A sustained, measured and directed approach to workplace diversity and gender equality bolsters the corporate entities that leverage them to attract and retain the desired talent from within a competitive pool of candidates, says information technology services company Dimension Data System Integration human resources executive Themba Chakela.

Dimension Data requires an ever-changing host of skills and skills combinations in its teams to effectively serve the demands of clients and to meet new client needs as the range of business technologies changes and grows, he highlights.

To meet its commercial and market requirements, the company has taken not only a principled stand on workplace diversity and gender equality, but also a strategic stance in fostering and driving diversity, equality and inclusion in its businesses.

“This strategy is not limited to our South African operations, and has been driven globally over the past few years. The aim is to be reflective of the geographies in which we operate and the communities we serve, whether in the Middle East or North, South, West or East Africa,” says Chakela.

Similarly, diversity bolsters team performance, and supporting a workplace culture of diversity and respect adds to the desirability of the company as a preferred place of employment.

This enhances Dimension Data’s ability to attract talent across industries and the markets, as well as to help to retain these skills.

Chakela highlights that career development is an intrinsic component of attracting talent and retaining skilled people as they develop their skills and careers over time.

Equally important is that companies must make workplace initiatives that positively impact on career growth and career development opportunities visible to employees and prospective employees, he adds.

“In our work environment, we strive to engender word-of-mouth sentiment in our graduate trainees, employees and even former employees that is positive about training and career development.”

Diversity Dividend

Workplace diversity also provides strategically and operationally important components to technical, team-based work, says Chakela.

“We look at how our teams interact and operate, and the impact of diversity is evident. Some members of the teams shared similar experiences – and often views – while others had had very different social and academic experiences.

“Diverse teams initially took longer to arrive at decisions, but this was because of longer deliberation and evaluation of different approaches. Over a few weeks, decisions were made more quickly, which is a result of the teams routinely considering a broad range of views.”

The trust and understanding that grew among the team members further stood the team in good stead when work pressures increased, as it enabled them to make robust decisions quickly from a broad range of options and responses.

“Trust built during good times enabled the teams to draw on diverse experiences and knowledge, which helped significantly during tough times and when there was a need to manage complex tasks effectively,” Chakela notes.

Further, Dimension Data has taken a deliberate, progressive approach to stimulating diversity, which has enabled it to successively boost its broad-based black-economic-empowerment score. It now holds Level 2 certification, he says.