Diversity at work

Diversity is often described as ‘difference’. All individuals are different; the many different
parts of a person’s character and identity make them unique. Some examples of the things that
make up diversity are Age, Appearance, Ability, Disability, Job role, Health, Background, Gender, Family, Friends, Sexual orientation, Religion, Belief, Values, Culture, Race, National origins, and Marital status.

Everyone in an organisation brings with them a diverse set of perspectives, work, and life experiences, as well as religious and cultural differences. The power of diversity can only be unleashed, and its benefits reaped when we recognise these differences and learn to respect and value each individual irrelevant of their background.

Diversity is essential everywhere, but it could be argued it is even more important in in the pharmacy because the patient population is already so diverse. If we all liked the same things, looked the same and acted the same. Life would be pretty one dimensional and predictable. The same goes for your workforce - diversity is fundamental for maximum productivity and overall business success. If every employee made the same decisions, had the same experiences, skills, and opinions, you would excel in some areas and fail in others. Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses and a good team e.g., a community pharmacy needs a diverse group so there are strengths in all areas.

Imagine if everbody in the pharmacy were excellent counsellors and communicators but all poor at Maths and English then we would be great and counselling our patients but could well make dispensing errors with spelling and quantities. But a diverse group would mean quality counselling and minimal dispensing errors.

In addition, a diverse workforce has also been proven to increase productivity and profit along with enabling a business to be more financially successful than less diverse ones. By reinforcing a positive culture in the company that is both diverse and inclusive you are more likely to stop employees looking for jobs elsewhere and improve retention. Teams are also quicker at solving problems when they’re cognitively diverse.