SEVEN WAYS TO FIND AND KEEP DIVERSE TALENT

In these times when organizations are dealing with challenges like quiet quitting, moonlighting, and great resignation, it has become critical for businesses to find and keep diverse talent.

Companies across the world have generally not been proactive in being able to diversify their talent pools. Even the ones who have achieved some success are unable to retain talent.

This challenge gets more serious when one has to handle diverse talent in technical positions. According to a study, there are around 14% fewer women in entry-level engineering or product jobs.

This number rises further to 15% when it comes to first-level managerial positions. Another McKinsey research shows that black workers, i.e., around 13% of the total workforce, account for only 4.5% of software developers.

According to a report by World Economic Forum, closing the gender gap alone in the workforce can add 15% to the global GDP worth over $ 6 trillion.

It is high time that organizations realize the reasons behind this challenge. For instance, poorly put-together job descriptions and lack of awareness during interviews have an immense impact.

Management practices like accountability and outlining the goals are other challenges that can hinder even the most well-intentioned efforts.

Organizations must make sustained efforts on multiple fronts to ensure that a relevant solution is found to this challenge.

Here are the seven ways in which an organization can find and retain diverse talent:

Make it part of the talent program

Even though most companies want to improve the ratio of diverse talent in the workforce, they usually start by labeling it as a special project. These projects usually fall flat and are unable to find the right footing. It is a good idea to make the departmental heads in charge of the hiring activity to ensure diverse talent is onboarded with support from the HR function because the departmental head is more aware of the position's requirements.

As a result, a business needs departmental heads to make diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) a part of the organization's talent management program. For instance, an organization would need to ensure that DEI KPIs are made part of the same dashboard rather than creating a separate dashboard.

At the same time, other initiatives like integrating the DEI perspective in training DEI goals part of performance reviews will help make these efforts a natural course of business and not a one-off initiative.

Use data and highlight goals

The companies that can create and maintain data about diversity efforts are the ones that can improve their standing. To establish accountability, firms must gather data on their current standing. This data set may not be perfect, but it is enough to start.

For instance, an organization can create a database of people in various categories like age, race, gender, LGBTQ+, military service, caretaker status, etc. It can help identify the categories an organization needs to improve representation.

At the same time, an organization can also look at highlighting goals at appropriate forums so that the organization can get closer to achieving them.

GitLab publishes its diversity data and makes it public. It also uses a DEI dashboard to stay ahead of the set targets.

Increase relevance

It is time to step into the shoes of the talent and figure out how an organization can increase its relevance for the employees. The idea is to increase the employee value proposition (EVP) and ensure that the organization can meet its DEI goals with this strategy.

For instance, the CIO of Gap, Inc, Heather Mickman, was happy to find that the entire executive team at Gap had women when she was deciding whether to join the organization. Similarly, it is good for the organization to test its EVP positioning.

Freeport-McMoRan, the copper mining company, has a special section under its careers page for military and veterans. This showcases that the company cares for these categories.

Expand the sourcing net

It is time that the business expands its sourcing net. This exercise needs to be conducted with an open mind toward sourcing candidates and being willing to look at newer sources. As they say, 'if you are not able to find the right solution, maybe you are looking at the wrong place.'

For instance, if the business continues to hire talent from the same universities, it will have some underrepresented communities in the workforce. It is time to look at newer universities with a clear understanding of what it is trying to achieve and how.

Companies like Mogul, Canvas, and Career Karma have followed this strategy to find a resolution to the diversity hiring in the organization.

Apart from universities, the business can also tie up with non-profit organizations to help identify the right talent. All these initiatives will help to widen the base to find the right talent for the job.

Prepare candidates for the interview process.

It is essential to realize that the diverse talent has not been through many interviews, which makes it necessary to make an effort to ensure a fair and equitable process.

Close to 50% of black engineers had had one round of technical interviews before they started hunting for a job. Another study claimed that women are seven times more likely to drop out of the interview process if they believe they are performing poorly.

Therefore, a recruiter needs to understand that these candidates are not equipped to handle the interview and are also equipped to judge their performance.

Companies like GitLab publish their recruiting process and share tips on their website. The company has added links to videos and has tried to address as many queries as an individual can have about the interview process.

Challenge the unconscious bias

It is a good idea to challenge the unconscious bias in the process and start tackling it from the beginning. There are studies to confirm that recruiters are almost 13 times less likely to open a woman's profile as compared to men. Similarly, organizations can get into the comfort zone of the boy's club and other such clubs that, make the hiring process lopsided.

Various kinds of unconscious bias can seep into an individual's mentality. Organizations need to start with interview training. It will help everyone in the organization to remove unconscious bias from the mix.

It is essential to have a structure that helps an organization remove unconscious bias from the equation. Be it in skills, gender, age, talent, etc. The interviewer needs to have an open mind, to be able to find and retain diverse talent.

Build an inclusive culture

An organization needs to make a genuine effort to create an inclusive culture. It will help retain diverse talent if they feel valued by the organization.

The process can start with educating leaders about the importance of inclusivity and the efforts they can make for the employees' psychological safety.

It is in the hands of the organization to build an inclusive culture. There are several ways to do it, but it needs a genuine belief in its importance and relevance. For instance, after the pandemic struck, several companies had to look at their performance review cycle and KPIs to make them suitable for a work-from-home model.

Conclusion

These are some changes that can help an organization hire and retain diverse talent. It is the right time for organizations to rethink their DEI strategy and take the suggested steps to improve the results.

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