diversity
Making Diversity
Pay Off
A diverse workforce can help organizations
understand a diverse customer base
HOW WESTERN UNION HAS MADE DIVERSITY A GROWTH ENGINE
By Janice Williams
For some companies, diversity is probably on the to-do list.
Diversity is recognized as important, but it sits on the
back burner while other issues are prioritized. At Western
Union, diversity isn’t an issue or a topic to consider from the
to-do list; diversity is enmeshed within their business practices,
employee base, customers and company as a whole.
Western Union (WU) is a global leader in cross-border, cross-currency
money movement, enabling people around the world to
transfer money to where it’s needed. They have been in business
for over 166 years, connecting millions of people across seem-ingly
long distances. As a global company with a footprint in over
200 countries and territories, it would be impossible for WU to
succeed without recognizing the importance and power of diver-sity.
In Canada, a country with a rich multicultural makeup and
equally diverse customer base, WU makes a concerted and pro-active
effort to embrace diversity in order to authentically connect
with their customers.
“Having a diverse blend of employees at Western Union allows
our business to walk in the shoes of our customers,” said Joycelyn
David, global head, CEM Go-to-Market Strategy at Western
Union. “To best serve our customers, we need to understand who
they are, what their drivers are for moving money and then con-nect
with them in meaningful ways.”
Here are a few ways that WU has been able to leverage diversity
into corporate success.
DIVERSITY HELPS IMPROVE PRODUCTS
AND SERVICES
With a customer base as broad and wide-reaching as Western
Union’s, they need to understand the nuances that make cultures
different in order to serve them best. It’s one thing to provide mar-keting
materials in different languages, but WU believes that
the value isn’t in simple translation – it’s in making content rel-evant
to the people consuming it. This means that the more they
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