Should we reconsider the conventional method of hiring? Hiring those with the best functional skills for the job is the conventional strategy, but who are the top candidates for today’s positions?

Read More: Moez Kassam

Instead of relying just on individuals to manage the complicated business world of today, we need to build teams of people with diverse backgrounds, traits, and—above all—different ways of thinking. I intentionally use the word “construct” here. The team must, of course, be capable of carrying out the task, but in order to optimize performance, we must specifically choose individuals with diverse approaches to business problem-solving. The finest teams of individuals for future careers are made by intentionally promoting diversity.

How Does Diversity Appear?

Disparities in gender and ethnicity are usually the main topics of discussion when I speak with individuals about diversity. That’s a part of it, but finding individuals with various thought processes as well as new views and ideas is just as crucial to building great, diverse teams.

Teams of individuals with comparable educations and experiences are prone to share ideas and have a tendency to become stuck in the same spot. On the other hand, diverse teams are more likely to come up with novel solutions to problems and keep moving forward.

Expanding the executive team and carefully choosing new members to increase its diversity was one of the first things we did when we revised our company’s strategy. Our chief technical officer was raised and schooled in India and has experience in a completely different industry, whereas our chief marketing officer is a woman with a solid background in science and business. More significantly, both were outside of our field and brought fresh perspectives and innovative methods to expand our company. We are actively seeking to increase the diversity of our leadership team for upcoming C-level hires.

As I said earlier, personality tests may be used to examine an individual’s interpersonal skills and competency management (values, behaviors, and attributes). These can also be useful for learning how people approach challenges and how they think about solutions. With this knowledge, you may consciously encourage diversity in your teams.

Why Do Diverse Teams Perform Better?

Diversity may be a distraction for simple, routine work. Top achievers can work successfully in a homogeneous team with comparable training and backgrounds. The commercial issues of today, however, are complex and evolve swiftly and often. A diverse group can do significantly better than homogeneous groups in this difficult, inconsistent scenario because of its many frames of reference.

An echo chamber may result from the way groups of people who are similar to one another and were chosen using the conventional “best functional skills for the job” method collaborate. They surround themselves with like-minded people who share their opinions and methods of problem-solving. The team may develop blind spots as a result of working in an echo chamber, which might have severe effects on business choices.

Businesses now operate in a dynamic environment that demands fresh ways of thinking and a variety of viewpoints from numerous devil’s advocates in order to spur growth. Businesses are better positioned to succeed in a cutthroat, complicated environment, in my opinion, if they adjust to this “new normal” of greater diversity.

Diversity Demands More Work from Leaders

Although intentionally creating diverse teams with a range of perspectives might improve performance, it can also provide leadership challenges. Leaders must endeavor to create a workplace where diversity is respected and all individuals feel included in order to prevent a “me versus the rest” mentality.

Most significantly, because it encourages diverse thinking, people need to feel comfortable discussing minority opinions and alternative methods. Even if they prove to be incorrect, they can nevertheless result in the team discovering new solutions that would not have been known otherwise. The key to solving corporate problems more effectively is to provide the psychological safety necessary for heated debate.

Recognize that this is a nuanced issue. Significant mental effort is needed for people to sustain their various ways of thinking. People have a propensity to fit in with a company’s culture, which over time may limit their capacity to voice their true opinions. forth order to prevent this slow deterioration of diversity, leaders must put forth more effort. It requires a personalized approach to team member motivation and goes beyond merely recognizing differences.

Overseeing A Diverse Group

Leaders must steer clear of the one-size-fits-all mentality if they want to promote diversity in their firm. To encourage varied thinking, they must modify their leadership approach to suit the demands of each individual. This necessitates a modest approach—actively hearing all viewpoints and ideas while also making sure that everyone thinks their opinions have been heard.

Divergent thinking can’t last long, though. When there are enough ideas on the table, it is crucial to start directing the process so that a choice may be reached. Leaders need to have the confidence to rally the team and the rest of the organization behind their choice after it has been made.