Centring DEI: Shaping the future of recruitment

After a great time spent connecting with talent leaders at our #TalentConnect conference in New York in early October, I was keen to keep the conversation going. So it was really good to sit down for a virtual coffee meeting with Valerie Beaulieu, chief sales and marketing officer at Adecco Group, and President of Pontoon Solutions which is part of Adecco Group who attended several panels and sessions in NYC on the topic of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).?

Valerie shared how much alignment she felt talking with others at the conference about the big themes, the need to embrace the disruption coming from AI and the appetite to share best practices.??

I witnessed a lot of discussion about the macro trends, about talent scarcity and about the velocity of change coming to our industry. Skills and sustainability were also well talked about in-depth, so I was keen to hear how much DEI featured as a topic and whether there had been any change in the importance attached to it.?

“I think there is a valid question we can ask? to what extent we need a dedicated session about diversity as opposed to it just permeating everything we do,” says Valerie. The keynote address from LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky talked about redefining work in the age of AI: “We could easily have asked how much this innovation is going to be a risk or an opportunity from a DEI perspective. I think it’s an opportunity, if done right,” she says. “We also talked about the shift away from judging candidates based on pedigree and resumés towards something less linear, focusing on skills and looking at skills that are transferable. Many of these big trends can be addressed by being more intentional on DEI.”?

What strikes me is how hyperconnected these themes are today: we can’t talk about skills without talking about diversity and belonging and we can’t talk about AI, modern work or technology without talking about democratising environments to become more inclusive.?

We know from our Future of Recruiting report that Gen Z will reward employers that value diversity and inclusion, and as a people business this is core. Valerie shared some fascinating insights on why companies continue to prioritise investing in DEI, some of the tangible initiatives making an impact on recruitment and retention, and how technology can help build a more equitable world of work.?

The benefits of investing in DEI?

At Valerie’s breakout session in New York, the focus was on building diverse pipelines, anchoring the subject in the broadest definition of diversity. When taking in special abilities, diverse backgrounds, age, disability and more, it is important to remember that many diverse characteristics are not visible.?

Recognising that diversity is a topic vulnerable to lip service, the panellists talked about why it is so important. “Beyond the moral imperative to give equal chances to everyone, numbers prove over and over again that diverse teams and diverse leadership drive better performance,” says Valerie, suggesting the impact on profitability can be significant.?

According to data from McKinsey, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity in their executive teams are 25% more likely to have above average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile, and companies with the most ethnically/culturally diverse executive teams are 36% more likely to outperform on profitability.??

Elsewhere, research from GreatPlaceToWork.com shows that companies that value diversity and inclusion outperform other companies by as much as 400%, proving well-placed to not just survive but thrive through recessions.?

Two other drivers of DEI investment today are talent scarcity and building resilience. “Shortages of talent globally make it imperative to relook at talent pools, says Valerie. “We cannot just go back to the same old playbook without including and accessing new talent pools. We need more brains and more hands to deliver.”?

There are already countries like Japan and Germany where more people will be? leaving the workforce than entering it in the coming years, with ageing populations globally shifting the focus in the workplace to catering to more mature workers. Data from Bain & Company shows 150 million jobs will have shifted to older workers globally by 2030, and yet just 4% of firms have so far committed to programmes or policies that prioritise integrating older workers.?

After Covid, supply chain shortages, the Ukraine war and now the terrible situation in Israel, we need to build resilience. The world is getting more complex and more fast-paced, so the more perspectives we can bring into decision-making, the better we can react. As such, Valerie says she continues to see business leaders sold on the benefits of prioritising DEI.??

Successful DEI initiatives in action?

There was a concern as the world started to normalise post-pandemic that DEI may slip down the agenda but, just as we see in relation to the skills-first agenda and sustainability, this talent driven social impact transformations are increasingly valued by candidates and employees. Nearly 80% of jobseekers say that they want to work for a company that values DEI, while 69% of millennials and Gen Zs say they would be much more likely to work for an employer for more than five years if it had a diverse workforce.?

With better data, it is easier to see the actions that are making the biggest impact, and Valerie shared some examples of DEI initiatives making a difference. “We see companies making true progress on attracting women into the workplace,” she says, “with some of my clients, and The Adecco Group itself, now mandating a diverse pipeline. We need every role to have a diverse pipeline and mandating that sends a strong signal that you have the courage to do something about it.”?

