76% of applicants say that diversity is a key factor for them when they are applying for a job. A staggering 32% won’t apply to a job if the organization’s workforce isn’t diverse. Imagine the talent pool you might be missing if you’ve not been investing in building a diverse workforce! Maybe, this is what's encouraging companies to invest in DEI programs. $15.4 billion is the amount companies will be spending on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives by 2026.
“What’s DEI?” you ask.
DEI is about incorporating 3 crucial values in your organizational framework— diversity, equity, and inclusion. In simple words, DEI decides-
- How welcoming is your workforce toward different groups? (Diversity)
- How growth-conducive is your organization for each individual? (Equity)
- How well are individual’s needs and demands heard by the organization? (Inclusion)
But why do organizations need DEI? The line of argument in support of DEI programs is that they help build stronger businesses. There are other DEI benefits too. Not all of them are tangible though.
Moreover, the journey to successful DEI implementation isn’t that smooth. It has its fair share of challenges to overcome. However, as the saying goes, where there is a will there is a way. DEI teams are hopeful that AI will help overcome the DEI challenges, accelerate DEI programs, and may help amplify the outcomes too.
Read this Skima Insight to understand-
- What’s DEI?
- What are the benefits of DEI?
- Why should DEI matter to recruiters?
- What are the challenges in achieving true DEI?
- How does Skima AI power your DEI initiatives?
What’s DEI?
DEI is an acronym for diversity, equity, and inclusion.
All three have been talked about a lot in the executive meeting rooms… for years. Lately, these workplace values are not looked at in isolation. They are now seen as complementary to each other. Because together DEI initiatives amplify the outcomes as compared to individual pursuits for diversity, equity, or inclusion.
Today, small, medium, and large organizations strive to knit together these three as one of the core pillars on which they architect their company (especially the culture).
But what’s DEI? How do you define DEI?
Well, DEI is an umbrella term for all those initiatives in an organization that are aimed at making the company more welcoming towards people's differences, making the company a level playing ground for every individual, and making the organizational culture and policies more robust to make every individual feel heard, and instill a sense of belonging in them. DEI is debiasing organizational processes and culture from any conscious or unconscious bias, and doing everything possible to provide means for underrepresented groups to excel as much as their counterparts.
Here’s what each DEI component means at workplaces-
What’s Diversity?
Diversity at its core means a workforce that respects differences— differences in gender, age, ethnic background, and mental or physical abilities. As part of DEI strategies, diversity means building a cohesive workforce with a good mix of talent from different backgrounds.
Of course, building a diverse workforce starts at the hiring stage, but it doesn’t end there. Instead, diversity encompasses the entire organizational structure i.e., how you form your project teams, who constitutes the leadership, the voices invited to the strategy table, and more.
Anyway, here is a list of diversity dimensions to shape your DEI strategies—
Gender diversity
Gender gaps at workplaces could be disgraceful to everyone. Gender diversity initiatives are concerned with making your org more welcoming towards all genders— men, women, LGBTQ, and non-binary or gender-fluid individuals.
Age Diversity
Some companies do not hire aged professionals (let’s say those who are on the verge of retirement). They have their reservations. But in general, it is advised to keep your workforce as a mixed bag of young and experienced professionals.
Ethnic Diversity
Ethnic homogeneity at workplaces often results in poor decision-making. When you don’t have people from different ethnic backgrounds, most of the people who are brainstorming might have shared experiences about something. This could result in a lack of alternative perspectives/viewpoints. Thus, it’s possible to have blind spots in your think tank, which could lead to biased decision-making.
Neurodiversity
Different individuals have different cognitive capabilities. Their ability to think and process information varies. Some known groups who are often under-represented at workplaces include those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), etcetera.
Neurodiversity is often advocated to be included in DEI strategies because of course it’s the social responsibility of organizations, but there are benefits as well. For instance, neurodiverse individuals often bring unique strengths to the workforce in terms of out-of-the-box thinking, attention to detail, problem-solving skills, etcetera.
Socioeconomic Diversity
DEI strategies also try to encompass the socioeconomic differences of individuals. Often, an individual's education, income level, and social status to a large extent influence the access they have to different resources. They too deserve equal representation at offices. And like other dimensions, talent with socioeconomic differences also brings unique strengths to the workplace.
What’s Equity?
Equity initiatives in a DEI strategy are all about making it a level playing field for every employee. It involves recognizing the fact that one size doesn’t fit everyone.
