There Is No Diversity Quick Fix: Building Good Teams Takes Time

Research shows that when a company embraces diversity, it can become more innovative and competitive. These traits are especially important for companies who continue to experience exponential growth, expand their applicant pool and hire more talent.

Diversity is integral to the ecosystem of a company because it enables an organization to innovate and adapt in a fast-changing environment. Studies have also shown that a more diverse talent pool is pivotal to competitive advantage and economic success.

As a global company, we work hard to support and leverage the diversity of our workforce. We also understand that in order to attract and maintain a diverse workforce, we must ensure that we have an inclusive culture.

We recently conducted a study of 1,002 people currently employed in the technology industry, and 77 percent of respondents say it is very or quite important to have a diverse company, yet nearly a quarter (24 percent) felt that they had been personally discriminated against.

Having a truly diverse and inclusive culture doesn’t happen overnight and it requires a broad and long term commitment to see results. Here are some of the things we are doing to help us achieve a dynamic and diverse workforce.

Develop Programs that Source & Support Diverse Candidates:

If you are constantly sourcing a diverse slate of candidates, you will increase the diversity within your company. Educate recruiters so they can focus on creating an inclusive and supportive work environment or find recruiters who have experience with diverse hiring practices.

In order to source diverse candidates, however, it’s important to enhance efforts in creating a more inclusive environment, so that you can attract and retain a diverse workforce. We should all be thinking about how to recruit great talent with a diversity of skills, experiences, culture, background and abilities to contribute to the success of your company.

Partner with Organizations that Are Experts in Inclusion

I’ve learned that we need to implement a wide array of action plans to move the needle, which includes partnering with the right academic institutions and organizations to create a diverse pipeline of talent.

For example, we partner with a number of groups that are committed to increasing workplace inclusion, including Girls Who Code, StemConnector, Anita Borg Organization and Grace Hopper, to name just a few. These relationships have helped impact decision-making and success in achieving our inclusion goals, and we will continue to expand and grow this list.

Openly Communicate with your Employees on Diversity & Inclusion Plans

Indeed’s survey finds that 57 percent of people do not know what meaningful action their company is taking when it comes to diversity and inclusion, while 25 percent said their company is not taking any meaningful action.

Employee education should be a main priority. This means we all need to do a better job communicating our initiatives and making people more aware of them. Organizations are responsible for inclusion. All employees need to be champions of inclusion, and by getting more people involved, we can help attract more diverse employees and create a workplace where all employees are respected and valued.

Engaging in a holistic approach—from identifying conscious and unconscious biases that may exist in our talent acquisition processes to educating our hiring managers and all leaders on the benefits of a diverse workforce—is essential to creating and embracing inclusion in our overall business strategy.  As employers, it’s our responsibility to make sure we have a supportive culture that’s committed to educating employees and investing in strategies to build a pipeline for the future.

 

---

This piece was originally published on the SHRM Blog here. Its author, Paul Wolfe, is SVP of Human Resources at Indeed. He oversees all global human resource functions, including talent acquisition, employee retention, compensation, benefits, and employee development.