Turning diversity into a competitive advantage: the CEO of a Latino finance and accounting group talks about why diversity is important and what it takes to achieve it and leverage it for success.

• Author: Espinoza, Manuel
• Position: VIEWPOINT

Because everyone has a different background, there will be some that emphatically embrace diversity, others that are lukewarm about it and still others that think that diversity is a nuisance. The real question is: what does the leadership of the organization think about diversity?

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You can have great diversity mission statements, but if the leadership doesn't understand the importance of diversity--in effect, committing to hiring women, people of color and other minorities--nothing will be gained. The people that embrace diversity have to continually justify their efforts to others. A sound business case for diversity is critical in order to make sure all the leadership of the company is behind any diversity program.

Diversity can be a competitive advantage. There are seven good reasons why having a diverse workforce is important and why it gives you such a competitive advantage:

1 It is the right thing to do. No matter how you look at diversity, or how you assemble the facts, it is difficult to argue that historically women, people of color and other diverse groups have not always had the same opportunities to gain a college degree and to enter a career where they can reach the elite levels in an organization. You just need to ask whether the percentage of women or the percentage of people of color in a community matches the percentage of leaders, CEOs and CFOs in the company.

Therefore, any diversity program that can even the playing field and make it easier for a company to achieve parity within their community is good. If it is good for the community, it is normally good for the company that supports the diversity initiatives.

2 A diversity program should assist companies in complying with the laws regarding issues of discrimination. You never want to be hit with a major discrimination lawsuit, and a diversity program ensures that processes and policies are in place to deter these suits.

3 Having diversity in a company opens up marketing opportunities. Women like to buy from women. People of color like to buy from people of color. The French like to buy from the French. People like to buy from people that look like them, have similar backgrounds, speak the same language and have similar interests.

Therefore, your sales and service force should match your customer base. In addition, a diverse group provides a good image and branding to your customer base.

4 A diverse group of people provides better and varied...