Introduction
It is safe to say that the talent pool nowadays is more diverse than ever before. When we look at US college graduates, women now outnumber men, and representation from people of color is on the upswing. But, a decade ago, finding a tech startup even mentioning diversity or inclusion in their IPO paperwork was a rare sight. And the big Fortune 500 companies hardly ever talked about it with their shareholders. Fast forward to today, and we see many organizations embracing diversity.
This shifting dynamic makes it even more crucial to approach diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) efforts responsibly and authentically. For those who see value beyond the headlines, it’s clear that diversity isn’t just a box to check – it’s the key to staying competitive in an evolving market.
What Does Diversity Hiring Mean?
Too often, we see organizations lumping a multitude of communities under the big umbrella of “diversity.” It might seem like a convenient shortcut, but it actually does a disservice. It ignores the unique challenges each community faces and makes it more difficult to address specific needs.
Also, understanding what diversity means for your organization can be a bit of a puzzle. Some folks see it as bringing in more talent from underrepresented demographics. For others, it may mean shaking up the complete hiring process to fight bias or addressing salary differences tied to gender, race, or ethnicity. But the bottom line, for each organization, is to nail down what diversity means for them to set the right goals.
Needless to say, it is not a simple task.
Companies love to obsess over numbers. They dive into current demographics to set goals or boost transparency by simply sharing stats. And sure, knowing where you stand is a solid starting point but it shouldn’t be the finish line. We have seen many organizations overhaul at this stage, moving ahead with sky-high, hard-to-reach goals focused entirely on hitting the right metrics. What happens next? A constant chase to achieve those stats, potentially leaving valuable feedback and real progress behind.
What really complicates the journey from intent to impact is the rush to fix all DE&I issues at once. Businesses often overlook that onboarding more diverse talent without proper infrastructure, resources, or plans to support them within the organization may cause more harm than good.
So, if you’re aiming for that game-changing impact, start by taking a moment to listen to what your employees and prospective candidates have to say. They have got the goods on what needs fixing and how to do it. They are not only your best resources in this process – they will also be your biggest advocates… or critics!
Why is Diversity Hiring Important?
Here’s the reality: embracing diversity isn’t just about keeping up with the latest trends or appeasing external demands. It’s about building stronger, more innovative teams that can adapt to the future of work. For companies still on the fence, let’s break down why diversity hiring is more critical than ever for business success.
It reflects the real world
A workforce that mirrors the diversity of the world we live in just makes sense. As the US becomes more diverse, companies must reflect that shift or risk becoming irrelevant. When your team includes a range of perspectives, you’re better positioned to understand and cater to a diverse customer base. It’s not just about being politically correct – it’s about staying competitive in an increasingly global, multicultural market.
It drives innovation
“Two heads are better than one,” but what if those heads come from different backgrounds, experiences, and cultures? Diverse teams bring different ideas to the table, and that variety fuels creativity and innovation. When you blend contrasting perspectives, you unlock new solutions and approaches to challenges, something every company needs in a fast-moving world.
Talent pool expansion
Limiting your hiring to a narrow set of criteria means you may be missing some of the most talented individuals out there. By diversifying your hiring practices, you open the door to a wider range of candidates who bring unique skill sets and experiences. A broader talent pool means you’re more likely to find that perfect candidate, not just the “right” candidate based on traditional metrics. By modifying your hiring practices you’ll add depth and capability to your team.
Improved employee engagement and retention
Diversity is a culture-building strategy. Employees who feel represented and valued are more likely to stay with your company for the long term. When you foster an inclusive environment where all voices are heard and appreciated, engagement becomes obvious. Happy, engaged employees are not only more productive, but also act as ambassadors for your brand, improving your overall reputation in the market.
It’s the right thing to do
Let’s not forget the moral imperative here. Creating a fair, inclusive workplace where everyone, regardless of background, has an equal shot at success is a fundamental part of corporate responsibility. Diversity hiring isn’t just a box to tick; it’s a chance to be part of something bigger and contribute to positive social change.
Steps to Build Your Diversity Hiring Vision and Strategy
A strong diversity strategy, like any other, starts with data-driven decisions that are aligned with long-term goals. To bring diversity in your workforce, it is essential to first evaluate your organization’s current position and then define clear objectives. This process will help you measure progress, overcome challenges, and ensure sustainable change.
