Achuthanand Tanjore Ravi, Founder & CEO, Kula.
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In the wake of social movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, and the birth of remote work culture post a series of lockdowns, organizations across the globe realigned their recruitment goals, with the intent to form more diverse teams. Many organizations even went on to make sweeping announcements about the same, but today, they are struggling to meet the ambitious goals they set for themselves. In the recruitment world, there continues to be a lot of chatter about factoring diversity and inclusion into recruitment practices, but no one is really addressing how to go about it.
Here are four practical strategies that recruiting leaders can adopt to build truly diverse teams in their organizations.
1. Assess Data
Taking a deep dive into what the organization’s current workforce looks like is the first touchpoint. Studying the ages, gender ratio, ethnicity, family status, disability status, etc. of the organization’s team at present can help the recruiting team understand what they’re falling short of. Using a human resources information system (HRIS), they can study a range of metrics like compensation, skill set and performance data.
By analyzing the data above, recruiters can draw inferences about areas of improvement. For instance, if the engineering team has a lot more male employees than female employees, that could be a point to remember while filtering applications for engineering roles. If the organization is composed largely of twenty-somethings, they can introduce family-friendly policies to attract more experienced employees. And so on.
2. Define Short- And Long-Term Goals
After making note of the gaps and inadequacies, it’s crucial to define what success looks like. What are the roles your organization will be hiring for? What will you be prudent about while hiring for each role? Where do you hope to be after five or 10 years?
For instance, an organization can aim to decrease wage difference by 80% in seven years, improve Hispanic community representation by 5% and so on. Setting specific, attainable goals will be crucial for forming a truly diverse team.
3. Identifying Solutions
Offering upskilling classes and certification courses for underrepresented communities can give them a leg up to better their performance, and push them further up the professional ladder. Taking feedback from minority groups from within the organization on a quarterly basis can also help recruiters understand and solve for their concerns. Running an internship program for retired persons can help bridge the age ratio.
These are a few suggestions, but recruiters can identify solutions based on the gaps their organizations are trying to fill.
4. Constant Iteration
It’s important to remember that building a truly diverse society is an ongoing process with no end in sight. There will always be room for better representation. Constantly measuring progress against aspiration can help leaders monitor the solution’s effectiveness, adjust the approach to increase impact as needed and more accurately direct the use of company resources.
Some ways to ensure you’re iterating DE&I strategies:
• Sharing results in all-hands meetings brings accountability across the org
• Holding a unique promotion timeline for diverse employees
• Setting up underrepresented employee feedback cycles
Recruitment leaders are juggling a lot; hence, adopting the above strategies can help them meet their DE&I goals and ensure their organizations truly walk the talk.
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