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Did you know?
- Companies with diverse executive teams (gender-wise and ethnic-wise) have a notable financial advantage over their peers with low diversity in their executive teams.
- 69% of HR professionals and recruiters said in a LinkedIn survey that their organisations were committed to more diverse hiring, but just 47% were found to be holding hiring managers accountable.
- When it comes to decision-making, diverse teams are 87% better than their non-diverse peers.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in hiring (or DEI in hiring) are increasingly becoming the focus of employers. Even potential employees and customers are concerned with them. But what makes DEI in hiring crucial?
Understanding DEI in Hiring
DEI in hiring can help you build a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace. However, DEI in hiring practices shouldn’t be driven by a rush to tick a box or reach a certain percentage or number. While DE&I initiatives are important, it’s equally crucial to treat people with respect and as equals and hire the one who’s the best equipped for the job.
Before diving into your hiring process, you need to establish what DEI means to your company and what sections are underrepresented, which will help you decide what changes are required.
Diversity can be of various types, such as culture, ethnicity and race, religious beliefs, nationality, disability, gender identity and sexual orientation, language, experiences and background, socio-economic status, and age. The inclusion of diversity in hiring processes isn’t to single out differences among people.
Rather, the goal is to understand how your company can benefit from these differences. The central idea behind diversity in hiring is the recognition of individuals and the understanding that each person comes equipped with a unique perspective and can make valuable contributions by drawing upon their values and experiences.
Equity in hiring refers to giving fair treatment to all and using the tools that can help in accomplishing this objective. Even though the means may be different to treat everyone equally, the result should be the same. By ensuring equity in your hiring processes, you can utilise the strengths of a diverse group of people by creating equal opportunities for them.
The goal of inclusion in hiring processes is to create a sense of belonging within your company by ensuring that all voices are heard. With transparent processes that allow your potential employees to communicate freely, ask questions, and give feedback, you can make them feel welcome in the company.
Often, diversity doesn’t last in the absence of inclusion. When the new hires who bring diversity into the workplace don’t feel valued and included, they will most probably move on elsewhere.
Once you have established clearly what DEI in hiring means for your company, it’s time to ask why you really need it.
The 2022 DEI Through the Recruiting Lifecycle Report by Lever found DEI to be a vital part of hiring because:
- Before applying for a job, 81% of candidates visit a company’s website to check their stand on DEI.
- Job postings are examined by 71% to ensure the use of inclusive language.
- 32% of employees believe their company’s focus on diversity is lower than what it seemed during the hiring process.
But what benefits can DEI in hiring bring your way?
Benefits of DEI in Hiring
1. Access to a Wider Talent Pool
As people come to know about your focus on DEI, you are likely to see a surge in candidates wanting to work with your company. When you have access to a wider talent pool, DEI hiring will become easier.
Even when the candidate who’s your top choice receives multiple job offers, you could edge past your competition to get your job offer accepted because you are actively focusing on DEI hiring.
2. Improved Employee Engagement
When your DEI efforts don’t stop at hiring and continue further to onboarding and beyond, thus making your employees feel valued, their level of engagement is likely to soar.
In a workplace where equal opportunities to grow and thrive are offered and employees are cared for, seen, and heard, people will be happier, actively engaged in their work, and more productive.
3. Innovation to Drive Business Growth
When you implement DEI in hiring practices, you get a diverse workforce where everyone is given equitable opportunities and made to feel a sense of belonging. When diverse people with different perspectives, ideas, and opinions collaborate, innovation is encouraged.
As creative ideas and solutions are brainstormed and generated, your company benefits from them. It can help your business grow and even stay a step ahead of the competition.
4. Higher Employee Retention
When your company culture is diverse, equitable, and inclusive, a glimpse of which candidates can get right from the early stages of recruitment, they will feel safe and valued to share their opinions and feedback, even when they are starkly different from the majority.
Knowing that they are in a safe environment where individuals and their differences are valued and merit and competence are rewarded is likely to make them proud of their association with your company. As their happiness, job satisfaction, and motivation go up, thanks to your DEI efforts, they will be likely to stay for the long term.
5. Broader Audience
DEI in hiring starts from how you write your job advertisements by staying away from the use of gendered language and specific pronouns. Be it the sourcing and screening of candidates or interviewing them, removing personal bias from the hiring process is equally crucial.
All these steps help elevate your employer branding, which is likely to attract potential customers who want to buy from companies that implement DE&I recruitment initiatives and focus on creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce. Thus, DEI in hiring can potentially expand your clientele by making a positive impression on people.
Final Words
When there’s a raging war for talent, DEI in hiring becomes vital. But it shouldn’t be for just the sake of it. Your DE&I initiatives shouldn’t be limited to the hiring processes alone. Instead, they should be implemented throughout the company to ensure the work started during the recruitment stage to build a diverse and inclusive workforce with equitable opportunities can reap the real benefits and isn’t reduced to just a number or percentage that you can show off.
To recruit top talent in line with your DE&I initiatives, you can connect with us at InHunt World!
This article was written by Sonali