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BusinessWeek.com’s small business blog offers daily practical advice on running a business.  April 3rd’s advice provides a starting point on how to think about implementing diversity policies, and ends with this sound thought:

Remember, people from different backgrounds bring their life lessons, culture, and opinions to work. Often, their ability to connect with clients and customers of similar backgrounds is incomparable. The more you embrace and encourage diversity, the more your company will benefit.

The key point is that both employer and employee benefit when a company embraces the different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives of its employees.  Further evidence of this comes from an article about Canada’s top 25 best diversity employers from the online version of Ottawa Citizen.  An excerpt from this article brings some of the benefits of company-wide diversity policies to the forefront:

Mediacorp’s first report on the Best Diversity Employers shows companies are making big gains on the diversity front with equal gains in financial health and long-term sustainability.

“The larger picture is that it’s simply good for business in terms of recruitment to be reflective of your community and sensitive to the needs of specific communities,” says Richard Yerema, editor of Canada’s Top 100 Employers for Mediacorp.

Research has demonstrated repeatedly that diversity in the workplace improves innovation, productivity and morale, reduces turnover and ultimately benefits the bottom line. Several research studies have reached the same conclusion, and Canadians seem to agree.

The formula seems simple and intuitive: happy, respected employees are more loyal and provide better service to their employer which ultimately makes the employer more profitable.  While it seems straightforward, most companies need assistance from outside consultants to make this happen and company-wide cultural competency training  is a step toward ultimately making businesses sustainable.