Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | November 14, 2022 | Worcester Business Journal 25 E ncourage creative innovation. More and more innovation, adaptability, and creativity are essential elements in business. A diverse workforce that includes a variety of perspectives, experiences, abilities, cultural backgrounds, and social distinctions can provide the workforce makeup necessary for an impactful shar- ing of ideas that sparks innovation. Simply put, a more diverse workforce can generate more diverse ideas to meet changing business needs. Effective group problem solving. Like enhancing capacity for creative innovation, workforce diversity can lead to enthusiastic sharing of dif- ferent ideas, perspectives, and input, enhancing decision-making abilities in group contexts. Heterogeneous groups might be more inclined to favor consensus over creative innovation. More diversity helps organizations effectively and efficiently solve problems. Better reflect a diverse customer base. Across a virtually endless array of product and service sectors, consumer demographics are becoming increasingly diverse. Organizations properly promoting and imple- menting diversity practices oen see the benefit in stron- ger retention rates, as well a broader base of prospective employees. When an organization can sincerely present a diverse workplace to prospective employees, that organi- zation can be more appealing to a diversity of candidates. Customers may be more inclined to support business- es with a workforce makeup better reflecting unique demographics, so more diverse organizations can better market to, attract, and retain a broader customer base. Stronger understanding of consumer wants and needs. In addition to reflecting and representing increas- ingly diverse customer bases, organizations promoting diversity within their workforces can better understand and respond to diverse customer needs. If marketing a product or service that might be perceived differently in various cultural contexts, having internal understanding of such cultural distinctions can support more successful service delivery or production. It's the right thing to do. Increasingly, social con- sciousness is a key consideration for businesses, whether related to environmental impacts, consumer protections, or the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Or- ganizations sincerely executing practices to promote and enhance workforce diversity can benefit from positive public perception and brand strength associated with strong social values. As certain demographics – such as individuals with disabilities or different minority groups – have been traditionally underrepresented in certain business sectors, efforts to increase diversity can address disparities in employment and opportunity for all. Timothy Johnson is vice president at nonprofit Seven Hills Foundation, overseeing programming operations at ASPiRE!, which provides health and workforce services. BY TIMOTHY JOHNSON Special to WBJ Five reasons to promote diversity in your workforce T he next generation of leaders in Central Mass. higher education is taking shape, and the region appears strongly positioned with great talent. Since 2020, eight of the 13 presidents at the region's colleges and universities have le for new roles or retired, and those schools have searched for new leaders at a time when higher education is still feeling the impact of COVID as well as structural demographic challenges with fewer high school graduates ready to enroll. Worcester Polytechnic Institute completed the final piece of the region's leadership puzzle on Nov. 7 when it selected "Grace" Jinliu Wang as its next president. She led research operations at e Ohio State University and the State University of New York and will become the first person of color to lead WPI on a non-interim basis. WPI wasn't the only Worcester school to find the right candidate from a non-traditional background. At the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Vincent Rougeau took over in 2021 as the first non- Jesuit president in the 179-year-old school's history. Rougeau, who is Black, has kept a steady hand on the wheel as Holy Cross, sought deeper community ties all while continuing to raise the profile of the school regionally and nationally. In his two years leading Clark University, David Fithian, who is openly gay, has secured $100 million in financing, absorbed the design and technology department from the now- closed Becker College, and oversaw the ambitious The above Editorial is the opinion of the WBJ Editorial Board. The Viewpoint column, the A Thousand Words cartoon, and the Word from the Web commentary represent the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of WBJ or its staff. WBJ welcomes letters to the editor and commentary submissions. Send them to bkane@wbjournal.com. A T H O U SA N D WO R D S B Y R A M Ó N L . S A N D O V A L WPI & the benefits of diversity Timothy Johnson purchase of a seven-acre vacant land parcel. Wang's talents and background fit well with WPI's focus on experiential learning and its desire to expand its research and education globally. Her most recent role has been serving as executive vice president for research, innovation and knowledge enterprise at Ohio State, aer she led the SUNY research enterprise with $1.7 billion in annual spending. She holds seven U.S. patents. Having diverse leadership like Wang, Rougeau, and Fithian creates opportunities for underserved populations, whose unique needs might not have been understood until someone with a similar background shows up in a leadership position. Wang's predecessor at WPI, Laurie Leshin, was its first woman president, and over the course of her eight years there, WPI's student body went from being barely a quarter female to the Class of 2021 being the most gender-balanced in its history, with 44% women. Wang, too has shown a focus on helping overlooked populations, such as leading efforts to create the STEAMM Rising partnership with the Columbus City Schools. When hiring for a powerful position, the more you can widen your search, the richer your candidate pool. Some discussion around diversity and inclusion in the past two years has been little more than talk, as businesses struggle to change. Yet the evidence shows in other areas, like higher education, those efforts are paying dividends. 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