Imagine a business where every culture, gender, language, and background is represented in its workforce—you’d have an all-star team of the world’s best talent, pretty much guaranteeing innovation, creativity, and success for the brand.
Whenever a business wants to get to the next level or elevate its employee experiences, a high level of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is crucial and has a profound positive impact on your company—just look at the numbers.
According to McKinsey, companies with high ethnic diversity have a 33% greater likelihood of outperforming their competitors. Plus, a LinkedIn study found that 55% of US consumers would rather buy from a brand that reflects their personality through a diverse workforce.
Clearly, there’s a solid business case for putting DEI at the forefront of your talent acquisition strategies, so let’s dive deeper to understand these concepts and explore how they can give your business an edge.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion + The Many Benefits They Bring
Diversity is all about unique, individual characteristics like ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation, or even life experiences. A diverse workforce has access to a more robust set of skills and perspectives that can lead to better decision-making and problem-solving.
The magic happens when diverse minds collaborate. Different perspectives can merge to generate innovative ideas that drive a company forward. Even global tech giants like Google and Apple credit part of their continual success to their commitment to DEI.
On the other hand, equity means that everyone, regardless of their background, has an equal shot at being selected, nurtured, and promoted by the business.
An equitable talent acquisition strategy helps companies find hidden gems—highly capable individuals who might otherwise be overlooked. Imagine missing out on a star player simply because they didn’t come from a “traditional” background or didn’t attend a particular type of school. Equity helps you cast a much wider net and find that hidden talent.
Finally, inclusion is about fostering a work environment that ensures all employees feel valued, heard, and understood, giving them a seat at the table and ensuring they feel comfortable enough to contribute their ideas to the business.
Inclusion is also essential for employee retention. Employees who feel included are less likely to leave, which inevitably saves costs and effort associated with high turnover.
When you combine the breadth of perspectives from a diverse team with the fair chances created by equity and the supportive environment driven by inclusion, you get a workplace where everyone is empowered to contribute their best work.
And that’s not just good for the employees; it’s fantastic for the business.
How to Ensure DEI Success When Hiring Fresh Talent
Review Your Current Recruitment Practices
You can’t make improvements without knowing your starting point. Dive deep into your existing recruitment and hiring processes, like job posting, interview techniques, and onboarding, to find opportunities to apply DEI thinking.
For job listings, keep an eye out for language or practices that could inadvertently discourage particular groups from applying or may favor one group over another. For interviews, create a welcoming atmosphere and ask questions that allow people from all walks of life to showcase their skills and potential.
Broaden Your Talent Search Horizons
Move beyond your comfort zones or traditional areas where you’ve sourced candidates in the past, perhaps looking at new countries or states for remote employees.
Consider forging partnerships with organizations like Activus Connect that already work with talent in various communities and can help with things like customer experience, back-office processes, or tech support.
You could also think about virtual job fairs, events, or other ways to widen the avenues through which potential candidates can discover your work opportunities.
Train Your Hiring Team to Be DEI-Conscious
DEI is not just about avoiding blatant discrimination but also about recognizing unconscious biases that we all carry. It helps to invest in training programs that cover these nuances.
Run role-playing exercises or simulations to help your hiring team get hands-on experience with different aspects of DEI. Continuously update this training to keep up with best practices and emerging insights in the DEI space.
Use Metrics to Track and Refine Your Approach
Finally, set up key performance indicators that align with your DEI goals. For instance, you could track the diversity of your candidate pool, examine the representation of various groups at different stages of the hiring process, and assess their progression once onboarded.
Keep an eye on retention rates among different demographics within your company as well. Use this data to continually fine-tune your strategies and celebrate the wins along the way.
By applying these four tips, your business can create a talent acquisition strategy that puts DEI at its heart, creating a workplace where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
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If you’re interested in working in a diverse and inclusive 100% remote environment, come and join us at Activus Connect. We walk the walk, implementing the very strategies we’ve discussed to elevate the employee experience to new heights. Get in touch today!