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The Diversity Challenge
Cathlene Johnson
bio l email
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One of my peers on a recent project attended a
recruiting function sponsored by the client and was surprised at
the number of diverse candidates who attended the event. Despite
the large diverse turnout the client still expressed concerns
about attracting diverse talent. In my conversations with
clients about recruiting diverse candidates, the diversity
challenge is about more than just finding diverse candidates.
If you look at our census data you will find
that the world is getting more and more diverse. In fact the
definition of diversity is expanding and evolving. It now
includes women, immigrants and diverse concepts like urban. So
when employers talk about not being able to find diverse
candidates, what are they really saying? As I have discussed
diversity recruiting with employers, they have described the
diversity challenge in this way:
Despite the large
diverse turnout the client still expressed concerns about
attracting diverse talent.
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- Finding quality diverse candidates,
- Competition for quality diverse
candidates,
- Developing a pool or bank of quality
diverse candidates,
- Recruiters with the right skills set
who are capable of using advance sourcing techniques
to find, pitch, assess and close diverse candidates
and close their hiring managers on selecting diverse
candidates; and
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Being able to build relationships with diverse
candidates on a more personal level
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Finding Quality Diverse
Candidates
Employer’s quest for diverse candidates is
not just for diverse candidates but for quality diverse
candidates. Quality as described by employers is expressed as a
need for more seasoned and experienced level diverse
professional in the mid to senior level career stages. Despite
the improved hiring environment employers continue to find it
difficult to identify and locate quality diverse candidates.
Quality diverse candidates are not being produced by traditional
sourcing methods.
Competition for Diverse
Candidates
The competition for quality diverse candidates
is fierce. Companies are spending hundreds of thousands or
millions of dollars annually on diversity recruiting and
branding initiatives. One of the things that distinguishes the
best diverse candidates from the rest of diverse candidates is
that they have multiple employment options when seeking career
opportunities. Even in this improved hiring environment
employers still have to compete with other employers to land top
talent. The recruiting landscape for quality diverse
professionals is employer competitive.
Developing a pool or bank of diverse
candidates
Finding quality diverse candidates is to far
and few in between for most employers. Employers understand that
if they can’t get diverse candidates to apply for their
positions then the likelihood that they will have a diverse hire
is diminished.
Many employers’ diversity recruitment
strategy focuses on the "more is better" philosophy.
They focus their energies on getting more candidates into the
pipeline to increase their chances of a diverse hire. Employers
understand that there is no one source that produces diverse
candidates. However, employers have not been able to identify
the sourcing channels that produce "more" diverse
candidates.
Other employers use transitional hiring
strategies to develop their pool. However; transitional hiring
strategies are not as attractive to mid level to senior level
quality diverse candidates as they are to early career quality
diverse candidates.
Recruiters with the right
skills set who are capable of using advance souring techniques
to find, pitch, assess and close diverse candidates and close
their hiring managers on selecting diverse candidates.
Employers with a limited diverse candidates
pool express concerns about their ability to understand the
sourcing channels in which diverse candidates form networks.
Employers express a need for recruiter with strong diversity
sourcing techniques who can find these networks and who
understand the dynamics of the diversity recruitment marketplace
and its unique codes of employment selection.
Employers who do have diverse candidates in
the hiring process express their concern about their ability to
turn those candidates into hires. They describe the challenge as
understanding what happens or does not happen in the
candidate/recruiter, candidate/hiring manager and hiring
manager/recruiter relationship that prohibits quality diverse
hire from accepting their positions or quality diverse hires
from advancing through the hiring process.
Being able to build
relationships with diverse candidates on a more personal level
Employers have spent so much time developing
the diversity business case in their organizations that when
they look up they say that they still don’t feel like they
have the close relationships that they desire with diverse
candidates. They see that their diversity programs may not have
delivered in the area of increased hiring or meeting recruiting
targets. Employers have implemented programs and practices but
feel that there is still no relationship. These programs and
practices have not been able to engage or sustain diverse
candidates. Employers desire to move beyond branding to results.
They are ready to move beyond the recruiting hype to build a
long-term recruiting relationships that will result in quality
diverse hires.
Here in lies the diversity challenge. A
diversity recruiting strategy that considers these items is the
key to your ability to overcome the diversity challenge.
