Diversity in Thought Leads to Diversity in Solutions
When people think of the notion of diversity, they often think of inherent diversity such as ethnicity, culture, age, gender, sex, nationality, and background. However, diversity is more complex if you consider what is known as acquired diversity, which is essentially all the different perspectives, experiences, political views, thoughts, ideas, and approaches that come with a diverse workforce. A dynamic approach to leveraging diversity—both acquired and inherent—not only enhances operations but leads to diversity in solutions. A Harvard Review study found that employees of firms with a high level of both kinds of diversity are 45% more likely to report a growth in market share over the previous year and 70% more likely to report that the firm captured a new market. They are also more likely to out-perform and out-innovate their competitors.
Pride Resources Partners is a high-performance program and project management consulting firm comprised of a diverse cadre of versatile, dedicated, and knowledgeable subject matter experts with decades of academic and field experience in capital projects, construction management, telecommunications, oil, energy, gas, petrochemical, energy infrastructure, commercial development, and strategic planning. CEO Joe Maak founded Pride, a certified LGBT-owned diverse business enterprise, in 2015. Pride has since flourished into a team of 70+ specialized consultants that comprise a workforce rich in both inherent and acquired diversity. And, like many of the diverse firms in the Harvard Review study, Pride has experienced exceptional growth. In 2020, Inc. Magazine announced that Pride was ranked No. 1,661 on its annual Inc. 5000 list of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies in the American economy, joining a list of honorees that have included Intuit, Zappos, Patagonia, and other notable alumni.
So what is in the “secret sauce” that makes Pride Resource Partners so successful, and how have they managed to accomplish such growth in a relatively short amount of time? The “usual suspects” for what constitutes a successful company are present—a knowledgeable team, quality work, an innovative spirit—but there is something else. Joe Maak, CEO of Pride, is a strong advocate for leveraging diversity to enhance business operations and innovation. He states, “There are just so many benefits to embracing diversity in your workforce. Your employees are happier, and partners appreciate it. Diversity leads to better, more sustainable solutions by maximizing creative inputs. It’s more profitable, more ethical, and frankly, your reputation as a company benefits from it. It is a win-win.”
As Tim Cook, prominent LGBT CEO of Apple Inc., once said, “The world is intertwined today, much more than it was when I was coming out of school. Because of that, you really need to have a deep understanding of people and cultures around the world. I have learned to not just appreciate this but celebrate it. The thing that makes the world interesting is our differences, not our similarities.” As Tim Cook illustrates, one of the key ingredients to healthy success is diversity. And Pride is proud to be able to incorporate that key ingredient in daily business operations at all levels of the organization.
Follow Pride’s blog to get to know this up-and-coming company and to learn more about how Pride provides value and “win-win” outcomes for their partners, clients, and community. The blog will be sharing ideas about the latest entrepreneurial best practices, technologies, and innovations in the telecommunications and utilities space, plus trends around workforce engagement, client satisfaction, project management, and so much more!
