If you’re in a leadership role at an organization, you’re probably keenly aware of how hard it is to hire these days. The statistics are rather remarkable:
- Top candidates are only available for a little over a week before they’re hired.
- The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 47% drop in applications across all industries
- A staggering 95% of major U.S. corporations say that it’s harder to find workers for open positions now (and 84% of corporations around the world say the same)
Add to the topsy-turvy COVID/post-COVID employment world the blooming number of millennials in the workforce – a group of people to whom job-hopping is second nature – and it’s no wonder that HR managers and organizational leadership everywhere are having hiring headaches.
However, there’s an important differentiator that the best companies should look at in order to stand out in a crowded marketplace: diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
How DEI Programs Make a Difference in Hiring
When the talented minds of the next generation scan job sites, LinkedIn, or emailed job postings, they’re looking beyond the numbers (salary, vacation days, insurance, etc.) and digging deep into the companies themselves to get a sense of what they’re all about.
As it turns out, a diverse workforce is at the top of the list and at the top of the mind when rising talent seeks employment. These statistics come from a Glassdoor survey in 2020:
- “More than 3 in 4 employees and job seekers (76%) report a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers.”
- “About 1 in 3 employees and job seekers (32%) would not apply to a job at a company where there is a lack of diversity among its workforce.
- “Nearly 2 in 5 employees and job seekers (37%) would not apply to a job at a company where there are disparities in employee satisfaction ratings among different ethnic/racial groups.”
The bottom line? Without a prominent DEI effort at their core, organizations may face the prospect of new talent taking their game-changing skills somewhere else.
What Companies Can Do
Already have a DEI program for your organization? That’s great. However, it’s essential to integrate information about that DEI program into your hiring process. Try out these steps:
- Profile your DEI program in a prominent place on your website AND on your careers or open positions page
- Collect statistics and metrics about your DEI program and company as a whole and share them with your human resources personnel so they can respond to any questions about diversity and inclusion.
- Consider putting a brief description of your company’s DEI efforts and resources (including tools like GlobeSmart) within your job descriptions AND in your organizational profile.
- Regularly post about your company’s DEI efforts and initiatives on social media or your corporate blog space to help inform job seekers that may be doing their research.
Looking to champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace? Let GlobeSmart be your first step.
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