1. Collecting and decoding organizational data
When looking at diversity, there is a whole mix of factors to consider. Things like where you are located, what industry you are in, your company size, the different departments you have, and the levels of experience throughout the organization – all play a part in shaping our idea of “diversity” (which includes gender, ethnicity, background, abilities, and more).
The first step is getting to know the team makeup and how it compares to the larger job market, teasing out inequalities based on demographics. Collecting data about gender, age, religion, ethnicity, employee experience, and learning styles (to name a few) helps you get a real picture of diversity within the workforce. In turn, use this data to help identify which policies are helping or hindering, and pinpoint areas that need improvement.
Human resource information system (HRIS) data is a great place to start. In addition, employee surveys and focus groups can help you better understand the nuances of religion, sexual identity, neurodiversity, etc. If you are doing this for the first time, some of your team members might be a tad cautious about sharing all this info. So, make sure they know their privacy and data are in good hands by setting up clear guidelines to keep everything anonymous and confidential. Here, you may want to consider using third-party services to ensure that collection, storage, and reporting meet legal guidelines, as well as organizational best practices.
2. Highlighting needs and concerns
Collecting and analyzing employee demographic data will highlight areas in need of attention, such as:
Here is another opportunity to gather data to better understand employee perceptions of your organization’s diversity initiatives. Ensure anonymity and encourage employees to provide honest feedback about company culture, hiring practices, and related policies. If your surveys do not paint a clear picture or employees are hesitant to share feedback, it might hint at a trust issue. Partner with a third-party vendor to ensure data privacy and credible dissemination of the results.
3. Define diversity goals
After the collection, consolidation, and analysis of data is done and dusted, it is time to start working on diversity hiring goals. This will include identifying how a more diverse workforce will impact the business and align with organizational values. Consider Deloitte’s ambitious target: aiming for a 50% increase in Black and Hispanic/Latinx professionals in their US teams by 2025. By the end of 2023, they surpassed this goal with a 54.2% increase, two years ahead of schedule.
When it comes to goal-setting, keep your eyes on the stuff that makes sense – the things you can realistically achieve and track. Begin with something modest and keep building.
Best Practices for Effective Diversity Hiring
Building a workplace that truly values diversity is not something that falls on one person’s shoulders. It is not limited to a single department (like HR) either. It is a team effort, getting the whole organization on board to create a place that’s inclusive, safe, and equitable. That is how we fuel growth.
- Updating diversity policies: Outline policies to make sure candidates from diverse backgrounds have a warm welcome. Think parental leaves, menstrual leaves, childcare support, eldercare support, and finding healthcare providers who are in tune with the LGBTQIA+ community’s unique needs.
- Addressing unconscious biases: The key is continuous diversity and anti-racism training, along with a healthy dose of education. This helps create a safe space where diverse candidates can freely voice their thoughts, ask questions, and stand up for themselves.
- Emphasizing culture add: Sometimes when a particular group takes center stage, we unconsciously lean toward candidates who seem like a mirror image of our current team, inadvertently keeping out candidates from diverse backgrounds. Instead, bring in candidates based on the culture they bring, not how similar they are to existing employees. Plus, take a good, hard look at historical data on past practices, promotions, and merit increases. That way, you can build a culture where everyone feels empowered and safe.
- Measuring and reporting outcomes: Evaluating impact is crucial. While it may seem complicated to measure specific aspects, you can obtain insight from employee engagement, performance, retention, participation, and experience rates. Share your achievements with all stakeholders to showcase the value, impact, and return on investment (ROI) of your efforts. Make sure they realize that you paid attention during the goal-setting phase! This benefits everyone. Use presentations, infographics, quarterly reports, and diversity reports as effective tools to communicate your results. Being open and honest throughout the process demonstrates commitment, which will build trust with both your employees and potential candidates.
Here are a few good fundamentals to include when reporting:
- Experience and representation of (currently) underrepresented groups
- Leadership views on DE&I goals and strategies
- The company’s progress on DE&I goals
Understanding Underrepresented Job Seekers
Diversity in hiring goes beyond recruitment – it’s about authentic, lasting change. As the public becomes more discerning about diversity efforts, organizations must ensure that their DE&I initiatives are sincere, transparent, and impactful.
