Haitham Salawdeh
Owner, Corporate Technology Solutions
7119 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa
Employees: 20
Industry: Information technology
www.consult-cts.com
Haitham Salawdeh is owner of Corporate Technology Solutions. He says diversity in a workforce can help solve problems and increase access to global markets.
“As a business owner, I have always sought to diversify my workforce. The diversity I seek is more than racial or gender diversity, but also dozens of other ways people can be different, such as economic backgrounds, religions and sexual orientations. One of my main reasons for promoting diversity is it enhances problem-solving. Having a multitude of perspectives helps greatly in solving problems, leading to better products. For example, I had a designer show me what she thought was a perfect design for an application only to tell her that, as a color blind user, I would never be able to use it.
“Additionally, having a culturally diverse workforce helps greatly in communication with our worldwide customers. Today, the main barrier to success in the global market is communication. Although technological advances such as Google Translate have been made, computers cannot begin to replace us in the area of culture, as it is purely human and is essential to the success of any company in today’s global economy.
“Finally, a workforce that is multi-generational benefits from the blending of ideas from the more experienced employees and the new ones that are coming in with brand new ideas.
“Like many things in life, diversity presents opportunities and challenges. But when managed well, a diverse workforce will add value to your business. In some fields where the employment rate is in negative territory, diversity is not even an option, but rather the only way.”
