How Recruitment Partners Can Empower Your DEI Strategy

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Last year, I published a newsletter titled 5 Quick Wins Aimed at Increasing Diversity that received a very positive response from our community. You expressed the way you enjoyed how the article listed five (5) action items to do when working to create a more inclusive workplace. One of the points mentioned in the article was this: “Develop a memorandum of understanding between Recruiting and DEI. Create a partnership agreement between your DEI leader and Talent Acquisition Leader defining the type of partnership necessary to increase diversity.”?

In this week’s article edition, I wanted to expand on this action item in more detail, explaining exactly how talent acquisition leaders and recruitment partners can help an organization with its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy. Let’s dive into it!

Understand the Gen Z Effect

Before diving into strategy, one of the first things to understand is that the workforce landscape is changing. Generation Z (Gen Z) has entered the workforce and will make up most of the job search population along with millennials. While both groups look at workplace diversity when deciding their next employer, Gen Z looks at it differently . In other words, this group will not settle unless they find a workplace that truly reflects their values. This should prompt companies to be more nimble, integrating? DEI with their Employer Value Proposition (EVP). Remember that recruitment teams can be strategic partners to help in creating a genuine, inclusive EVP that will attract top talent from the Gen Z group.?

Authenticity is Paramount

When you present an honest picture of where your company is currently on the DEI spectrum, it helps candidates determine whether or not their personal values match your company values. For example, if your organization accurately represents your DEI strengths and weaknesses, top candidates will self-select into your pipeline, and those who do not see value alignment will move on to another employer. Suppose your organization claims one thing and exhibits something else (be it during the hiring process, interviews, or company culture, etc.). In that case, your target candidates will recognize this and question the disconnect. As a matter of fact, we teach job seekers in our? Inner Circle community exactly how to identify toxic and non-inclusive workplaces during the hiring process.?

In today’s labor market, companies cannot risk dishonesty in their EVP. If an organization calls itself diverse but the employees do not see diversity in leadership or if applicants do not see diversity among interviewers, individuals (especially those from Gen Z) will question the organization’s intention, motives, and commitment to diversity and inclusion.?

The Power of the Internet (and Search)

Candidates search for proof of diversity and inclusion before applying for a role. Some actions include:?

• Visiting company career pages
• Checking popular job boards like Indeed , Glassdoor , and Monster
• Searching company profiles on Glassdoor to gain insight into current employee experiences
• Observing company social media content and engagement
• Searching Google to learn more about the company?

Internet / digital searches challenge workplaces to be transparent about their stance on DEI and learn more about DEI-related initiatives. So, your DEI strategy must be an ever-present initiative and you must aim to deliver an employee experience with integrity at all touchpoints. Authenticity will also inspire your current employees to become advocates for your organization, sharing positive messages about the company within their networks.?

How Can Recruitment Partners Empower Your DEI Strategy?

Talent Acquisition Leaders and Recruitment Partners can work hand in hand with organizations in aligning their DEI strategy with their EVP. They can help organizations complete an honest assessment of their DEI efforts. This will include understanding the strengths, opportunities, gaps, and conflicts within an organization from a DEI perspective. Doing this assessment is crucial and it should involve everyone’s input.

Talent Acquisition leaders can help in digging deeper into the weaknesses of the organization’s DEI strategy. Getting a clear picture of where you are will help you figure out what you are doing about it (and should be doing about it) as well as your concept of organizational being.?

Okay, now that we know why it is important to partner together, let’s talk about the positive impact it will have on your DEI strategy.?

• Expansion of your Talent Pool. You will be able to attract a large, more diverse candidate population. This is because when working closely with recruitment partners, you will use the best diversity job boards, publications, social media groups, forums, and events to advertise your company’s openings as well as promote your firm’s message.?
• Improved Retention Rates. Retention rates are increased by good employee morale. So, when your EVP is authentic and matches well with your culture, that results in the employees feeling excited to work for you. When employees can express their authentic selves, they will become more productive and will turn into your company’s ambassadors.

I encourage you to involve your talent acquisition team when working on increasing diversity and inclusion at your workplace.?

Join us in the comments section: I would like to know from you all how has your organization engaged with external and internal recruitment partners in creating your DEI strategy.