- Employee perceptions and market trends
According to research, 76% of candidates prioritize a diverse workforce when considering job offers. Underrepresented candidates, such as Black, LGBTQIA+, and immigrant individuals, are especially sensitive to a lack of diversity. As such, it’s essential to define clear diversity hiring goals, monitor progress, and ensure that these goals align with your company’s values. Companies are also increasingly focusing on the representation of underrepresented groups, including race, gender, veterans, and those with disabilities. - Building an inclusive brand and candidate experience
A strong, inclusive employer brand enhances the candidate experience and attracts diverse talent. Research by McKinsey has shown that while everyone faces barriers in the hiring process, marginalized groups, such as women and racial minorities, often encounter even greater challenges. As candidates assess your company, they’ll want to know about your commitment to diversity and inclusion — what is your DE&I track record, and do your leadership and management teams reflect this? - Crafting an authentic employer brand
Your employer brand needs to be genuine. Authenticity is key when telling stories about your commitment to diversity, as job seekers are looking for consistency in your actions. A strong employer brand is closely tied to your company culture, and it’s reflected in every interaction with potential candidates. Build an inclusive brand by aligning your messaging, policies, and culture with the values that matter most to your audience.
Optimizing Job Ads for Diversity Hiring
While organizations strive to incorporate DE&I initiatives, deeply entrenched hiring practices might sabotage plans.
For one, job descriptions can sometimes be a real headache because they often contain far-fetched expectations that just don’t add up. For example, requiring two to three years of work experience for an entry-level position might turn away recent graduates. It also might get you roasted on social media!
When writing job descriptions, focus on absolute qualifiers rather than preferences. Also, avoid outdated descriptions and biased language, which may deter women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and members of racial and ethnic communities from applying.
This is not limited to job descriptions and ads, and applies to all candidate interactions. Here’s how you can encourage an inclusive approach to communication:
- Avoid biased language
The way you communicate says a lot about your company culture and can influence job seekers’ decisions. Tackling biased language might seem small but takes effort and a keen eye for detail. When writing job descriptions, ads, or any messages, watch out for these cues:
Titles like “salesman” or “saleswoman” are gender-biased. Similarly, using only “he” or “she” pronouns disregards gender-neutral and non-binary individuals.
Some soft skills and certain qualities have gendered connotations. For instance, words like compassionate, collaborative, and understanding are associated with women, while words like confident, skilled, and influential are associated with men. Swap these for more gender-neutral language that welcomes all candidates, regardless of their gender identities.
Phrases like “native-English speaker” and other terms like cakewalk, blacklist, whitelist, etc., also promote bias and may discourage individuals from underrepresented communities.
Another commonly used term, ‘able-bodied,’ excludes disabled people. Instead, mention if the role requires heavy lifting or standing for extended periods of time. Also, avoid phrases like “non-smokers only” or “no smokers,” as this discriminates against a protected class.
Similarly, phrases like “digital native” imply a bias against senior professionals, while asking for significant experience can disregard early-career professionals. So, review your job ads for ageism as well.
Avoid statements that include “must.” It may come across as aggressive and can often lead to discriminatory language, such as “must qualify based on a background check.”
While seemingly small, awareness of these linguistic biases helps draft fair, precise, and welcoming communications.
- Rethink educational requirements
Unnecessary and rigid educational qualifications can be a real roadblock for people from low-income backgrounds. College is not always accessible to everyone. Organizations are now understanding and even advocating for wider acknowledgment of skills and experience acquired outside of higher education. Notably, when hiring for certain tech roles, organizations are making it a point to put more focus on skills-based training.
Educational qualifications do not guarantee expertise, ability, or commitment.
Rather than sticking rigidly to the requirement of a four-year degree, take a moment to outline the key skills your perfect candidate should possess. By doing so, your job postings can attract a more diverse and qualified set of applicants, enriching your pool of potential hires.
- Highlight compensation and benefits
Traditionally, salary ranges or benefits are not included in a job description. With an increased focus on transparency and equal pay, this is definitely changing. In fact, different states have varying requirements for employers to disclose salary information related to job postings.
This is also an opportunity to highlight inclusive benefits like child and eldercare support, paid parental leave, health and wellness plans, tuition assistance, flexible scheduling, and remote work options to convey your commitment to building an inclusive workplace culture that prioritizes employee wellbeing.
