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A banana can become banana bread, or a banana split, or even an exotic curry. Its potential becomes endless. Applying the same logic to your workforce, diversity can be a force to amplify the potential of your organisation. But there’s no point in having a diverse mix of people in the office, if their voices aren’t being heard. True diversity and inclusion means not just having diverse voices in an organisation, but giving them a platform in which to achieve diversity of ideas.
It wasn’t all that long ago that corporations were almost exclusively owned and run by a very slim profile of society.
There are a few problems with this:
All of these point to the risk of ‘groupthink’ – where the desire for harmony and conformity in decision making can lead to irrational or dysfunctional decision-making.
Ginger believes that if businesses build inclusive and diverse organizations, where diverse voices are given space to be heard, the likelihood of groupthink reduces and the organizations, and those they serve, will benefit. That’s why we work with organizations to give the skills, training and confidence to amplify the unheard diverse voices.
Learn more about Amplify 
Various studies have found a direct and conclusive link between diversity and financial impact.
McKinsey’s 2015 Diversity Matters report examined proprietary data sets for 366 public companies across a range of industries in Canada, Latin America, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They found that:
“Companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.” This rises to 35% for those in the top quartile for ethnic and cultural diversity.
What’s more, those lagging behind in the bottom quartile for both are statistically less likely to achieve above average financial returns.
Looking at financial benefits alone, you can easily create the argument for building more inclusion in the workplace. But the benefits extend far beyond the financial.
With a broader experience base, businesses that encourage diverse voices are able to tap into a wider spectrum of creativity, through collaboration and analytical thought, expanding the possibilities and potential for innovation in all areas of the business.
Companies with a diverse organisation are able to put into practice a wider world view, incorporating more lived experience. This additional range of empathy helps them to open up and better serve a wider range of markets, as opposed to providing a limited and closed perspective.
Gen Z is a culturally progressive generation, and their behaviours (including voting and buying), are rooted in their ethics. According to a 2022 Merkle study 83% of Gen Zers and 76% of millennials feel that brands should take a stance on social issues, compared to just 59% of consumers 41 years old or older. In further research conducted in the US and UK, Stanford University professor, Roberta Katz found that:
“In summary, a typical Gen Zer is a self-driver who deeply cares about others, strives for a diverse community, is highly collaborative and social, values flexibility, relevance, authenticity and non-hierarchical leadership.”
The next generation cares about diverse voices, and so should you.
When looking into the role of women leaders following the COVID-19 pandemic, the Potential Project (as published in the Harvard Business Review) identified that job satisfaction is 86% higher for an employee who works for a ‘wise and compassionate leader’ than an employee who does not. In their study of 5,000 businesses in 100 countries, they found that 55% of the women were ranked by their followers as being wise and compassionate, compared to only 27% of the men.
Our A-team of trainers include award-winning authors, psychologists, coaches, journalists and TEDx organisers. Their combined skills create an exceptional incubator for public speaking talent to develop. Amplify leverages the deep experience and talent of our trainers to nourish your abilities and help you grow into the thought leader you should be.
View trainersOur signature Amplify course seeks to boost impact and visibility through a transformational TED-style speaking journey.
Our fully-interactive course is not your standard ‘sit and learn’ experience. Participants in Amplify are actively engaged in activities that might challenge them. Being taken out of your comfort zone to take your place in the spotlight puts you into your power zone, breaking through your confidence barriers to unleash a new sense of capability and worth. We believe that providing a safe environment and tactics to take ownership of your discomfort provides the ability to hold space in any room.
In the rich tapestry of inclusion and diversity, the act of storytelling itself is a transformative experience, one that can fundamentally change the way we perceive and interact with the world around us. Drawing inspiration from the insights of philosopher L.A. Paul (2014), we recognise the profound impact that such an experience can have in shaping inclusive leadership.
Embarking on a Transformative Journey: Our storytelling training isn’t just a skill enhancement program; it’s a transformative experience in itself. As participants delve into the world of narratives, they undergo a personal evolution, gaining new perspectives and embracing inclusivity on a deeper level.
Narratives Beyond the Known: By opening up to stories from varied backgrounds, organizations venture into uncharted terrains, expanding their horizons and fostering an authentically inclusive culture.
Championing Firsthand Experiences: In the realm of diversity, firsthand accounts of challenges, triumphs, and life-altering moments resonate most. There is a deep power and impact in sharing these authentic stories.
Shaping Identity Through Stories: Aiming for leadership that celebrates diversity means understanding and articulating evolving identities. Through transformative storytelling, leaders and team members can better grasp their own stories and those of others.
I would highly recommend the Ginger team if you are looking to elevate your own impact.
My work with Ginger gave me the structure and focus to achieve a dramatic improvement in my public speaking ability. This has resulted in greater impact with my clients – and has opened up a whole new set of opportunities in my professional life. The return-on-investment has completly exceeded my expectations.
Before I worked with Ginger, I was reasonably relaxed about sales pitches, but anything motivating felt alien. I went from being a ‘wooden’ speaker to one who could get up in front of a large audience and speak from the heart.
As part of the experience we encourage participants to do the work to draw out their ‘ideas worth spreading’. We truly believe that everybody has one fantastic idea.
They might feel their idea is too ‘out there’, too ‘eccentric’ or too ‘risky’, or it might be just the one thing that makes complete sense, but no-one has said it. Whatever it is, it has the ability to make a difference. That’s why central to this course is teaching and honing the skills of communication – because there’s no point in having an idea, if it’s not being communicated. In this way Amplify works to bring to the fore a new wave of creative thinkers, helping them to drive change and push forward their ambitions.
If you’re keen to jump in with both feet to amplify diversity voices, great! But taking a deep and honest look at how your business is providing space for diverse voices to be heard will help you to understand the problem first. Holding open forums, closed surveys, honesty boxes, or any number of research tactics will help to provide a true picture of the problem and how to address it best in your organisation.
Allowing diverse voices to thrive in an organisation may involve challenging the status quo. For example, it could require encouraging participation from all members of the team, not just senior management. Opinions from the unheard, are often unheard opinions, which might make for uncomfortable listening. It’s important to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, to be open to hearing new thoughts and ideas and to acknowledge and value their validity.
Training is an investment in people that pays dividends. By sharpening and broadening skills, individuals better their capabilities, feel valued, invested and can move towards leadership roles fully prepared. Consider looking outside the box at training that builds confidence as well as technical skills, to prepare candidates for the next stage in their career, like our Amplify programme, which is carefully crafted to bring leaders out of their shells to let their personality shine
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_representation_on_corporate_boards_of_directors
https://hbr.org/2022/03/when-women-leaders-leave-the-losses-multiply
https://www.maersk.com/insights/growth/gen-z-buyers-the-future-is-ethical-consumption
https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blog/talent-acquisition/50-plus-ideas-for-cultivating-diversity-and-inclusion