I personally think that one of the key factors in having a successful company is to have a diverse workforce and an understanding management team.

To me, a diverse workforce consists of people from different cultural backgrounds, genders, interests, sexual orientations and so on.  When a diverse group of people come together in a group, it would be highly beneficial to the company as the workforce can attend to a larger clientele effectively as the differences in each individual member’s perspective can aid when trying to produce a creative or unique idea, ultimately improving the whole team’s performance.

Other than that, I think having a diverse workforce is very important because the world is becoming more integrated as more and more cultures are given exposure.  However, every situation has its drawbacks.

I came across an article in the Economist that talks about the “diversity fatigue” which outlines the challenges of diversity in the workforce.  One particular statement I found interesting in the article was quoted by David Livermore who said diverse groups are “more likely to produce truly innovative ideas, but they are also more likely to fail completely,” linking it to how trust is the biggest challenge in diverse groups.

Perhaps some groups fall apart because some of the group members may think that their fellow members’ methods of performing certain tasks are skewed or incorrect because they are from a completely different background and are not used to the way things are being done differently.

Overall, I still think that diversity should be highly valued in the workforce and additionally, I think having a high cultural intelligence – a term introduced by Elaine Mosakowski of the University of Colorado which basically means that a person is able to work effectively across cultures, is essential for building a diverse team.

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Sources:

“Diversity Fatigue.”  The Economist.  11 Feb, 2016.  <http://www.economist.com/news/business/21692865-making-most-workplace-diversity-requires-hard-work-well-good-intentions-diversity>