With the long-term goal of acquisition or IPO or simply building a business, leaders can’t ignore the research that diverse teams make more money and deliver more profit. And, of course, building teams that reflect our communities and drive equity is simply the right thing to do.
Companies that pledged a commitment to diversity over the summer are now working to identify ways to make good on that promise. While that’s led to a call for greater diversity in the candidate pool, many hiring managers are realizing the challenge of achieving that goal.
The challenge is often presumed to be lack of a “talent pipeline,” but there are often other contributing factors. A few examples are 1) company reputation—employer brand and company culture, 2) a problematic interview process—not attuned to achieving the desired outcome, and/or 3) a lack of retention strategy—missing the “I” of DEI.
Where does the problem begin? Here’s a common scenario:
1. The scrappy early stage start-up team (statistically, white/male) makes hires through friends (predominantly, white/male), not prioritizing DEI because they need to move fast.
2. Then, a few months or years down the road, having built a team and an employer brand lacking diversity, leadership finds it all the harder to attract those whose identity doesn’t align. Which leads to more of the same!
3. Later on, seeking to shift company culture and composition, and show a commitment to DEI, there’s a big investment in training and perhaps even a costly hire here and there. But, frustratingly, there’s little return on that investment.
4. The company works through the same cycle year after year, not sure why they can’t fully change their team makeup.
So what’s the alternative? We believe that wise leaders view their human capital holistically from the start, with awareness of blind spots that diverse perspectives help to illuminate, optimizing product and client strategies for a diverse audience. Having built a strong, well-cultivated culture, turnover is low and blind spots are minimized as the company grows, positioning it to out-perform its less-diverse competitors.
And even organizations late to making that realization can more readily move the needle and shift their employee population by looking at hiring as more than a fire drill or a question of candidate pipeline.
This is what we call the Talent Continuum:
Attraction—building the pipeline for hiring over time;
Hiring—incorporating a well-designed interview process that increases candidate yield;
Retention—strategies avoiding the high cost of turnover.
Good retention thereby engenders a positive employer brand, which, in turn, is attractive to candidates, which fills the talent pipeline, and so on: a virtuous cycle. Consider that process through a DEI lens, and this approach works toward achieving the desired result of building a diverse and inclusive organization. At CFW, we partner with hiring managers and internal talent teams to not only deliver candidates, but, significantly, to lay the foundation for growth, establishing a scalable process, which we call Equitable Search.
How do you achieve truly equitable search practices?
Prioritize diversity from the start. Stop treating Diversity & Inclusion as separate from overall talent strategy. They should be one in the same.
All search should be holistic: attract-hire-retain, and when viewed as an ongoing process, it will become a virtuous cycle.
Hold up the mirror: what’s your company’s reputation? DEI should be part of your employer brand, and ultimately, part of your product brand.
Assess your interview process and elicit feedback: how do those you hire (and those you don’t) perceive the candidate experience?
Mitigate bias in your recruiting process. You need standardized procedures; rigor can help you check bias.
Be flexible. Keep in mind that sometimes hiring diverse talent can mean being willing to budge on ideal, but not required job requisites to make room for valuable intangibles inherent in diversity.
Value “Culture Add.” A candidate with strong “culture add” (vs “culture fit”) will help your company culture evolve for the better to foster a more inclusive and diverse organization, and this gradual evolution can have snowball effects. Diversity cultivates diversity.
Our VP of DEI Practice and Talent Strategy, Maria Simon, advises, “Over time, you understand that the only way to get good outcomes is through deliberate, disciplined, and consistent action. Corporate commitment is essential to success. Before forging ahead, make sure your leadership team is on board with the initiative, ready to support the process, and open to considering suggestions.”
Since CFW Careers’ founding 47 years ago, we’ve been committed to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. First, opening doors of economic opportunity for women and women of color; and today, working to build diverse and inclusive workplaces. To explore how to implement Equitable Search in your organization, contact: cynnie@cfwcareers.com or rachel@cfwcareers.com. If you’re interested in learning more about our POV on DEI initiatives that work, check out a recent post from CFW Careers’ VP DEI Practice and Talent Strategy, Maria Simon: An Outcomes Based Approach to DEI is the Only Way to Move the Needle.