Research Studies

Less Than a Third of Workplaces Define 'Diversity'

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Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), February 2008

Although organizations believe workplace diversity is important, only 30 percent have an official definition of it, according to SHRM's "2007 State of Workplace Diversity Management Survey Report."

Partnering with the American Institute for Managing Diversity Inc. in conducting a year-long study on the status of diversity in the workplace, the study's authors also found that there is no common language to guide companies in managing their diversity efforts.

The report does contain some good news: There is evidence of greater awareness of diversity in a general sense. SHRM reasons, therefore, that this a good time for organizations to focus more on how diversity can have a positive impact on the bottom line.

The survey project asked more than 1,400 HR professionals and diversity practitioners to gauge the extent to which diversity practices accomplish specific business objectives:

52 percent said that to a "large extent," diversity practices created a work environment or culture that allows everyone to contribute all that they can to the organization.
To that same extent, 49 percent said the practices achieved appropriate representation of racial and ethnic groups.
Similarly, 48 percent said that to a large extent, the practices enhanced the ability of people from different backgrounds to work together effectively.

Also within the "large extent" category, respondents said diversity practices leveraged differences and similarities in the workforce (39 percent) and among customers and markets (36 percent) for the strategic advantage of the organization, and that they eliminated or minimized prejudice (38 percent).

Another notable finding of the survey is that small companies – those with 99 or fewer employees – are the least likely to have an official definition of diversity.

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