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I recently created a LinkedIn poll that asked this question:

IF you had a decision to make as a company leader, are you more prone to increase company risk if you knew that it would decrease the emotional harm to certain groups of your employees? OR, are you more prone to reduce company risk even though you knew it would increase the emotional harm to certain groups of your employees?

The audience’s response sided overwhelmingly with the former: they favored decreasing emotional harm in their employees over reducing company risk, which was 81% against 19%. Here’s the link to the post.

What does this data mean? When faced with the challenge of increasing diversity, we know one of the first steps is to identify bias. However, identifying bias can be perceived as a company risk, and many workplaces would rather keep their “head in the sand” than use data to find the bias leading to their leaky talent pipeline.

At Team JTC, we help employers increase diversity without causing harm. Part of our work involves analyzing hiring and employee demographic data. By identifying bias in hiring and promotional processes, we investigate who gets ahead in your company, who gets left behind, and why. This data serves as a powerful tool to guide your next steps, such as actions to eliminate bias.

The Four Categories of Companies + the BIG Problem

During our work, we often encounter companies that fall into one of these four categories:

Companies that don’t collect demographic hiring data (they haven’t started yet, or they don’t plan to)
Companies that collect demographic hiring data but never analyze it
Companies that collect the data, analyze it, and may even report it but don’t use it for process improvement (it gets stuck at the leadership level)
Companies that collect demographic hiring data, analyze it, and use it for process improvement.

Typically, the companies that are in #1 and #2 share with me that their reasoning for being in this category is because of the perceived risk associated with #3 and #4. When you discover a problem, you must do something about it. But if you do not know there is a problem, their perception is that you hold less risk.

So, what is the BIG problem they are referring to? Why are so many companies still reluctant to use data to identify bias in their recruitment processes?

Likely, discrimination. There is an inherent risk associated with reviewing hiring data that goes well beyond bias. It is a type of discrimination called disparate impact (unintentional discrimination) or disparate treatment (intentional discrimination). Instead of focusing on mitigating risk to create more equitable hiring, many companies go to great lengths to avoid searching for bias altogether. In other words, companies avoid digging for bias out of fear of accidentally striking the Big D: Discrimination.

The Unseen Consequences

When companies prioritize reducing risk over decreasing emotional harm to employees by evading data, they fail to recognize the long-term implications of their decision. Employee harm.

How?

Data can be a powerful tool, especially for those working on the frontlines to increase diversity: DEI practitioners, recruiters, hiring managers, and interview teams. Without data shedding light on your hiring and promotional processes, you’re left to make assumptions. And nothing causes more emotional harm to your employees than assumptions.

To be specific, when you restrict data, your frontlines are left to make assumptions in three key areas:

Where you are underrepresented
How well-represented (or underrepresented) is your candidate pool
Where barriers within the hiring process cause top candidates from historically underrepresented backgrounds to be overlooked or rejected

These assumptions make your work seem performative. Performative work adds to the emotional harm of employees who observe your half-hearted efforts evident in your, all-too-common, cookie-cutter response, “but we’ve tried everything to increase diversity.”

All of this can result in increased employee turnover, lower morale, and decreased productivity. Furthermore, this tilt can create a vicious cycle where the company continues to favor reducing risk, leading to more harm to employees, which in turn leads to even more negative outcomes for the company.

On the other hand, taking steps to reduce bias through informed data can bring numerous benefits, including improved employee engagement, increased creativity and innovation, and stronger relationships with customers and partners.

The Solution + Call to Action

It's time to give your diversity recruitment strategy a good, hard look. By facing the issue head-on and committing to using data to uncover and address biases, you can create a more equitable and inclusive workplace for everyone. Collaborate to go beyond symbolic gestures and make a tangible impact on the experiences of your colleagues and employees.

Taking the First Step

Let’s put an end to assumptions that sting your employees and start making real progress. Here are just a few of the actions you can take.

Assess your current diversity recruitment initiatives. Are they effective? Are they addressing the right challenges? If not, it’s time to reevaluate and recalibrate your approach.
Encourage the collection, analysis, and use of demographic hiring data to identify bias and areas for improvement in your hiring and promotional processes.
Invest in training and resources for your team members involved in diversity recruiting, hiring, and promotions, which includes DEI practitioners, recruiters, hiring managers, and interview teams.
Foster a culture that supports open dialogue, where employees feel comfortable discussing their experiences and sharing their ideas on creating a more inclusive workplace.