New Strategies for Hiring Diverse Talent

By Melva Tate

Although a recent hot topic, the discussion of hiring diverse talent is nothing new and certainly not the flavor of the month.

For years, organizations have invested significant time and resources to create the perfect workplace culture centered around a diverse workforce. While many organizations can boast meaningful achievements and have received awards for those efforts, others still struggle with the purpose, commitment, plan of action, and recognition of the significant benefits of hiring diverse talent.  

What Is Diverse Talent?

When we talk about an organization’s diverse talent, we’re referencing actions around sourcing, recruiting, hiring, promoting, and developing individuals that are usually in underrepresented groups. This means hiring more women, more veterans, more people with disabilities, individuals from different races and ethnic groups, other religions, sexual orientations, and more. We’re also talking about individuals with different beliefs, perspectives, values, and lived experiences and how those characteristics and traits ultimately benefit the organization.  

What Are The Benefits?

There is research galore detailing the benefits for companies who proactively hire diverse talent. Research has shown a distinct coloration between hiring diverse individuals and an increase in revenue. It also details how hiring and engaging diverse talent generates more innovative ideas and expands the business footprint and customer base.  

He Whispered Out Loud

A few weeks ago, the CEO of Well Fargo, Mr. Charles Scharf, told a group of employees during a Zoom call that it was not an excuse but an unfortunate reality that there was a very limited black talent pool to recruit from. His comments created a significant backlash – internally and externally. Wells Fargo’s CEO whispered out loud the challenge many of my clients have faced for years; that traditional recruiting efforts have not – and will not lead to a diverse workforce.  

Microsoft, Wells Fargo, Amazon, and J.P. Morgan’s leadership and other CEOs from organizations small and large have developed long-term strategies to hire more diverse talent. Most of those strategies have an emphasis on more women and African Americans in leadership. These bold initiatives are not easy but well worth the time and resources. And they won’t happen organically. Leadership is essential in developing a diverse workforce.  

I have created several initiatives for my clients to hire diverse talent. Below are just a few.

Be Committed

A commitment is necessary to hire and develop a diverse workplace.  However, words are not enough, the commitment must be in writing. Everything important to an organization is in writing. Their mission and vision statement, business plans, strategic plans, marketing strategies, or annual goals and objectives can easily be found in a binder or posted proudly on its website. Therefore, if a company is committed to hiring diverse talent, leadership must develop a plan and hold the entire organization accountable.

Have A Holistic Approach

Diversity and inclusion efforts should not be limited to workforce diversity. A holistic approach to diversity and inclusion is necessary to hire and maximize diverse talent and include community and supplier diversity. In leveraging community diversity, organizations are highly engaged in individual and group activities and interests within their footprint or market space. They, through their staff and resources, actively participate and support those initiatives.  Think of a team of employees helping to build a Habit for Humanity house.  

With a robust supplier diversity initiative, organizations proactively seek partnerships and collaborations with diverse individuals and businesses. This includes a host of products and service opportunities including, but not limited to: law firms, benefit brokers, recruiting and staffing firms, landscaping and cleaning services, printing and marketing, etc. 

Develop a Talent Pipeline

One of the best ways to hire diverse talent is to develop a talent pipeline. Building the pipeline starts years before you’re ready to hire that talent. Schools are an ideal place to start. 

Elementary, junior, high schools, colleges, and universities offer the ideal audience to share your company’s mission, diverse positions, and success stories. Get connected with schools in your footprint and establish a plan to engage at all levels. Create an educational outreach committee and assign employee members to attend local school board and PTA meetings. Participate in school activities, including homecoming and career days. Volunteer for school clean up days, national Read Across America programs, science fairs, and more. To strengthen the engagement, leave some swag! Students love swag – anything with the company name and logo; a pen, t-shirts, tote bags, etc. 

I would also include company information and follow up material in the form of handouts, brochures, and business cards.  

Cast A Wide Net

To hire diverse talent, cast a wider net. Evaluate your current recruitment strategies, then incorporate the opposite. This means using nontraditional recruitment approaches to reach individuals that are different from or outside of your normal recruiting channels.

If your primary recruitment strategy has centered around large, generic job boards, then switch it up and utilize a small, niche boards catered to a specific group, i.e., Black Nurses or Latino Engineers. Use the same strategy for radio, print media, blogs, and social media platforms.  Ask your minority employees about their favorite media outlets and advertise with them.

Another great recruiting strategy for diverse candidates is to connect with established associations to develop, connect, and promote their unique members – i.e., The Women’s Network or the Disabled American Veterans. These professional, civic, and nonprofit groups are eager to share your job openings with their membership and will advertise for free or very low costs.  

Switch Ponds

We adore employee referrals. We really do. We even pay and incentivize employees who refer their friends, neighbors, college roommates, fraternity brothers, and church members. And usually, those referrals do a fantastic job. But how do referrals from current employees assist in developing a diverse workforce? In most cases, it does not.

If most of your employees are hired based on referrals from your current staff, and all of your existing team members look the same, you’ll get the same. If your male drivers are only referring male driver candidates, you won’t have much diversity. If your Black technicians or only referring Black technicians, you’ll have a department full of Black technicians. If your female, well, you get the picture. If you’re fishing pond only yields bass fish, you’ll have a team of bass fish. Switch ponds to find diverse talent.  

I recall a meeting with a client who shared his sudden surprise that all of the company’s engineers graduated from the same university. After discussing the organization’s recruitment strategies, it was clear how, within several years, the transition occurred. The company spent the majority of their time and resources at one university. Its engineers and recruiters participated in career days, had a healthy relationship with the institution’s career coaches, offered engineering scholarships, and they trusted candidate referrals from employees. My first recommendation was to stop recruiting from that university.    Switch it up and recruit from a different university to attract a different type of candidate with the same skill sets.  

Be Inclusive

It’s essential to be inclusive. Not just an inclusive workplace but an inclusive interview process. This requires establishing an inclusive interview panel of employees from various backgrounds. Studies have shown that it’s difficult enough for minority professionals to get beyond the candidate screening process. 

Whether the roadblock is based on the candidate’s name, zip code, school, volunteer, or community affiliations.   

Designing an inclusive interview panel may require inviting professionals from different departments to participate in the process. The guest interviewer should have similar lived experiences as the interviewee. It is also helpful to review your interview tools, including interview questions and scorecards, to ensure they are unbiased.  

Make Them Want You

You’ve got to make diverse candidates want you. Maximize your recruiting efforts by making candidates desire your company culture.  

The job market is full of top talent. Those confident professionals realize they can take their skills to South Beach (a nod to King James) or any place they desire. What’s the biggest attractor to your organization?  Completive pay, excellent benefits, your diversity or social justice statement? If you don’t know, I recommend asking your employees why they stay, then use those words, programs, and initiatives to attract others.  

Get the recognition you deserve by  submitting your company for the best place to work award. After you win, create a recruitment and retention strategy around the award and those initiatives. Use social media to share your win, perks for working with your company, and employee testimonies.  Your employees are your best brand ambassadors. Let them sing your praises.   

The journey to a diverse workforce is not easy, but necessary, despite the challenges in reaching internal goals. Your top talent will not only want to be a part of a diverse team, but they will also demand it. If companies don’t respond accordingly, employees will take their unique talents to another organization. So just do it! Create a plan, set achievable goals, hold recruiters and managers accountable, then put in the work.