Diversity in the workplace provides new opportunities
11 April 2007
Diversity in the workplace provides new opportunities
Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A familiar term in the business community, but what does it actually mean and how can a business achieve it? A sustainable competitive advantage is one that a company has comparative to other companies in the same business field; one that is not easily replicated.
How then can businesses gain a competitive advantage in an ever changing and expanding global market? The answer is through a business’ most important commodity: its people.
“Australia is seeing unprecedented skills gaps occurring in the labour market as the unemployment rate falls to a three-decade low of 4.5% and it becomes more difficult, yet increasingly important, for businesses to attract and retain a high quality workforce that will carry them into the future,” said Julie Graham, General Manager of MatchWorks.
“A successful workforce is a diverse workforce. Diversity enables a company to adapt more quickly to changing circumstances and to use multiple perspectives to respond swiftly and effectively to emerging customer needs. A company whose staff closely reflects the demographic of the market place it serves, is more likely to build successful consumer relationships and have a more productive, cohesive and satisfied workforce.”
According to the Bureau of Statistics, the percentage of the Victorian population over 65 has increased from 8.4% in 1971 to 12.5% in 1996 and is expected to increase to 18.6% by 2021. This increase is even more dramatic in rural areas.
As the population ages, skills are being lost and skills gaps are beginning to show in certain areas of employment. Skills gaps occur when existing employees within an organisation do not have the skills required to complete the necessary job roles. The question for employers is how to fill these skill gaps when they arise.
Many see the ageing population as a problem for the Australian economy, but it may be a great advantage for employers. Trends are showing that people are delaying retirement until their 60’s and 70’s. This presents an opportunity for organisations to fill the skill gaps by retaining, training and recruiting mature age workers.
“Many mature age workers have a great deal of experience, diverse skills and wisdom. Employers are demanding greater knowledge, specialised skills and experience from their employees, and this can be met by mature age workers,” said Julie.
To combat skill gaps within an organisation, it is essential to have a skilled and loyal workforce. Empirical evidence suggests that these are attributes more commonly found in the older worker. Additionally, it has been shown that retraining mature age workers to fill existing skill gaps is a financially sound investment.
People with disabilities are another group of potential workers that are underutilised within the Australian workforce and have the potential to fill skill gaps and help create a more diverse workplace.
According to consultancy services provider Diversity @ Work 11% of Australians of working age have a disability. This represents over 2,000,000 people, yet only half of these are working.
“All employers want the best out of their staff in order to have high productivity. Employees with a disability, as with most employees, want to perform to a standard of which they can be proud. Employees with a disability have been found to be rated average or better performers compared with their colleagues, as well as having fewer claims for accidents and higher attendance. Furthermore, retention rates of employees with disabilities are markedly higher than other employees, thus substantially saving businesses the costs associated with recruitment and retraining,” said Julie.
Racial diversity is also important within the workplace. Australia has racially diverse demographic, hence businesses that fail to employ a racially diverse workforce are not representative of the consumers that they targeting and are likely to fall behind other businesses in competitive advantage. Additionally, it has been shown that workplaces that employ people from varying ethnic backgrounds have higher staff morale and lower staff turnover.
With Government reforms coming into effect from July 1st a previously untapped group of up to 90,000 single parents will be moving into the labour force. Many single parents will be looking for part-time work which will allow small and medium sized business who can not afford to put on full time workers the opportunity to employ on a part-time basis. This will be beneficial for both businesses and single parents.
“Organisations which embrace a diverse workforce have been shown to have higher retention rates, higher staff morale and higher productivity leading to a sustainable competitive advantage. Ultimately this leads to higher profit margins and overall a far more successful business than organisations who do not embrace diversity within the workplace,” said Julie.