Workplace diversity has influenced boardroom and HR meeting discussions for the past decade. With burgeoning globalisation, hybrid workforces, and rapidly changing employee expectations, there is a demand for organisations to develop inclusive and equitable workplaces. This has led many organisations to reach out to Corporate Diversity Consultants. But this begs the question of whether the businesses should go for diversity consultants or if diversity consultants are just another corporate buzzword. 

Why Diversity and Inclusion Matter Today

Diversity and inclusion is no longer just a “nice-to-have” policy; it is now a business imperative. Organisations that embrace diversity can boost employee engagement, drive innovation, and improve financial performance. With a diverse team, these benefits come from a multitude of perspectives that fuel creativity, enhance decision-making, and bolster problem-solving.

However, achieving authentic inclusivity is not as easy as hiring employees with different backgrounds. It requires a shift in culture, conscious leadership, and formal processes. This is often a place where many organisations stumble, lacking the internal capability to design and embed a successful D&I strategy.

The Role of Corporate Diversity Consultants

Corporate Diversity Consultants are professionals who specialise in helping organisations create and sustain inclusive workplaces. They review organisational policies, culture, and the behaviours of leadership to find and create strategies to address the identified gaps. The process typically includes:

• Auditing the current diversity processes and policies.
• Identifying unconscious bias in hiring/promoting and day-to-day behaviours.
• Training leaders and their teams about being more inclusive.
• Identifying concrete diversity goals concerning intended business outcomes.
• Holding organisations accountable by supplying an external perspective.

The consultants’ independence is what they bring to bear for organisations. A consultant acts as an independent third party that does not have an internal HR function associated with the organisation’s existing politics and bias.

Is It Just Hype?

Some people believe the work of diversity consultants is only for PR reasons and that it has no real impact. People believe organisations are hiring consultants to check a box or get credit for valuing diversity and inclusion. No change occurs and their work provides only PR value. When diversity and inclusion consultants end their role at the consultation stage, it can come across as performative rather than authentic. This risks alienating the organisation’s audience, including employees who may feel disappointed or disillusioned.

But if used in good faith, diversity and inclusion consulting is not just hype but also a longer-term investment. Diversity consultants provide frameworks that help organisations move forward and take meaningful action to drive workplace change. The longer organisations work with D&I consultants, the greater their teamwork, the lower their turnover, and the stronger their business performance.

The Real Benefits of Hiring Diversity Consultants

• Enhanced Employee Engagement – Employees who feel valued and included are more engaged and productive. 
• Better Employer Brand – There is a great deal of competition for top talent in today’s workforce, especially in those younger generations where people look primarily for inclusive employers. 
• Less Conflict and Bias – Proactive training and awareness will improve work colleague relationships. Therefore, reducing grievances and misunderstandings in the workplace. 
• Better Understanding of Customers – Diverse teams offer unique perspectives and understand diverse customers, providing businesses with better products and services. 
• Compliance and Risk Reduction – Consultants will make sure that your diversity policies comply with applicable laws, thus reducing risk. 

When Companies Really Need Them

Not every organisation necessarily requires D&I consultants on all occasions. However, companies should strongly consider one when:

• Staff engagement feedback indicates a lack of inclusion. 
• There is noted high turnover among under-represented groups. 
• There is no real understanding among the leadership concerning diversity issues. 
• There has not been a defined diversity strategy established or articulated. 
• The organisation is entering new global markets. 

In these instances, internal efforts alone may not suffice. At these times, engaging a professional consultant can provide objective training, tools and perspective.

How Dimenzion3 Makes the Difference

Diversity is not just a policy; at Dimenzion3, it is one of the building blocks of innovation and growth. Our team of highly experienced professionals partners with organisations to develop strategy that is tailored and inclusive at every level of the organisation. Our consultative approach and solutions are practical and measurable and built around the organisation’s business objectives.

Dimenzion3 brings together cultural awareness, leadership training, and data-driven assessments. This enables businesses to create an environment where all employees can be active and engaged in systemically diverse ways. This goes beyond just having a policy that complies with the surface requirements of inclusion or diversity. It includes a culture of workplace that lives and breathes purposefully, emerging as an outcome of authenticity, respect and collaboration.

So do companies really need diversity consultants or merely buzzwords? The response here is really about intent; if businesses are really looking at this issue as a panacea or to make a few “tweaks”, the results will be moot. If organisations are genuine about producing a good or better inclusive culture, they get expertise from corporate diversity consultants on how to do it. 

To truly make an impact and for it to be meaningful, the measure of success is not whether you have a policy in writing but whether you have created an ecosystem where inclusion is lived on a daily basis. Thus, corporate diversity and its meaning are not in the realm of buzz/dreams. Rather, it is a fundamental building block to success as a stronger, more innovative, sustainable future.