Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is a Collective Responsibility

By Andrea Derler, Principal, Research and Customer Value at Visier

Since the start of the pandemic, many businesses across the US, UK and wider Europe have undergone the ‘great rethink’ – including those in the financial services sector. Employers have had to re-construct recruitment processes, mental health policies and general working systems to favour employees more than ever before. The DEI factor – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – has risen to the top of this agenda.

While many would argue that such a rethink in the sector is long overdue, the fact that it’s finally happening can only be a good thing for millions of employees around the world. Furthermore, research shows businesses who are willing to create and foster an inclusive work environment are far more likely to benefit from sustainable, positive, and symbiotic relationships between employers and employees.

In fact, a recent study by McKinsey found that organisations in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile. It’s clear diversity offers organisations a new perspective and alternative ways of thinking, creating an environment where businesses are more likely to be successful when it comes to strategic decision making. A diverse and inclusive workforce is so much more than a tick box exercise. It offers clear business benefits that organisations are finally waking up to. But what can organisations do to improve diversity recruitment initiatives over both the short and long term – in financial services – and beyond?

Better understanding drives better talent acquisition

Implementing a more data-driven approach to talent acquisition is a great place to start. Not only can such an approach help businesses explore and identify specific areas of weakness in existing recruitment policies, it also enables them to formulate clear new policies that drive meaningful change. Below are three key areas where people analytics can strengthen diversity recruitment:

1.     Understanding existing employee diversity

In order to start driving change, businesses must first establish the current lay of the land. This means identifying diversity gaps in the existing workforce. Analytics can help accurately assess employee populations by a range of factors including age, race, and gender, helping to pinpoint exactly where future recruitment focus should lie. This could be adding more women to the leadership team or more young people to sales and marketing, for example.

Many organisations take a scattergun approach to diversity recruitment, but it’s rarely effective. Different demographic groups often need to be targeted in different ways, be it the channels used, or the way recruitment adverts are written. By understanding exactly where the focus should lie, a much more strategic and targeted approach to recruitment and retention can be put in place, producing far better end results.

2. Attracting (and keeping) a wider range of candidates in the recruitment funnel

When critical positions need to be filled quickly, recruitment can rapidly become a simple numbers game. However, more data-driven recruiters can use the information at their disposal to continuously monitor potential candidates and assess whether diversity is increasing or decreasing as they move through the recruitment process.

Analytics can also be used to continuously track diversity ratios, making it much easier to see if/when particular types of candidates are dropping out of the funnel. If this is happening, teams have an opportunity to investigate why, and adjust their hiring strategies accordingly. Furthermore, analysis of sourcing data can help talent acquisition teams pinpoint where the most diverse candidate pools are and double down on recruiting from these sources going forward.

3. Tracking employee life cycles

Recruiting a new employee is only the start of their journey with the organisation. How they fare over time can reveal crucial insights into the success/accuracy of existing recruitment processes. Performance in the short, medium, and long term, whether they leave (and after, how long), and if/when they are promoted is all valuable information that can help inform and shape future policy decisions. Are young employees leaving after less than two years, or are female employees failing to return from maternity leave? If so, why? And, what can be done to stop this from happening?

Tracking employee lifecycles can also shed light on the quality of those being hired and whether they are a good fit for the organisation. After all, diversity is just one of several factors affecting business performance and workforce cohesion.

Combining pre-hire information with post-hire career progress in a single data platform helps organisations connect dots, uncover insights that might otherwise be missed, and identify where they are falling short with their DEI strategies. This information can then be used for successful attraction and retention strategies, resulting in more meaningful, long-term diversity hires.

As businesses wake up to the benefits that a diverse and inclusive workforce can bring, many are re-evaluating their existing talent acquisition programs in a bid to attract a wider range of potential candidates through the doors. Adopting a more data driven approach is a great way to do this, arming recruitment teams with valuable insights that can help guide new policies, broaden search nets, and inform decision making throughout the talent acquisition process.

