Benefits of diversity in the workplace: 11, with the research
Better decisions, more ideas and fewer blind spots. Here’s what the studies show, what gets hard and what to do about it.
The benefits of diversity in the workplace come down to this: teams that aren’t all alike share more information, question each other more and see more options, which leads to better decisions and more new ideas. The money links are real but softer, because most are correlations. Below are 11 benefits, each labeled with how strong its evidence is, then the challenges and 10 steps that make diversity pay off.
Examples of diversity in the workplace
Diversity covers more than the categories on a hiring form. Researchers usually split it into two kinds.
Traits people are born with or grow up with
- Age and generation
- Race and ethnicity
- Gender
- Disability
- Sexual orientation
- Religion or belief
- National origin and first language
Traits people gain along the way
- Education and training
- Career path and industry background
- Where they live and have lived
- Military service
- Caregiving responsibilities
- Ways of thinking and working
11 benefits of diversity in the workplace
Each benefit says why it happens and what kind of evidence backs it. Experiments are the strongest; company surveys show links, not causes.
1. Sharper decisions
When a group isn't all alike, people share more of what they know and check the facts harder before they agree.
Controlled experiment. In mock juries, racially diverse groups discussed a wider range of case information than all-white groups, and white jurors in diverse groups cited more facts and made fewer errors. Sommers, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2006).
2. Less groupthink
A colleague with a different background makes everyone prepare more and question more, even when it feels harder.
Controlled experiment. Groups joined by a socially distinct newcomer did better on a problem with one right answer than groups joined by a similar newcomer, while feeling less confident about their work. Phillips, Liljenquist and Neale, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (2009).
3. Fewer herd mistakes
People in a mixed group are less likely to copy each other's choices without thinking, so errors don't snowball.
Controlled experiment. In experimental stock markets in North America and Southeast Asia, ethnically diverse markets priced assets closer to their true value, while homogeneous markets built bigger bubbles. Levine and colleagues, PNAS (2014).
4. More creative ideas
Different training, cultures and experiences give a team more starting points for a problem.
Meta-analysis. Across 108 studies of 10,632 teams, cultural diversity went with more creativity and higher satisfaction, along with more task conflict and weaker social integration. Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt and Jonsen, Journal of International Business Studies (2010).
5. More revenue from new products
Leaders with different career paths, countries and industries spot more openings for new products.
Company survey, correlation. In a 2017 survey of employees at more than 1,700 companies in eight countries, those reporting above-average diversity on their management teams also reported 45% of revenue from products and services launched in the past three years, against 26% for those below average. Boston Consulting Group, How Diverse Leadership Teams Boost Innovation (2018).
6. Work with more reach
Teams that draw on more networks and traditions tend to produce work that travels further.
Large data study, correlation. Across 2.5 million US research papers, those written by ethnically similar co-authors appeared in lower-impact journals and drew fewer citations than papers from more diverse teams. Freeman and Huang, Journal of Labor Economics (2015).
7. Better calls on big bets
Partners from different backgrounds challenge each other's picks instead of nodding them through.
Company data, correlation. Among venture capital firms, partners who went to the same school had an 11.5% lower success rate on acquisitions and IPOs when they invested together. Research by Gompers and Kovvali, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (2018).
8. A link to financial results
Companies with diverse leadership tend to outperform, though that may be because strong companies attract diverse talent rather than the other way around.
Company data, correlation. Across 1,265 companies in 23 countries, those in the top quarter for gender diversity on executive teams were 39% more likely to outperform financially than the bottom quarter, and the same held for ethnic diversity. A 2024 paper that re-ran McKinsey's tests on S&P 500 companies found no significant link between executive ethnic diversity and financial results, so treat this as a correlation. McKinsey, Diversity Matters Even More (2023); Green and Hand, Econ Journal Watch (2024).
9. Less bias over time
Working side by side as equals wears down stereotypes, and that shows up later in who gets promoted.
Large data study, correlation. In data from more than 800 US firms, those that set up self-managed teams saw the share of several underrepresented groups in management rise 3% to 6% over five years, and cross-training brought 3% to 7%. Dobbin and Kalev, Why Diversity Programs Fail, Harvard Business Review (2016).
10. Closer to your customers
A team that reflects its customers notices needs, words and blind spots in a product or a campaign before launch day.
Practical benefit. No study is cited for this one; it follows from who is on the team.
11. More languages, places and networks
A mixed team can serve customers in more languages and time zones, knows more local markets and can refer from a wider circle when it hires.
Practical benefit. No study is cited for this one; it follows from who is on the team.