Thus, equity initiatives are designed to
- Sense individual needs of employees
- Identify factors or circumstances that might make the game unfair for underrepresented groups (where they might be at a disadvantage)
- Solve it for them to remove any identified barriers that might be preventing them from equal access to opportunities or growth within the organization
To make workplace axe systemic inequalities in the workplace, equity initiatives teams often forge policies for anti-discrimination, inclusive hiring, and standardized performance reviews. Also, equity teams ensure that potentially disadvantaged individuals have unhindered access to employee resource groups (ERGs), tailored mentorship, and training programs. Besides, the equity teams also conduct pay audits and take surveys to mitigate all sorts of inequalities.
What’s Inclusion?
Inclusion initiatives are aimed at designing a culture that everyone, irrespective of their differences, is excited to be part of; a culture wherein employees feel welcomed, heard, valued, respected, and celebrated; where they have a sense of belonging, where they feel empowered and encouraged to blend into the organizational fabric, play their A-game, and be the best version of themselves.
Yes, inclusion also starts with hiring, as it is tough to imagine an inclusive workforce without a diverse workforce. But just diversity isn’t enough to build inclusive workplaces. You need to-
- Inculcate a culture where diverse voices are encouraged to speak and express their viewpoints.
- Establish systems in places that guarantee psychological safety for every individual.
- Embody what you say, and what you promise into your actions.
While diversity & equity by nature can be policy-driven, for architecting inclusive workplaces, policies might not be just enough; inclusion is as much about energy, behavior, and vibes as it is about policies. And so, your actions must be completely aligned with your words. The leadership must set the tone here. It can start with recognizing and celebrating cultural differences. Actively surveying and training individuals who could become better with unconscious bias training, inclusive communication sessions, etcetera.
Basically, inclusion functions as a bridge in DEI.
Here’s an analogy to highlight how diversity, equity, and inclusion are interdependent-
If your diversity initiatives are akin to amassing diverse fireworks capabilities, then your equity efforts provide a favorable launchpad for the same, and inclusion efforts ensure that someone lights up the sky for some eye-delighting fireworks.
Anyway, when we say eye-delighting fireworks, we mean the employee and business outcomes. The outcomes for the employees are pretty obvious– a great working environment with amazing growth opportunities. But what does a business get from DEI? What about the ROI of investing in DEI initiatives? Are there even any benefits of DEI for businesses? Read the next section, and you’ll find out.
Benefits Of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion (DEI)
As per McKinsey, there is a direct correlation between DEI initiatives and the business bottom line-
- Companies that score the best on the gender diversity scale are 25% more likely to book above-average profits.
- Companies with 30% or more women in their executive/leadership teams outperformed those with fewer.
- Companies that excel at ethnic diversity are booking 36% higher profitability than those who aren't focused at building an ethnically diverse workforce.
Besides, there are other benefits of diversity, equity, and inclusion for companies that are actively implementing DEI strategies, and embodying DEI into their core. They-
Respond effectively to market opportunities & challenges
Diverse teams mean different perspectives, and that has an advantage attached to them. You get a holistic view of the situation from all possible angles. Thus DEI helps you be more adaptable to evolving economic conditions by enhancing your understanding of the situation. Thus a diverse workforce assists you in quick, timely, and correct decision-making… enabling you to foresee and tap market opportunities ahead of your competitors.
Attract & retain top talent
Building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce contributes significantly to the employee experience you deliver, and helps you improve your eNPS and the related KPIs. Ultimately, it helps you keep your talented pool linger a little longer at your organization. Thus saving you a lot of money that goes into replacing an employee.
Amplify your branding
Providing working environments conducive to innovation & growth of employees not only helps you improve your employer brand but your overall social image too. More organizations are open to exploring synergies with you, and more countries are opening their doors to you. Besides, you can use all the good PR for brand building that boosts customer loyalty.
Enhanced creativity, problem-solving, and innovation capabilities
One way of looking at diversity in the workplace could be the different ways in which diverse individuals approach problems. The more perspectives and viewpoints, the more creative and innovative solutions you will have. This could result in an organizational advantage and can give you an edge over competitors.
The Role Of Talent Acquisition & HR In DEI
A pertaining question for CHROs, CPOs, and talent heads is-
How human resource (HR) and organizational development (OD) teams can play a key role in devising and implementing DEI initiatives at your org?