By Andrea Derler, Principal, Research and Customer Value at Visier

Since the start of the pandemic, many businesses across the US, UK and wider Europe have undergone the ‘great rethink’ – including those in the financial services sector. Employers have had to re-construct recruitment processes, mental health policies and general working systems to favour employees more than ever before. The DEI factor – Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – has risen to the top of this agenda.

While many would argue that such a rethink in the sector is long overdue, the fact that it’s finally happening can only be a good thing for millions of employees around the world. Furthermore, research shows businesses who are willing to create and foster an inclusive work environment are far more likely to benefit from sustainable, positive, and symbiotic relationships between employers and employees.

In fact, a recent study by McKinsey found that organisations in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile. It’s clear diversity offers organisations a new perspective and alternative ways of thinking, creating an environment where businesses are more likely to be successful when it comes to strategic decision making. A diverse and inclusive workforce is so much more than a tick box exercise. It offers clear business benefits that organisations are finally waking up to. But what can organisations do to improve diversity recruitment initiatives over both the short and long term – in financial services – and beyond?

Better understanding drives better talent acquisition

Implementing a more data-driven approach to talent acquisition is a great place to start. Not only can such an approach help businesses explore and identify specific areas of weakness in existing recruitment policies, it also enables them to formulate clear new policies that drive meaningful change. Below are three key areas where people analytics can strengthen diversity recruitment:

1.     Understanding existing employee diversity

In order to start driving change, businesses must first establish the current lay of the land. This means identifying diversity gaps in the existing workforce. Analytics can help accurately assess employee populations by a range of factors including age, race, and gender, helping to pinpoint exactly where future recruitment focus should lie. This could be adding more women to the leadership team or more young people to sales and marketing, for example.

Many organisations take a scattergun approach to diversity recruitment, but it’s rarely effective. Different demographic groups often need to be targeted in different ways, be it the channels used, or the way recruitment adverts are written. By understanding exactly where the focus should lie, a much more strategic and targeted approach to recruitment and retention can be put in place, producing far better end results.

2. Attracting (and keeping) a wider range of candidates in the recruitment funnel

When critical positions need to be filled quickly, recruitment can rapidly become a simple numbers game. However, more data-driven recruiters can use the information at their disposal to continuously monitor potential candidates and assess whether diversity is increasing or decreasing as they move through the recruitment process.

Analytics can also be used to continuously track diversity ratios, making it much easier to see if/when particular types of candidates are dropping out of the funnel. If this is happening, teams have an opportunity to investigate why, and adjust their hiring strategies accordingly. Furthermore, analysis of sourcing data can help talent acquisition teams pinpoint where the most diverse candidate pools are and double down on recruiting from these sources going forward.

3. Tracking employee life cycles

Recruiting a new employee is only the start of their journey with the organisation. How they fare over time can reveal crucial insights into the success/accuracy of existing recruitment processes. Performance in the short, medium, and long term, whether they leave (and after, how long), and if/when they are promoted is all valuable information that can help inform and shape future policy decisions. Are young employees leaving after less than two years, or are female employees failing to return from maternity leave? If so, why? And, what can be done to stop this from happening?

Tracking employee lifecycles can also shed light on the quality of those being hired and whether they are a good fit for the organisation. After all, diversity is just one of several factors affecting business performance and workforce cohesion.

Combining pre-hire information with post-hire career progress in a single data platform helps organisations connect dots, uncover insights that might otherwise be missed, and identify where they are falling short with their DEI strategies. This information can then be used for successful attraction and retention strategies, resulting in more meaningful, long-term diversity hires.

As businesses wake up to the benefits that a diverse and inclusive workforce can bring, many are re-evaluating their existing talent acquisition programs in a bid to attract a wider range of potential candidates through the doors. Adopting a more data driven approach is a great way to do this, arming recruitment teams with valuable insights that can help guide new policies, broaden search nets, and inform decision making throughout the talent acquisition process.