5 Tips To Better Succeed In Your Diversity and Inclusion Staffing Efforts
Mike Rasmussen, CIR, PRC, SHRM-CP, Sr. Talent Advisor, The Source and Recruit Company
A focus on improving diversity and inclusion in your organization’s recruitment process makes good business sense. A 2019 study put forward by strategy company McKinsey found that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the bottom quartile—up from 21 percent in 2017 and 15 percent in 2014. (Source)
In this same study, peer companies in the large category also had stronger overall financial performance when ethnic diversity was a core focus. The study by McKinsey had hundreds of companies from all different industries participate and the conclusions were all the same.
From a logistical perspective, we understand that many organizations may not have the bandwidth or the resources to make diversity recruitment a priority in every hiring effort, but in general we believe the investment is worthwhile given the results that McKinsey outlines so well.
Here are 5 tips that can enhance your diversity focus and help gain some initial momentum even when resources are scarce.
Tip #1 – Create Diverse Interview Panels
A diverse interview panel is exactly what it sounds like and of the tips provided it may be the easiest one to implement.
A diverse interview panel could consist of:
Employees from different segments of the company representing different cultures, ethnicities, and genders.
3-5 panel members.
Colleagues the role will work with; peers, HR or hiring managers.
Members who have been briefed on interview and selection methods.
Diverse interview panels help make candidates more comfortable and offer a broader view of the organization.
Tip #2 – Engage Diversity-oriented Professional Associations and Thought Leaders
The US Department of Labor has made it easy to search for Diversity-oriented Professional Organizations. You can use their Professional Association Tool to drill down and find Diversity Associations and candidates via this link. Using search terms like “African American” or “Asian American” for instance will identify associations who work to advance the African or Asian community professionally. Not only is it a good idea to post jobs on these websites, but engaging the leadership of these organizations will help your organization be “best in class” and strengthen your employer brand.
An additional way to engage your organization in a dialogue with your community is to look for influencers. As you identify diversity organizations use the Site: Boolean Search command to find lists of speakers and influencers. For example, I first wanted to find an organization dedicated to advancing Latinos and Hispanics in engineering fields. I typed a basic search string in Google: (Hispanic OR Latino) AND Engineering AND association. I then found the Leading Hispanics in STEM Association (SHPE) in my first search result. Their website is: www.shpe.org.
Next, I created a string to search for influencers and speakers: site:shpe.org (speakers OR presenters). I then found a conference website listing recent speakers at their Fearless – SHPE 2022 National Convention. Here’s their website – the first search result: https://2022.shpe.org/conferences/fearless/.
A couple of steps can now be taken. Talent Acquisition leading the way could:
Reach out, engage the speakers, and get involved in initiatives they support.
Get involved in sponsoring younger professionals with internships or entry level roles.
Monitor a future Fearless SHPE National Convention and sponsor that event.
Get your employees involved in future events from SHPE.
There’s a great deal of opportunity in Diversity-oriented professional associations.
Tip #3 – Engage Diverse Colleges and Female Focused Associations
Another example for finding success in diversity talent acquisition is by researching and engaging Historically Black Colleges and Universities starting with this list here. With this information you can contact their career offices on campus and facilitate events, post to their career pages, or set up career days on campus. If you are more of a sourcer or research specialist you can use the name of the school in your search strings.
Another example of expanding your diversity sourcing and talent strategy is to engage female focused associations. For example, in engineering roles female candidates are historically under-represented. A Google search for “female engineering associations” will bring up a list of several associations for female engineers and one that caught my attention immediately was the Society for Women Engineers (https://swe.org).
With a simple search string via Google, “site:swe.org (speakers OR attendees OR list)”, I was able to find a handful of interesting links to explore including keynote speakers, a list of committed partners, and the WE22 conference. Using this information, you could build a hashtag search on Twitter and follow some of the contributors, engage the speakers, or even sponsor the event. Each of these strategies can open many doors.
Tip #4 – The Power of Recruiting Military Veterans
Many State offices provide veterans assistance with transitioning from military employment to the civilian workforce. One example is the Utah Department of Workforce Services Military Transitioning Resources page here. The Utah DWS has done a great job of putting together comprehensive strategies for engaging transitioning Vets and getting them into the workforce.
They have tools and resources who can assist with resume writing and remove the mystery of equivalency of military ranks to civilian leadership/management roles. Veteran candidates bring leadership, discipline, and a desire to succeed to the workplace. They can immediately help with your diversity recruitment strategy and an added benefit is that the government may assist with any needed relocation costs as part of their benefit package. It is wise for organizations to have a Veteran recruitment strategy in their hiring arsenal.
Tip #5 – Ensure That Your Organization’s Leadership is Committed
This tip may seem like an obvious one but having your senior leadership onboard with diversity hiring is essential for success. For any Diversity initiative to get off the ground, senior leadership needs to be engaged and understand more recruitment effort may be needed on the front end to achieve the desired outcome. To get them on board, industry data such as the McKinsey report can be a big help. Gathering additional intelligence from your community and industry is also key.
Conclusion: Diversity is Worth It
Organizations with diverse teams benefit from diverse thinking which leads to a competitive advantage over peer organizations. While networking and diversifying recruitment advertising channels can generate a more diverse set of applicants, sometimes it is necessary to conduct a diversity search to help build a slate of qualified candidates for interview. If you need assistance with a diversity search, get in touch with us at www.sourceandrecruit.com.
