Even small businesses can benefit from diversity. The Advancing Tech Talent and Diversity Community have recently created a Diversity Pledge that will help small businesses plan for a more diverse and inclusive workplace. Research consistently shows that diversity in a company is positively associated with higher profits, even for small and medium-sized businesses. However, smaller tech companies don’t tend to think about diversity as much. Even if you have only a few employees, how diverse are you?
You can change that perspective to see how one person in your company can make a difference. One person might not be enough to make a difference in large companies.
For most businesses, there are two big questions. First, why is diversity important, especially for small businesses? The second is where do you start?
Diversity is important, especially for small businesses, for many reasons. Diversity in the workplace increases creativity, problem solving, decision making, profitability and productivity, employee engagement, retention, and employee retention. It can also improve your company’s reputation in the wider community.
Diversity is important for the industry as a whole, not just your company. As you have probably seen, people are changing jobs more often than ever before. While some people choose to change careers, many others move to a similar job in another company. Moving up the corporate ladder is often necessary in today’s world.
All IT-related companies contribute to the overall diversity of the industry because they spend most of their time recruiting from each other’s job pools. The first job an employee gets after graduation can determine whether they choose to stay in the technology field or not. Companies that hire people for their first tech-related job can have a significant impact on diversity and/or lack thereof.
Take the Diversity Pledge
It is an honor to be a member of the executive council of the Advancing Technology Talent and Diversity Community at CompTIA. The majority of the companies on this council are small businesses. I encourage you learn more about the Advancing Technology Talent and Diversity Community. It’s open to all and is free to join.
We have recently created a Diversity Pledge for small businesses to help them plan for a more diverse workplace.
From the pledge page:
The Advancing Tech Talent and Diversity Community helps organizations to make a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusive (DEI). We can help you launch or update your plan. We have compiled a wide range of tools to help you promote diversity. These include a customizable diversity declaration, a step by step Diversity Action Plan Workbook, a Guide to Hiring without Unconscious Bias, and a Diversity and Inclusion Plan for Technology SMBs.
Get started now.
The pledge is simple: “I am committed to promoting diversity, inclusion, and would like to have access to tools and other resources to help me fulfill my commitment.”
These resources are available to you. If you are motivated, we would love for you to join the cause and get involved in the community.
Take the first step
Engaging in conversation is the most important thing that each of us can do today. Conversation is the foundation of all action. As you can see, the more perspectives and opinions, the better.
My motto is “Nothing happens by itself.” This is certainly true for diversity. There have been dramatic changes in diversity over the past 50 years. People took action to make those changes possible. People discussed the issue and decided that changes were necessary.
Download the guides and take the pledge to get started.
Karl W. Palachuk, an author, coach and business owner, is a member the Advancing Tech Talent and Diversity Community. Find out more about Karl at Small Business Thoughts.
