By: Kirsten Fee, RFP Contract Writer
Every year since 2002, UNESCO has held the World Day of Cultural Diversity on May 21 to celebrate the variety of cultures across the world. The day emphasizes the importance of dialogue from culture to culture in achieving peace and sustainable development. It was developed following UNESCO’s adoption of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity in 2001. The declaration recognized the need for diversity, prosperity, sustainable development and peaceful coexistence. Annually, May 21 serves as a reminder of the importance of embracing every culture and their unique qualities.
The World Day of Cultural Diversity is very important to us at MCIS because we aim to support intercultural dialogue through every aspect of our language services. Our vision is to connect people across the world through languages, which helps support our mission to improve access to critical information and services through high-quality language solutions. The level of excellence we are able to achieve as an organization can be attributed to our diverse staff and language professionals bringing a variety of lived and learned experiences from unique cultural backgrounds. Our staff collectively speak over 20 languages, and our language professionals from all corners of the world work in over 300 languages.
The Importance of Diversity
Embracing inclusive hiring practices not only works towards equality but also performance and financial benefits to a business.
First and foremost, inclusive hiring efforts ensure that everyone has an equal employment opportunity and works towards equality in all aspects of life, not just the workplace. It also ensures everyone feels accepted and free to express themselves and their cultural traditions.
Apart from the ethical importance of diversity, it has also been found that teams with more culturally diverse staff are able to think more accurately. In one study published by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, scientists took two hundred participants and broke them up into mock jury panels of six participants each. Some groups had all white participants, while the other had participants from a variety of racial backgrounds. Each of the groups was shown a video of a Black defendant and white victims and was asked to decide if the defendant was guilty. The study found that the racially diverse groups were able to come to a more accurate conclusion than the groups with all white participants.
In another study published by the journal PNAS, researchers put financially literate people into simulated market groups, asking them to price stocks. Some groups were ethnically diverse while others were homogeneous. The study found that the ethnically diverse groups were 58% more likely to price the stocks correctly, while the homogenous groups encountered many errors.
Second, there are also long-term financial benefits of having a diverse workplace. According to a study by McKinsey, companies that rank in the top quartile for gender, racial, or ethnic diversity are more inclined to financial returns above national industry medians. Consequently, those companies in the bottom quartile are less likely to achieve financial returns above the average. The study found that this is because more diverse companies are more successful at winning top talent and improving “their customer orientation, employee satisfaction, and decision making.”
Promoting Inclusion and Understanding
At MCIS, we have employed an Anti-Discrimination Policy and use inclusive recruitment practices. These policies have been designed to protect against individual and systemic discrimination based on citizenship, race, place of origin, ethnic origin, colour, ancestry, disability, age, creed, sex, family status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, reprisals, record of pardoned offences, receipt of public assistance and discrimination because of association. Through our policies, we have onboarded a diverse team of creative and critical thinkers with a larger variety of perspectives.
Another helpful practice to implement that can improve diversity efforts is collecting and analyzing company diversity data over time to identify shortfalls. This technique was identified in an article by Harvard Business Review. They explain that many companies follow this practice in other aspects of business and that it can also be a helpful tool for improving diversity. Once shortfalls have been identified, the article suggests setting goals with timelines to ensure improvements are made promptly.
The article also recommends deploying unique complaints systems such as Employee Assistance Plans (EAPs) to allow everyone a fair opportunity to speak up about workplace harassment. Often, many people who complain about harassment end up facing career repercussions, and this strategy works towards removing any potential backlash or fear that may be associated with filing a report. Using an EAP allows complaints to go through a third-party vendor that can offer free, confidential advice for employees.
Ultimately, the World Day of Cultural Diversity serves as a reminder of the richness found within the variety of cultures across the world. At MCIS, we believe in the importance of removing barriers and improving access to critical information. We know that having a diverse company not only improves performance but more importantly works towards a more inclusive society.