Digging Deeper for Greater Impact on Diversity Recruiting

This is #IncreaseDiversity, a weekly newsletter series + Increase Diversity Toolbox sharing best practices for employers who want to learn how to….well, increase diversity. To see previous editions, visit JenniferTardy.com. | IG: @IncreaseDiversity | Increase Diversity - YouTube

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At Team JTC, we understand that diversity recruiting can feel like a nuanced and complex task as it can require more than just ticking off a checklist of actions. It requires a deeper understanding of the impact our actions have on the communities we are tapping into. Simply put, it is not enough to just do anything, we need to ensure that our actions bring the desired result.

One common mistake recruiters, and all of us, make is we focus too much on taking any action and not enough on the impact. For example, posting a job opening on a diversity-focused job board is a great action; however, if that position does not attract a diverse pool of candidates, the action did not bring the desired outcome.

Here’s the thing. You need to reach beyond the surface to begin getting impactful outcomes. Team JTC created this YouTube video, where I talk about 5 action steps to go beyond the surface to increase diversity within your workplace. Be sure to subscribe to the channel when you visit!

Short on time? Here are the important action steps you don’t want to miss. 

Action Step #1: Understand Workforce Representation.

When it comes to diversity recruiting, it’s essential to understand how we (at Team JTC) define the difference between workforce representation and workplace representation.

Workforce representation refers to the external labor supply available to you, while workplace representation is the representation within your organization. Understanding who is available in the labor market compared to who is represented in your company is critical as it helps give recruiters and hiring leaders direction.

However, rather than saying, “let’s increase diversity in general,” it is more important to talk about increasing diversity among specific populations and tying it to where your company is underrepresented. Studies show that when you give general directives like “let’s increase diversity” in a company with, say, overrepresented white men, the benefactor is often white women.

To increase representation, you need to be more specific than that. For example, instead of saying, “let’s increase diversity,” you can say, “our goal is to increase representation among Latinx women in executive operations positions.” 

Going a step further, you can quote a fact or figure: “according to workforce supply data, Latinx women represent an ‘x’ percent of the population available in operations management roles, but within our company, we show a ‘y’ percent representation. Our goal is to increase the representation to ‘z’ percent this year.” This level of clarity is something recruiters feel confident to stand behind.

Action Step #2: Invest Equally in Hiring, Promotion, and Retention.

Just because you are investing in hiring to increase representation does NOT mean you are going deep enough. It is important to invest in all three: hiring, promotion and retention.

Your company’s challenge around increasing diversity may not even be a hiring issue. It could be a retention issue or a lack of diversity in leadership ranks, which is a promotional issue. So, consider checking all the data—not just the demographics of who is being hired, but also who is leaving and being promoted.

Action Step #3: Audit for Impact.

In addition to looking for new actions to START doing, I ask you to step back and look for actions and behaviors that your company should also STOP doing. Certain actions might be harming your diversity initiatives, and your task is to figure out which ones. Do this by auditing for impact, which is essential, especially to those well-intentioned, good-faith efforts.

I urge you to proactively review your hiring process for challenges that might be creating an obstacle course for historically underrepresented populations to get hired and promoted in your company. You’d be surprised at the number of barriers I find when consulting with organizations.

Action Step #4: Workplace Representation.

We talked about the importance of workforce representation, but now it’s time to take a closer look at workplace representation. When you are looking at areas of underrepresentation, I want you to examine them by slicing the data by business units, departments, and levels. This way, you can identify if underrepresentation is widespread throughout the organization or isolated to specific areas. It could also reveal if particular leaders within the company are creating barriers. The key is to go deeper.

Action Step #5: Isolate and Analyze the Data.

To get an objective insight into your diversity initiatives, isolate and analyze the figures by reviewing uncoupled demographic data to see where people are underrepresented. For example, you may find that when combining all people of color, your organization is better represented than the workforce. But after uncoupling and isolating the numbers, you may realize that Black and Latinx populations are particularly underrepresented, while there is overrepresentation among Asian populations. When you inform your diversity initiatives with this kind of insight, you are closer to discovering your biases and materializing a truly diverse workplace.

To sum up, increasing diversity in the workplace goes beyond just hiring more diverse candidates. It’s important to take a deeper look at your organization and identify problematic areas of representation, retention, and promotion, and ways of analyzing data in your hiring process.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to make your organization’s DEI efforts impact-oriented. In fact, I want to offer you my newest e-book, The Hiring System’s Hidden Obstacle Course. In it, I’ve identified questions you can ask yourself to identify potential bias within your hiring process. Be sure to check it out!

Join me in the comments: What areas have you observed organizations skimming the surface to increase diversity? Maybe it’s your current company or a previous one.