Strategies to Improve Organisational Performance through Workplace Diversity and Inclusivity: A Review of Literature

Extant literature suggests strong scholarly consensus on the positive relationship between workplace diversity and inclusivity and an improvement in organisational performance. However, given that the above-desired outcome does not happen automatically, organisations that need to benefit from the diversity dividend have to formulate and implement strategies to realise such an outcome. To that end, this paper makes a scholarly and practical contribution by focusing on the strategies that could be employed to improve organisational performance through diversity and inclusivity. The results of the review suggest that a complementary combination of committed leadership, inclusive hiring practices, diversity training, competitive and equitable rewards, an inclusive work culture, diversity and inclusion policies, contingent structuring, employee involvement, effective communication, embedding diversity into strategic plans, inclusively setting diversity objectives and monitoring and evaluation of diversity and inclusion practices can synergistically drive sustainable improvements in organisational performance in diverse workplaces. However, results also suggest that these strategies have their attendant downsides, which have to be mitigated to maximise the intended organisational performance outcomes. Overall, managers need to continuously monitor and evaluate the environment and the effectiveness of the strategies in order to guide continuous improvements in unlocking value from diverse workplaces.