Cultural diversity and inclusion are not just fluff words to be used to conveniently tick corporate boxes. Instead, they are important pillars of societal, community and business growth and development. But what role does cultural diversity and inclusion play in franchising and what do these terms mean in the first place? Read on to find out more.
What is cultural diversity and inclusion?
Although this may be a broad term, cultural diversity refers to including more people from all walks of life as opposed to stereotypical societal roles.
For example, people can be discriminated against based on their age, race, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, their personal and professional experiences (or lack thereof) and so many others.
These levels of discrimination can affect one’s access to capital and insurance, sustainable financing, property and/or business ownership, and more.
But as mentioned above, cultural diversity and inclusion are not just boxes to be ticked. It’s about a deeper understanding of what makes us “different” from each other, and valuing the characteristics that make a person unique. This incorporation of diversity can foster a rich exchange of new ideas among employees.
But it also helps organisations leverage to a great extent the unique character of its workforce. It can be implemented through addressing practices, values, traditions and/or beliefs that seek to foster a greater understanding of different cultures, which in turn, are considered to be the underlying values that direct people’s behaviour.
As such, diversity and inclusion can be addressed by organisations that explicitly seek to focus on areas of discrimination that may include the following:
- Race
- Education
- Ethnicity
- Generations (age)
- Gender
- Religion
- Sexual orientation
- Disability
- Military veterans
- And others.
The importance of cultural diversity
With this in mind, it’s important to ask the question: why is inclusion important to the success of a business? The answer is simple and clearcut. It’s also a twofold answer.
On the one hand, organisations which have clear diversity and inclusion policies which they enforce have much happier and more productive employees.
On the other hand, their reputation in the industry is strengthened both as an employer and a prospective partner to other organisations, stakeholders, industry representative bodies, and more.
The benefits of cultural diversity
Implementing and enforcing cultural diversity in the workplace and in organisations also comes with other benefits, apart from more satisfied employees and greater brand reputation. Ostensibly, it can have the following positive ramifications, too:
- Improved revenue: this is not only linked to better organisational decision making processes, but also because of the diversity of views that are incorporated when decisions need to be made. This is particularly important in franchising.
- Improved recruiting processes: having these policies in place also enables franchise businesses to attract and retain top talent, which is ultimately highly beneficial for the organisation.
- Improved community relations: because improved diversity strengthens your industry reputation through internal diversity inclusion practices, you’re also better able to acknowledge and reflect the diversity of your customer base, helping to strengthen community relationships.
- Improved leadership: this can range from decision-making processes that are more inclusive to building the company culture from within, while being driven by the knowledge and awareness of the importance of greater levels of representation.
- Improve innovation: diversity helps to foster innovation through the inclusion of new and unique perspectives and ideas. It’s also great for problem-solving to help organisations gain a competitive advantage.
- Improved respect: acknowledging differences enables members of the team to learn from each other, improve teamwork and morale as well as gain greater mutual respect.
- Improved productivity and growth: organisations that are inclusive and diverse are also more likely to be more productive and experience market growth through greater sensitivity and an ability to tap into markets that otherwise would not have been considered.
- Improved compliance: this practice also enables many organisations to stay within the confines of the law while abiding by the relevant labour laws and regulations.
How does cultural diversity apply in franchising?
Although all the benefits of cultural diversity and inclusion may apply to organisations and companies in general, it is nowhere more important or evident than in franchising. It is well documented that franchising does not require individuals to create business systems from the ground up and the proven and profitable business models and practices of franchisors can help foster greater diversity and inclusion.
How can this be achieved? Firstly, although there may be some individuals that face a “generational gap of business knowledge”, franchising can help address that through all the training and ongoing support provided. In addition, through the extensive network of franchisees from different cultural and other backgrounds, franchisees can learn from each other and grow not only personally but professionally through the continued development of their business.
Strategies for managing inclusivity and diversity in franchise operations
So, what can franchisors do to improve inclusivity and diversity in their operations? There are several answers to this question and they include the following:
- Carry out a diversity audit to determine where you currently stand
- Partner with more diverse stakeholders
- Strengthen access to franchisee financing for minorities by creating minority incentive programmes
- Use minority suppliers and partners
- Immediately take steps to address conflict, harassment, disregarding of needs and microaggressions
- Ensure you have written policies in place to foster more diversity in your franchise operations
- Provide current staff and franchisees with sensitivity training
- Create an accountability plan to monitor your progress, and
- Impose a zero-tolerance policy.
In brief
Cultural diversity is what makes our lives richer, fuller and more valuable. When we are exposed to people who are “different” to us, we learn to grow as people and as professionals. And there is no better way to promote diversity than through franchising.
The mechanisms behind franchising mean that the people driving the franchise system promote inclusion of people from all walks of life. This will ensure that their customer base is as well represented as possible, their brand reputation is strong and their bottom line improves, among other things.
Overall, franchising offers great opportunities for people to consider business as an option where this would otherwise have been perceived as a hindering factor. Encouraging and fostering diversity in franchising should be something that every franchisor is committed to.
