Top Six Things You Can Do to Create Positive, Measurable Impact for DE&I in Recruiting.

September 15, 2021, was a big day for Talking Rain's People Team. We received the "Most Admired Employer Brand Award" from HRO Today, and just hours later on the other side of the country, we received the "Lever Rise Award for Excellence in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion!" The bottles were popping that day!

Fast forward a year, and this week I have been invited to present at the HRO Today Conference as a panelist on the topic of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I). Talk about full circle. I am grateful to our community of passionate professionals that have guided and paved the way for the conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusion that are now front and center in the workplace. To continue making an impact and driving the necessary work in this area, I thought I would share my Top 6 list of must-do's that have led to our continued recruitment success on DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) at Talking Rain.

Top Six Things You Can Do to Create Positive, Measurable Impact for DE&I in Recruiting. Headlines, below. Details for each headline to follow.

1. DATA! Know your benchmarks, identify and address gaps, rinse, and repeat.
2. Invite and Include Underrepresented Groups.
3. Review and Refresh Job Postings: Maximize the inclusive invitation.
4. Internships are a tremendous way to plant seeds for a more diverse workforce.
5. Eliminate barriers to entry as much as possible (Unconscious bias, degree requirements, accessible applications, etc.)
6. Hire the best candidate for the position, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity.

DATA! Know your benchmarks, identify and address gaps, rinse, and repeat.

You need to know where you are, to figure out where you are going. 

 Our team had a significant opportunity. We were tasked with the recruitment of 45 salespeople across the nation within a month. Intuitively, we recruiters knew this could be a compelling test case on how to improve DE&I efforts as it relates to recruiting. 

 Being in the consumer package industry, sales is the name of the game. During peak season our sales team accounts for almost 50% of our total workforce. Knowing that beverage sales are historically dominated by white males with network connections, we targeted this as an opportunity to shift the narrative. Instead of using the quick and easy route with referrals, our team committed to extending the invitation to the entire community through diverse and inclusive storytelling, targeted outreach, and engagement, and shifting our communications strategies. This enabled our candidate slate to become a better representation of the communities they serve, and we outperformed expected numbers based on what the US Department of Labor* told us to expect in this skills category. 

 By moving away from the traditional referral model to a highly inclusive model, the percentage of applicants who identified as female jumped from a full 30% in one year! What is more incredible; our number of hires who identified as female shot up by 10 percent in a year; and people of color also rose by 9%. In both cases, this is a stronger reflection of the communities they serve, and we outperformed the expected numbers based on what the US Department of Labor* told us to expect in this skills category. 

 The preliminary work had a ripple effect across the whole of our talent pool. We experienced a double-digit increase in applicants who identify as a person of color, and we were delighted that our applicant data showed we were equally engaging all applicants regardless of gender or ethnicity. 

 Using data from our applicant tracking system to identify gaps in our ability to reflect the overall talent pool was revelatory. Once we could spot where we were missing, we were able to dig into root causes and fix them.

Invite and Include Underrepresented Groups

Talking Rain Beverage Company prides itself on being progressive and sustainable. This extends to ensuring we create a tapestry of talent that weaves a rich diversity of experiences and knowledge to optimize innovation and drive value while reflecting the communities we serve. 

 Once we had data to know where we were falling short, we could dive deeper and go out of our way to correct the problem. We featured our very own Rain Makers in our job ads which reflected the communities that they serve and posted them in those communities. We diversified our recruiting strategies and adjusted our job postings. One no longer needed an "in," they just needed to apply.

Review and refresh job postings: maximize the inclusive invitation

We dropped outdated job requirements that created barriers to entry. We took a closer look at job requirements and screened out items that were not truly required for the role. Our sales representatives no longer need to be able to lift/carry 100 pounds on a regular basis. We rewrote our job descriptions using inclusive language using a tool called Textio.

Internships are a tremendous way to plant a seed for a more diverse workforce

Internship programs are a great place to concentrate on improving the diverse talent pool. Employers should consider the demographics associated with the students at the schools at which they typically recruit and expand beyond that list as needed.

Eliminating Unconscious Bias

We monitored the interview funnel to determine whether we had any unconscious bias. We wanted to be sure we were engaging everyone in a fair way across the board. I’m happy to report that by looking at how men and women and people of color moved through the pipeline, we did not uncover any statistically significant unconscious bias. We will continue to monitor this. We have explored several software applications that may assist with this, should we need them.

Hire the best candidate for the position, regardless of gender, race, or ethnicity

Before we wrap this up, it is important to underscore that the whole purpose of this exercise is to be as inviting and inclusive as we can of all people. We're not going to pass over a stellar candidate because they don't fit a certain category. We're going to hire the best person for the role. "Periodt," as my daughters say.

In Conclusion

Measuring is magic! Our team knew going into this we would make an impactful difference in the overall culture at Talking Rain. To see that in just one year we could positively impact a candidate pool with 30% more applicants who identify as female in an area where we previously fell short: remarkable. We continue to apply this benchmark strategy across all departments and seeing the impact it is making is quite exciting! 

 We are monitoring marketplace trends for technology that may help to remove bias from the interview process, work to build partnerships with schools that have diverse populations, and build more community partnerships that allow us to better attract the communities we serve. 

 We proved the importance of going beyond our network of referrals to uncover talent and invite more diversity to the table. We are already hearing anecdotally from this test group how much they are enjoying the diverse mix of people on the team, and that every voice is important and heard as we drive the business. We look forward to measuring the impact this has on engagement, productivity, and more in the years to come. 

Eliminate Bias in your Writing: Job descriptions, Employer Branding, the possibilities are endless! Textio has developed the world’s most advanced workplace language guidance, so you can see where social bias is hiding—and know exactly how to fix it. Now available for both recruiting and performance feedback.

Labor Market Benchmark Data:

TalentNeuron (by Gartner): From their website: “Global labor market insights and expert guidance to support your mission-critical priorities (such as): DE&I, Strategic sourcing for critical roles, Future talent planning, and more.

Lightcast: From their website: “Clear, Actionable Insight. The world’s most comprehensive and complex labor market data, delivered in simple, easy-to-understand tools.”

Note: I’ve seen a demo of this but have not worked with it extensively. I was impressed. It appears to do as much, if not more than TalentNeuron – typically for a little less money! They are at the top of my shopping list the next time I need to go out and make a Labor Market Data purchase!

Do you have any favorite tools that support your Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts? I’d love to hear about them! Please leave notes in the comments.