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Fremont: "There never were in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity", once said the French philosopher and writer Michel de Montaiqne. The slogan "Unity in diversity", celebrates the co-operation between different groups of people, despite physical or psychological barriers. So what does diversity mean for a startup? Is it a cloud with a silver lining or is it an added burden?
By incorporating workers from culturally diverse backgrounds, you can make your startup stronger, a very important pre-condition in today's global marketplace, where companies interact with different cultures and clients. The entrepreneur can pick and choose the most viable one--the more ideas, the more options, the more likely you are to develop a cost-efficient solution.
People from different cultures have different work habits, some might be better off as individuals, while the others might work best in teams, this would help the entrepreneur form various departments which will lead to an increase in productivity. Also, the difference in attitudes will have something for everyone to learn from. Since, majority of the corporations are trying to reach the global markets, the presence of people from various backgrounds will help learn different languages , which will give the organization an edge over its competitors, as they will be able to expand into newer territories with an expertise in their languages.
Of late companies like Sodexo, Pricewaterhouse Coopers, AT&T, IBM, Coca-Cola and many others are showing their concern about diverse workforces. The motivations for corporate diversity include increase in the employer's attractiveness, improvement in the financial performance as well as realizing moral beliefs.
But, like the two sides of a coin, diversity in a startup has a flip side too. A startup is in a very fragile stage, a state of confusion and utter chaos. The people are not too sure of what to do and how to do, as a startup is like an active volcano, which is going through a lot of changes every moment. The myriad ideas brought in by the diverse workforce will add to the confusion, as it would be tough to reach a consensus.
Usually, startups have a handful of people in its early stages and the team would like to move fast before exhausting their funds. Thus, the startup won't have time to incorporate the diverse ideologies of everyone. In order to move fast, the team has to stick to a particular idea, thus like-minded people would more suit a startup than people who think poles apart.
The advantages surely outweigh the disadvantages, but it is upto the entrepreneur to decide whether he is ready to add onto the confusion and enjoy the benefits, or stick with a team with diverse skills but not diverse backgrounds.
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