, to welcome the best of the best onboard.

Nurture diversity and inclusion

Organisations led by diverse teams are more likely to outperform their competitors, drive innovation with better decision-making and outside-the-box thinking. The adoption of hybrid and remote working models has been creating the perfect platform to encourage real connections and conversations between co-workers across the globe, but it is also shining a bright light on the problem areas when it comes to inclusion and diversity.

If modern corporate teams are to successfully navigate through today’s challenges, they need to build a truly inclusive and diverse place, meaning going beyond the traditional and most obvious factors of age, gender, and ethnicity.

Whilst still important, there are many other aspects that need to be considered, such as lifestyle, external responsibilities, physical abilities, personality types, individual preferences, and career backgrounds.

For example, a single working parent or a handicapped person might find it difficult to travel to events or get fully involved in their company’s life, but it does not justify postponing their progression opportunities or excluding them from fun activities further.

For too long, corporate cultures have been failing to accommodate the different needs people have, and it is high time to change that. The only way to build and benefit from a strong team today is to finally take the wider corporate culture and make it virtual too.

Hosting internal events and team-building sessions online will allow every member of the management team – whether at home or in the office – to participate in a comfortable way and share their ideas, ultimately shaping a better future for the organisation as a whole.

Everyone has a part to play in

A more inclusive and diverse corporate team is naturally better equipped to advocate for those less fortunate in the community. Through corporate philanthropy, businesses can support many non-profits, creating a more positive image for themselves and building a positive work environment.

It is a symbiosis and a circle in a sense that inclusive organisations can better promote the welfare of others and help wider groups, at the same time attracting employees from many different backgrounds who are driven by the same purpose and ready to help the community further.

A thriving corporate team in 2022 and beyond is one that gives back and embraces their ethical responsibilities, but not with the sole purpose of becoming an employer of choice.

Ready, set, hit the target

Even the most diverse teams will not succeed unless every member is on the same page and clear on their responsibilities and wider business objectives. Working towards a common goal can truly unite a team and push it towards many great successes.

This unity should be visible at every stage of the customer journey, with cohesive messaging, a clear brand image, and well-executed marketing activities as part of a true demand generation strategy.

Company culture is one of the sharpest arrows in the company’s quiver. When built on the foundation of diversity, inclusivity, trust, and the desire to give back, no external challenges will manage to shake it. On the contrary, organisations will be able to hit their cultural, social, and financial targets right in the bullseye.

Liesl Leary-Perez is VP of Corporate Marketing at Hubilo

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com