To answer this question it’s important to understand the role of TA, aka recruiters, HRs, and OD executives in DEI programs.
There are two responsibilities of recruiters or TA specialists-
- Understand the diversity requirements of the organization
- Hire the right talent who not just ticks the skills checklist, but also the culture alignment checklist
Now, the role of HR & OD teams kicks in. On a high level, they too have 2 responsibilities-
- Ensure the hired talent blends in and stays in the organization
- Provide an equitable and inclusive work environment with ample growth opportunities
The roles of HR and OD teams are complex. It involves planning out work-related policies like flexible working hours, nurturing individuals and groups to practice inclusive behavior in their communications, and establishing groups to help out with discrimination, micro-aggression, harassment, and whistleblower-related incidents. Also, they shoulder the responsibility for continuously reducing bias across the organization with specialized training aimed at mitigating biases. Lastly, they assist individuals to upgrade themselves with new skills, or by polishing the existing ones at their behest.
But at the core of everything— the most important factor is hiring.
Unless you hire right, it’s going to be a very long game for anyone to squeeze any tangible value from DEI programs or initiatives. At the hiring stage, your recruiters need to be diversity-aware. They need to be equipped with tools that assist them in diversity-focused hiring; tools that help recruiters overcome the challenges associated with diversity hiring.
Challenges In Achieving True DEI In Recruitment
As mentioned earlier, the path to DEI implementation is full of hurdles. For instance, a Supreme Court verdict in the US left enterprises befuddled about the future of DEI, wherein they have struck down race-conscious admissions at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. Now, organizations are genuinely worried if that would be the fate of DEI programs too.
Also, DEI initiatives implementation is tortoise-slow in some organizations. 65% of employees say that their managers are not keen on fostering inclusive workplaces. Thus, delaying & limiting the actual impact DEI can have on and for organizations.
Some Other DEI Challenges-
- First and foremost, your recruitment drives can often be infected with human bias.
- Then, there can also be sourcing challenges, as you might not always have access to a great pool of applicants.
- Additionally, there can sometimes be internal polarisation when they know someone to be a diversity-hire; aligning internal members is an equal challenge.
- Besides, there can be challenges for the CHROs and head of talent in mapping the ROI of diversity hiring.
- And lastly, there are bureaucratic hurdles and red-ribbon processes at large enterprises. Often, DEI programs get shelved quoting funding winter and budget issues.
How do you overcome these DEI challenges?
Well, some of these challenges originate from your organizational culture. Maybe, that needs a complete makeover so that you can build future-proof workforces. Also, there are some recruitment & sourcing-related challenges, where, of course, Skima AI can help you out.
Skima AI To Power Your DEI Initiatives
Skima AI is a talent intelligence platform that helps you in 3 different ways to help you accelerate the implementation of your DEI programs-
Create Inclusive Job Descriptions Using Skima AI
Your recruiters can use this free AI-powered job description generator by Skima AI to create inclusive job descriptions for your role, where you can also highlight the DEI aspects of your organization. 76% of applicants today consider DEI as an important factor when they are applying for jobs.
Diversity-aware Efficient Recruiting With Skima AI
Traditional methods of recruiting are not enough for listening to the hidden signals in an applicant’s resume.
Skima AI de-biases resume screening
Our state-of-the-art algorithms are designed to perform semantic analysis of a candidate’s resume in real time to unearth diversity-focused signals (among multiple other things).
You can simply use Skima AI’s diversity filters available in the Skima AI dashboard to quickly identify the top talent for building a diverse workforce.
Also, Skima AI increases the recruiter’s efficiency in screening large applicant pools. Your recruiters can process 10s of 1000s of resumes within seconds using our platform.
Tap Into Your Unused Talent Pool With AI Screening & Matchmaking Capabilities Of Skima AI
Your recruiters can easily uncover hidden talent pools with Skima AI-powered talent intelligence. Skima AI integrates with all major platforms including Lever, Workable, BambooHR, etcetera. You can configure it to fetch all the resumes from all your past job posts (across platforms) into your Skima dashboard and process it using Skima AI’s resume screening & matchmaking functionality to see if there are any good fits in your existing candidate pool. This ensures your time-to-hire, cost-of-hire, and time-to-fill remains at desirably low levels.
To start experiencing the power of Skima AI, try using it right away. It barely takes a minute to get started. Alternatively, if you prefer a 1:1 demo, book it here.
Subscribe to Skima AI Insights to get the latest on recruiting and talent management.
