Does diversity translate to success of organizations?  There is a very interesting study done in the Harvard Business Review by Rock, Halvorson and Grey that in 2009 , in surveys of over 500+ organizations through the American Sociological Review, that in comparison to the homogeneous vs. diverse workplace perspective, there was a direct correlation between success and diversity.  Essentially, the more diverse an organization's staff, the more financial success.  In surveys done in group dynamics since the late 90s, organizations that remained primarily made up of the same types of individuals, saw relatively low amounts of financial success.

Groups made up of individuals that are the products of gender and racial diversity, essentially increased revenues due to a number of factors including:

*Identification with a new group of individuals.  This meant that having an increase in women workers, means the opportunity to introduce the business model to more women.  The more minority groups brought into the workforce, means the same for minorities.

*More focus on gaining cohesion by acceptance of rule standards by accommodating the addition of different diverse groups of people.

*Forcing the idea of "healthy conflict" in group settings, thus acting as a disrupting force of the norm.

*Essentially, adopting the "us against the world" in which new ideas translate into forward thinking progress in innovation and opportunities.

Fast forward to a 2016 analysis of diverse groups and we find that those who have more female executives, had more financial success and growth.  Homogeneous teams may have the inroads to cohesive collaboration, smooth work flow and a sense of progress, but this does not translate into improving the financial bottom line.

So, for all you paperpushers out there...we have to promote solid diversity in the workforce in gender, ethnicity and even experience.  Nothing beats a recognition of organizational diversity in terms of the economic benefits that come from this.

TPP out!