Three Challenges for Businesses Trying to Connect with Diverse Voices

In recent years, many businesses have tried to connect with diverse voices, but few have been successful.

Why?  Here are three key obstacles businesses face when is comes to implementing diversity within their companies.

1. Lack of Representation
2. Miscommunication and Misunderstanding
3. Limited Resources

 Let's take a closer look at each of these challenges. 

Lack of Representation

One of the main challenges businesses face when trying to connect with diverse voices is a lack of representation. This is especially true for businesses that are trying to connect with underrepresented groups, such as minorities, women, and LGBTQIA individuals. When there is a lack of representation, it can be difficult for businesses to understand the needs and wants of these groups. As a result, they may end up alienating them instead of connecting with them.

Miscommunication and Misunderstanding  

Another challenge businesses face when trying to connect with diverse voices is miscommunication and misunderstanding. This can happen when businesses try to use language that is not familiar to the group they are trying to reach. For example, a business may use jargon that only people in their industry would understand. This can create a barrier between the business and the people they are trying to reach. In addition, miscommunication can also happen when businesses make assumptions about the people they are trying to reach. For example, a business may assume that all women want pink products when this may not be the case. These assumptions can lead to frustration and anger from the people businesses are trying to reach.

There is a severe lack of outreach to 'under-represented' communities within a company's culture, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing. In many cases businesses neglect specific groups and metaphorically leave money on the table because they do not see the Return on Investment (ROI) for marketing efforts here. However, there's been recent pushback against these practices and now more companies than ever before understand how important diverse customer bases truly can be, and the need to allocate an effective budget to these markets.

Limited Resources 

A final challenge businesses face when trying to connect with diverse voices is limited resources. This is often due to a lack of understanding or knowledge about how to connect with these groups. As a result, businesses may not invest the time or money necessary to connect with them effectively. Instead, they may rely on stereotypes or generalisations, which can further alienate the groups they are trying to reach.

As such brands fall victim to the ill-fated cancel culture - where backlash from ill-thought-out advertising campaigns leads them towards scrutiny by consumers due simply because there isn't anyone challenging what's being said on behalf of the company in the boardroom or during conception.

The Research

The 2020 Mckinsey Report entitled Diversity and Inclusion – Diversity Wins how Inclusion Matters –analyses the impact and the influences of how companies can benefit from understanding and implementing a diversity strategy across all departments from HR to PR,  Accountancy to Purchasing it all matters.

To paraphrase a section of the report ‘The business case for diversity is clear— Companies with more diverse leadership are better able to navigate change and capture emerging opportunities. Our research found that outperformance increases as representation decreases; this trend was most pronounced among women executives (who account for 48% of all females working in management). A substantial differential likelihood separates top-quartile companies from those at the bottom when it comes to gender or ethnic/cultural diversities within their ranks: While 33+ percentage points separate first-place performers.’

Conclusion

Diversity is an important issue in the workplace. It can be difficult to find the voices of authority in most sectors that are not white male, but it's worth working towards a more diverse company culture because people with different perspectives and experiences bring new ideas into any discussion or decision-making process.  The job of creating this sort-of rainbow workforce isn't easy; however, they're invaluable if you want your business to thrive and grow.

Join us as we commit to supporting responsible and thriving businesses by devoting resources to directly addressing the challenges businesses face. By agreeing to consistent and authentic communication and actions, where you can build meaningful relationships with diverse stakeholders.  Today, you can take the next step with us to create a truly inclusive internal and global community by actively engaging with and listening to the needs of diverse stakeholders through consistent communication and genuine actions.

Let's work together to foster a sense of belonging and understanding within our community.