- Reaffirm your commitment to diversity
Job ads are a great place to reaffirm your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. While most organizations have DE&I statements on their website, it is also a good idea to include this in your job ads. For example, emphasizing that you are an “Equal Opportunity Employer” encourages candidates from all backgrounds to apply.
Let’s see how you can optimize your sourcing to build a strong pipeline of diverse candidates.
Diversity Sourcing
While writing an inclusive job description in your recruitment ads is pivotal for diversity hiring, it’s only the beginning. To truly make an impact, it’s essential to have the right sourcing channels and tools in place. For recruiters handling a high volume of positions, adopting programmatic recruitment advertising, across diverse job boards, both broad and niche, allows you to connect with candidates where they’re most active. This approach streamlines the distribution of jobs from your career sites or ATS to a network of publishers, aligning with your unique hiring goals.
You can focus on publishing job ads on LGBTQIA+ job boards, i.e., Campus Pride, LGBT Connect, and Pink Jobs LGBT, or promote opportunities in social media groups dedicated to LGBTQIA+ employment. Other job boards like Diversity.com, iHispano, PDN Recruits, PowerToFly, Female Executive Search, help you reach women, Black, and Hispanic/Latinx candidates.
In addition, data from your job ad and recruiting funnel will tell you how many diverse candidates you have reached and hired through your ads. You can also monitor the source, know where they are in the recruitment process, and examine dropouts.
Conclusion: Fostering a Diversity Culture
Organizations can no longer afford to sweep diversity challenges under the rug. Candidates and employees are now demanding better support in the recruitment process and across the organization. TA professionals can
hire candidates from underrepresented communities by revamping their job descriptions, adopting alternative sourcing channels, and addressing bias in the hiring process, but the buck doesn’t stop there!
When developing a company culture grounded in the values of diversity, equity and inclusion, it is crucial to ensure that employees feel safe. Here are some questions to reflect on to help evaluate if you are fostering an open and diverse culture:
- Are employees comfortable speaking up? Are you actively listening and facilitating honest conversations about diversity?
- Does your work environment enable people to be their authentic selves?
- Do applicants have someone like them on your team?
- How are you expanding your talent pool to meet diversity hiring goals?
- Are you helping your candidates design their own career development pathways? Do all candidates have similar opportunities?
- Are you sharing learnings with your business partners to multiply impact beyond the walls of your company?
Keep these questions in mind and revisit them periodically to help build an authentic, safe, and truly diverse organization.
Ready to take your diversity hiring to the next level? Let us show you what we can do! And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
FAQs
What is DE&I hiring?
DE&I hiring refers to the practice of actively seeking and recruiting candidates from diverse backgrounds, including those of different races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, and more. The goal of such hiring is to create a more inclusive and equitable workplace.
Why is diversity hiring important?
Diversity hiring is crucial for creating a more inclusive and equitable workplace that reflects the diverse society we live in. It fosters innovation, improves employee engagement and morale, and helps companies better understand and serve diverse customer bases.
What are the benefits of a culturally diverse workforce?
A culturally diverse workforce brings a wide range of perspectives, ideas, and experiences to the table, leading to increased creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. It can also improve employee productivity and enhance the company’s reputation as an employer of choice.
How to incorporate DE&I in hiring?
To incorporate DE&I in hiring, companies can start by reviewing their job descriptions and recruitment processes to ensure they are inclusive and free from bias. They can also implement diversity training for hiring managers, use diverse interview panels, and actively source suitable candidates from underrepresented groups.
Looking to streamline your recruitment efforts?
- Try our Job Description Optimizer for quick, effective job descriptions.
- Forecast your ad spend with the CPA Calculator.
- Need help choosing vendors? Explore our RFP Templates for expert guidance.
Also read:
The Ultimate Guide to Recruitment Advertising 2024
The Ultimate Guide to Programmatic Job Advertising 2024
The Ultimate Guide to Talent Sourcing 2024
The Ultimate Guide to AI in Recruiting 2024
The Ultimate Guide to Career Sites 2024
The Ultimate Guide to Recruitment Marketing 2024
The Ultimate Guide to Employer Branding 2024
Employee Value Proposition (EVP): The Ultimate Guide 2024
The Ultimate Guide to Candidate Relationship Management: Recruitment CRM in 2024
The Ultimate Guide to High-Volume Recruiting 2024
The Ultimate Guide to Posting and Advertising Jobs on Meta/Facebook 2024