Another positive action delivering results is re-shaping job descriptions, realising that the use of certain wording can deter groups of candidates. “Being deliberate in making sure you appeal to all types of audience is important,” says Valerie.??

The other thing we have found to be powerful is putting forward a diverse interview panel representative of the organisation people want to work for.?

“I totally agree,” says Valerie. “A good example is when we were interviewing someone for my team a few years ago. We did all the interviews in English, we offered a candidate the role, and she turned it down. When I asked for feedback, she said she felt speaking French would be helpful to be successful, because even though we all spoke in English, all her interviewers were native French speakers. The unconscious perception that you provoke in others is important.”?

Another tip was to insist a candidate has a conversation with one of your employee representative groups (ERGs) during the interview process, so that they can feel how diversity lives in the company.?

Building a sense of belonging?

As well as diversifying the pipeline, we are also observing a shifting narrative towards creating a sense of belonging for workers once they arrive – it is one thing to be invited to the party but another to feel that you can go and dance, says Valerie. So, in addition to diverse recruitment, the focus must be on training managers, informing teams and building a workplace where it is feasible for everyone to fit in and thrive.?

“The other thing we do a lot at The Adecco Group is partnering with NGOs, communities and people who know how to address these communities that may not be traditional,” says Valerie. “We are doing a lot of work with refugees, for example, through a partnership with UNHCR.”?

At LinkedIn, it was an ERG group that first highlighted a lack of active discussion around dyslexia in the workplace. New research commissioned by LinkedIn and the global charity Made By Dyslexia revealed less than one in five (18%) people with dyslexia in the UK feel their workplace knows their strengths, despite many of the most in-demand skills – like communication, leadership and research – being ones that dyslexics excel at. We have since added ‘dyslexic thinking’ as a skill that users can add to their profiles, and it has already been selected by more than 22,000 members.?

One final piece of DEI advice from Valerie: “There are several levels at which you can advocate,” she says. “You can be an individual ally, or you can become a visible and vocal ally to your colleagues. Start to sponsor individuals, look to change the systemic approaches, and start to influence when you think your colleagues may not have access to opportunities. Everyone needs to ask themselves, as I do every day, what more they can do.”?

The role of technology in driving change?

Valerie is optimistic about how technology can influence further progress on diversity.?

“Everybody is worried that technology will reproduce the bias of the human,” she says. “You can take the opposite stance that a human by nature is always biased, but if we can teach AI to take that into account, maybe we will have recommendations that will be better. Maybe we can train machines to be more neutral than us, with the right guardrails.” And the recent Adecco Group worker perception survey shows that workers are ready to embrace AI with 62% saying that the impact of AI on their jobs will be positive.? (reference https://www.adeccogroup.com/global-workforce-of-the-future-research-2023/)?

Then, by truly and intentionally embracing the skills-based economy, the talent industry has the power to shift the needle on DEI. Our data shows that a skills-first approach to hiring can deliver far more diverse talent pools, with more women, more workers without bachelor’s degrees and more Gen Z workers.?

“Probably the industry is further ahead than hiring managers on this, so we need to demonstrate courage to challenge our collective thinking,” says Valerie.?

Companies are realising that skills-based hiring works: hirers leveraging skills data to find the right match are 60% more likely to find a successful hire than those not focusing on skills, according to LinkedIn data. To truly drive DEI progress, talent acquisition teams need to work with learning and development teams to attract, hire, retain and develop underrepresented talent.?

We’re seeing much more appreciation of the far-ranging benefits of skills-first hiring now, even if there is still a lot of work to do collectively to change behaviour.??

Looking forward?

It was great to spend time with Valerie discussing DEI in a modern world of work. We know how important this is as a topic for candidates and younger workers but getting it right can also build valuable resilience to a company’s bottom line during a period of intense economic uncertainty. Senior leaders therefore need to prioritise initiatives to both diversify recruitment and enhance retention by building more inclusive cultures that allow all workers to thrive. By shifting the focus to a skills-first agenda, and embedding technology as a means to challenge bias, the recruitment industry enjoys a unique position as a potential facilitator of transformation.?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the fascinating range of themes that Valerie and I were able to explore. Do also look out for more pieces in this ‘In Conversation’ series, as I continue to discuss some of the hot topics raised at Talent Connect with industry leaders.??