“Diversity: Stop Talking and Start Hiring”
On Thursday May 20th 2010 Hire Velocity & AllianceQ hosted a webinar to discuss diversity in the workplace and the steps a company should take to build a great diversity candidate pool.
First, let’s analyze your company’s level of sophistication with diversity recruiting. We’ll use the analogy of snow skiing skill levels.
Beginner- This entails defining diversity within your organization whether it gender, lifestyle, or ethnicity. Such a simple question has the ability to lead your organization to success or downfall.
Intermediate- This consists of three important questions: 1) Where and why do we need diversity?, 2) What are the demographics?, 3) Are the needs and demographics aligned? At the intermediate level, your organization is thinking in terms of long term success. Knowing where your organization is in terms of your diversity strategy is key to establishing the staff you need.
Advanced- This level is where you are putting your plans into action. You are actively finding talent and pipelining talent. The most action is happening at this level. You are finding out what is working for your company and what isn’t by y identifying the organization’s failure points and correcting them.
Expert- This is the final level where you are able to define and measure ROI. The ultimate goal of your organization is to be at this level. This is where you have answered all the necessary questions and performed all the tasks.
Most would think organizations would consider themselves advanced or expert. Not to our surprise, our live poll showed 30% of webinar participants were beginners and 48% intermediate. With organizations finding themselves at the beginner or intermediate level, there is a definite need for help.
Below are some important tips from the webinar to aid in diversifying your organization:
Do some investigation: Establish relationships with those who are happy in their current organization. Establishing the relationship can lead to potentially having them join your team at a future time. Take advantage of situations that may lead them to leave their current position, such as not gaining a promotion or a poor quarter in sales.
Be willing to train: While the diverse candidate you are looking for may not have the exact background you want, keep in mind that doesn’t mean they can’t meet your expectations. Be willing to train those who have potential and be flexible with your needs.
Be realistic with your expectations: Many organizations are looking for the quick fix. Often having this mentality will lead you to instant failure. You need to understand this is a multi-year approach and time needs to be dedicated to develop the right candidate pool.
One new social media tool can be a great aid in diversifying your organization. LinkedIn has become a resource that organizations shouldn’t live without; it has become the life line needed to ensure you are getting the diverse staff that is needed. One major aspect of LinkedIn is that you have a photo of the potential candidate, and since the information is being published online, the chance of discrepancies is greatly reduced. It is a database full of potential candidates, and you can narrow your search to tailor your specific needs. Oh and did I mention it’s free!
Using these tools as a map can lead your organization to a successful and diverse workplace. “Diversity is no longer the right thing to do.” It is something that helps organizations grow and develop the strength they need to establish and remain.
The Importance of Diversity Recruiting
Most American companies view recruiting diversity as a burden for business, unrelated to the idea of having diversity in the workplace but rather the hassle associated with finding diversity candidates. It’s no secret that diversity recruiting is not a common result of the standard recruiting process. Many companies find that diversity candidates are not resembled in the majority of resumes on Monster, Careerbuilder, and other large job sites. However, there are overwhelming benefits to integrating a diversity of cultures in the office. Several companies have found first hand that the diversity of culture has led to several new ideas that have increased efficiency or led to new products.
Take the Frito Lay organization for example, their desire to recruit diverse candidates led to their product Doritos. Increasing diversity in the workplace will also increase creativity. Not all problems can be answered with one solution; other cultures can bring new ideas, which a homogeneous culture might not stimulate. Therefore, diverse recruiting strategies will bring benefits to the workplace, which are always worth pursuing.
Additionally, in an examination of common western culture in comparison to eastern culture, one noticeable difference is the view of relationship management. Eastern cultures rely on strong relationships between whom they work with. As a result, many customers of companies in the Far East have strong relationships with those they work with. Recruiting diversity more specifically from Asian countries can create stronger relationships with customers and strengthen the ties between those you work with. One downside to diversity in the workplace can be barriers in communication, however those barriers subside over time leaving the benefits of recruiting diversity.
Byron West
President
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