3-part DIY Strategy to Hiring (or Not Hiring) for Diversity

By now, you’ve probably read all sorts of articles on the benefits of increasing diversity—spanning gender, age, ethnicity, and career/educational background.

There’s ample evidence to support the idea that when you’re around people with different ideas and perspectives, creativity boosts. “Ronald Burt, a sociologist at the University of Chicago, has produced several studies which suggest that people with more diverse sources of information consistently generate better ideas. Sara Ellison of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has shown that mixed-sex teams can produce more creative solutions than those dominated by either men or women.” (The Economist, February 13th 2016.)

And, of course, there are many other fantastic reasons why increasing diversity yields positive benefits. But that’s not what this article is about.

You have positions open and it’s time to recruit. Follow 3 steps.

1. Intention.

Do you intend to expand the diversity of your team? Or not? It sounds simple because it is as long as you have clarity on why.

2. Strategies.

Homogenous teams are built by recruiting primarily from:

• Referrals.
• A small group of universities.
• Specific competitors.
• Local area.

 
Diverse teams are built by recruiting primarily from:

• Outside referrals from senior-level people.
• Other industries.
• Up-and-coming or a wider set of university programs.
• Wider associations or professional groups.
• Different geographic areas.

 
The requirement in both of the above is an open mind and a hard look in the mirror by you, the decision-maker, and your recruiter. Most of us make snap judgments based on our own biases. Get clear about why you say yes to interviewing one candidate and not another.

3. Management.

Let’s be real: Managing a homogenous team is easier. There’s commonality which means you can probably use less techniques to effectively guide, inspire, and mentor your team.

Once you start expanding diversity, you have to assess the challenges it brings to reap the benefits. Some tips:

• Learn about each other. Exposure to different points of views first requires respectful listening. And people usually don't listen to someone they don't appreciate or value. How did you get to this team? What challenges did you overcome? Etc.
• Build trust. This gets tricky. Is it happy hour bonding? Establishing rapport over cups of tea? Brutal honesty and digging in? Do your homework on cultural backgrounds and individuals.
• Set lots of short-term goals. The team needs to feel frequent success to reinforce that learning to work together is worth the effort.
• Ensure each teammate has a voice.
• Give growth opportunities equally.

I hope this macro-level picture is helpful. If you have additional thoughts, let's talk!