Challenges of diversity in the workplace
The same differences that improve decisions also make teamwork harder at first. Each challenge has a known fix.
More friction at first
Mixed teams argue more about the task, and meetings can feel slower and less comfortable even when the result is better.
Fix: Send a short written brief before decisions, name one decision owner, and judge the team by its results, not by how smooth the meeting felt.
Weaker bonds and cliques
People drift toward colleagues like themselves, so a diverse team can split into quiet subgroups.
Fix: Mix project pairings on purpose, give each team a shared goal it can only hit together, and hold regular team events everyone can join.
Communication gaps
Different first languages, norms about speaking up and time zones mean the same message lands differently.
Fix: Write a plain-language recap after every decision, rotate meeting times across time zones, and ask the quietest people first.
Being the only one
The only person of a group on a team often gets asked to speak for everyone like them, which is tiring and unfair.
Fix: Never ask one person to represent a group, and hire and promote in a way that builds more than one of anyone.
Backlash to required programs
In one large study, mandatory diversity training for managers brought no gains in management diversity five years later, and some groups' share fell. Trainers reported anger and resistance.
Fix: Offer sessions as opt-in, frame them around skills people want, and spend more of the budget on mentoring and accountability.
New hires who don't stay
Hiring a more varied team does little if new people don't get the same access to projects, mentors and feedback. People who feel shut out tend to leave.
Fix: Give every new hire a mentor and a 90-day check-in, and review who leaves in the first year and why.
Sources: Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt and Jonsen, Journal of International Business Studies (2010); Phillips, Liljenquist and Neale, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (2009); Dobbin and Kalev, Why Diversity Programs Fail, Harvard Business Review (2016).
10 steps to get the benefits of diversity
Most come from Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev’s study of more than 800 US firms: programs that engage managers beat programs that police them. For everyday inclusion habits, see our inclusive workplace practices.
- Make training voluntary. People who choose to attend take the message on board; people forced to attend push back.Voluntary training went with 9% to 13% gains in management for several groups; mandatory training did not.
- Start a mentoring program open to everyone. Pair people across teams and backgrounds, with a set length and a goal for each pair.Mentoring programs lifted the share of several groups in management by 9% to 24%.
- Form a diversity task force. Department heads volunteer, review the company's numbers every quarter or two and take fixes back to their own teams.Firms with task forces saw 9% to 30% increases in several groups in management over five years.
- Build mixed project teams. Staff cross-functional projects with people from different roles, backgrounds and offices, working as equals.
- Rotate people through other teams. Short rotations or cross-training stints widen who knows whom, and who gets considered for the next role.
- Put managers on recruiting trips. Managers who go out to recruit from schools and programs they don't usually hire from come back invested in the people they found.College recruiting aimed at women raised the share of women in management by about 10% on average.
- Show managers their team's numbers. Share hiring, raise and promotion figures by team, so every manager can see their own pattern next to everyone else's.
- Track who gets stretch assignments. Big clients, launches and visible projects drive promotions, so log who gets them each quarter and look at the pattern.
- Ask for dissent before you decide. Name one person to argue the other side, and collect objections before the most senior person speaks.
- Give resource groups a real job. Fund employee resource groups and bring them one business question a quarter, not just event planning. How employee resource groups work.
Need small daily nudges for the team? Try a DEI tip of the day, and use the diversity calendar to plan around the dates that matter to your people.
Run it with a host
Want a facilitator to start the conversation? Our DEI workshops are live, facilitator-led sessions of about an hour on Zoom by default (Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request).
- Make it opt-in. The research above favors voluntary sessions, so invite people rather than requiring them.
- Book about 2 weeks ahead. Teams across time zones can have it run as two sessions.
- Office and remote together. Office staff can join from one meeting room while remote colleagues dial in, or everyone joins on their own.
Four hosted workshops, with today’s prices.
Send your date and headcount to get a free quote within 24 hours. Planning something lighter? Mark Cultural Diversity Day on May 21, or try one of our heritage month events.
Sources
- Sommers, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2006)
- Phillips, Liljenquist and Neale, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (2009)
- Levine and colleagues, PNAS (2014)
- Stahl, Maznevski, Voigt and Jonsen, Journal of International Business Studies (2010)
- Boston Consulting Group, How Diverse Leadership Teams Boost Innovation (2018)
- Freeman and Huang, Journal of Labor Economics (2015)
- Research by Gompers and Kovvali, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge (2018)
- McKinsey, Diversity Matters Even More (2023)
- Green and Hand, Econ Journal Watch (2024)
- Dobbin and Kalev, Why Diversity Programs Fail, Harvard Business Review (2016)
Each study was opened and checked in October 2026.
