Diversity in the workplace has long been driven by legislation (e.g. the Equality Act) and focuses partly on visible differences between people – gender, race and disability for example. These are all very important but the true value of diversity comes from the diversity of perspective that people from different backgrounds can bring to a business.

If you have a team of people around the table who were all educated and trained in a similar way and have relatively similar backgrounds, they would likely work very well together as a team with a high degree of amity.

 

Their shared perspective and affinity could however mean missing out on a different angle and lead to missed opportunities to innovate or be successful in a new market or even to overlooking a risk. When a team comes together that are from different backgrounds, they are better able to challenge each other, come up with new ideas, be creative and plan for risks. This is particularly important when you consider how diverse clients can be.