Webinar Recap: DEI in the Workplace: Rethinking Traditional Hiring and Recruitment Strategies

Leaders everywhere are re-evaluating their company culture and shifting their mindsets, behaviors, and practices toward diverse, equitable, and inclusive leadership for individuals and teams. Reinventing your organization’s leadership culture with the awareness, mindset, and tools needed to better your DEI initiatives is vital to moving forward.  

The data on incorporating a more diverse workforce is clear, in fact, 70% of companies are more likely to capture new markets if they have a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Also, ethnically diverse teams are 33% more likely to outperform on profitability.

With inflation at near-record highs, a competitive job market, and amid the great resignation, employer hiring and recruiting tactics must evolve. How can your organization get there?

During our recent webinar, Kevin Hardy of HealthTech spoke in-depth on the actions that leaders must account for to increase diversity in the workplace.  

Here are the main takeaways from the event and be sure to watch our webinar "DEI in the Workplace: Rethinking Traditional Hiring and Recruitment Strategies" on-demand.  

What Is DEI in the workplace?

According to the Center for Creative Leadership, DEI in the workplace relates to "actions taken in order to shift mindsets, bahviors, and practices toward equitable and inclusive leadership for individuals, teams, and organizations." 98% of HR leaders reported that their organization took some action on diversity, inclusion, and belonging in 2021. Those actions included conducting bias training (80%), creating resource groups (63%), and appointing or hiring someone to lead diversity efforts (42%). However, there is still work that needs to be done.

The Don’ts of DEI in the Workplace

There are many actions that leaders must stop to increase diversity in the workplace. A few of these action items include:

• Stop allowing untrained and unqualified interviewers to assess candidates from underrepresented backgrounds.
• Stop granting promotions based on unwritten rules of success.
• Stop trying to fix employees, rather fix the obstacles they face within your environment.
• Stop permitting leaders to hire based on intuition and gut feelings.
• Stop holding onto the ideal that being a good person is enough to increase diversity.  

Review common hiring biases that may cause you to steer in another direction. Just some of these can include premature conclusions, stereotyping, conformity, or a “similar to me” affinity where you rate the candidate high because she or he is similar to you.

There must be a process in place to allow the practice of DEI in the workplace. This looks like:

• Empowerment: Exercise your voice and secure the resources and support of leadership.
• Strategic Exploration: What is your baseline position? What current efforts do you have in place?
• Tactical Execution: Are you coaching DEI at every point of the value chain?
• Reevaluate: How can you move from intent to execution?

The Stages of Hiring

Many stages occur during the hiring process, from creating the job description to conducting multiple internal interviews that allow room for bias.  

Here are the main things to think about:

• Are those truly the minimum qualifications listed on the job description, or have you inflated the eligibility?
• Do your recruiters and hiring managers feel comfortable, capable, and confident that they have the right language to use when discussing topics related to race and diversity?
• What diversity can candidates see on your website among the board of directors and senior leadership?
• Has your interview team been formally trained on how to make an effective selection decision?

Interested in listening in on the full webinar? Our webinar: DEI in the Workplace: Rethinking Traditional Hiring and Recruitment Strategies is now available for on-demand viewing.  

Looking for more exclusive content? Check out By the Numbers: DEI and the Hybrid Workplace and Best Practices to Support DEI in the Workplace.

‍