How Can I Help My Organization Increase Representation Among Black Women?
💥This is #IncreaseDiversity, a weekly newsletter + monthly LIVE workshop series sharing best practices for employers who want to implement effective diversity recruitment programs. To see previous editions, visit JenniferTardy.com. 💥
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"I believe that one of the biggest gaps to increasing workplace diversity is that most employees do not realize that the lack of diversity in one’s personal network is directly connected to the lack of diversity in the workplace."
- Jenn Tardy
Last week I had the pleasure of being a guest speaker at a FairyGodBoss event called What You Need to Know About Diversity Hiring 2021. It was a fabulous conversation and there was one question that really resonated with me that I would like to share with you.
Question: It's Black History Month, and following a year of crisis and unrest, we've never seen companies more focused on hiring Black employees. In fact, 84% of the companies we surveyed said they were focused on hiring Black talent in 2021 - and yet Black women continue to be disproportionately marginalized. What do you think companies need to do to attract more Black women?
My Answer: Increase the number of Black women in your employees' personal network.
As a matter of fact, our team at JTC created an infographic to depict how this works. Check it out below and feel free to DOWNLOAD and SHARE.
Our goal--via the infographic-- was to demonstrate how easily underrepresentation can occur within an organization and the steps individuals can take to support their organization in increasing diversity.
The most intriguing part is that you can exchange the words "Black women" with people of color, women, veterans, people who identify as LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, etc. and can still use the infographic to identify your next steps. The same model applies. Remember, as human beings we do not identify as just one social group. We are intersectional individuals. The key is to be specific in naming where you need to increase representation. Therefore, the ability for your organization to increase diversity is also connected to your ability as an employee of that company to increase diversity among your personal network.
Do you want to know why?
There is a hidden job market. Jobvite's 2019 Job Seeker Nation Survey of 1,500 American job seekers reports that nearly half of respondents hear about jobs by word of mouth via friends, while 37% say they also learn about opportunities through professional networks. In other words, the majority of individuals who got a job or heard about a new opportunity was because they were connected to someone in their network that was able to introduce them to the right person at the organization that had the job opening. As the saying goes, “it’s not just what you know, but who you know as well.”Here’s the problem with that.
LinkedIn defines the network gap as the advantage some individuals have over others as a result of who they know. Where you grow up, where you go to school, and where you work can give you up to a 12x advantage in gaining access to opportunity. This is not to say that you didn’t work hard to be in the position you are in now or striving to be in. It is an acknowledgement to the systems that influence our daily lives.
So, if referrals grant access to the hidden job market, then how are job seekers who identify uniquely to you going to get referred to your organization? It is not enough to say that recruiters must increase diversity in their personal network, but to increase workplace diversity, diversifying your network should be an initiative for ALL employees.
Join us in the comments section: What do you think companies need to do to attract more Black women?
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