How to Foster Diversity Executive Search & Recruitment Practices

These diversity executive search and recruitment methods are simple to follow and will increase your chances of hiring excellent personnel.

Anyone who cares about workplace diversity, equality, and inclusion recognizes that gender and racial diversity are critical for business success. Companies with diverse leadership teams are more lucrative and inventive, according to several studies. Employee engagement is also higher, as is client retention.

 

Getting to parity is a process

Diversity has been shown to boost profits. In 2017, the S&P 500 finished the year with a gain of 19.45 percent. At the time, just 16 corporations had a woman on the board of directors or in the C-suite. By the end of the year, every firm had at least one woman on its board of directors, a roughly 30 percent increase from the previous year. Simply said, diversity at the top is beneficial to the company.

So, why are women and people of color still so underrepresented in senior leadership, even if the data is so clear? Mogul, the global diversity recruiting firm where I serve as CEO, recently hosted a webinar on the issue titled "Diversity in Executive Search." Cathrin Stickney, the founder and CEO of Parity.org, an organization that works for the representation of women and people of color at the highest levels of business, spoke with Mogul members about her experiences.

She said that reaching parity in corporate leadership requires a multi-pronged approach, emphasizing the importance of advancement across representation. The first step in enhancing representation is to recruit more people. If you're in charge and want to diversify your workforce — and you should be — there are five simple executive recruiting methods you can use to increase your chances of hiring great talent. Many of these I've encountered in my own executive search practice, and it's affected the way Mogul recruits.

1. Whenever possible, eliminate unconscious prejudice. Unconscious prejudice exists in many aspects of life, from recruiting to remuneration, mentorship, and advancement. Bias may result in unforeseen consequences when it comes to creating a truly diverse and inclusive workplace.

2. Be methodical in your recruitment efforts. Stickney stated during her presentation that there are no two ways about it: if you want to build the finest team, you must be purposeful. This entails writing job descriptions that are gender and racially neutral, removing any overtly casual or "bro" language, and removing age and other markers from your applications. Effective neutral job descriptions will attract top people, and eliminating identifiers will allow you to assess their qualifications objectively.

3. Assemble a varied panel of interviewers. Including minorities in your interview process demonstrates to your applicant that you recognize the value of diverse viewpoints. Intel began requiring at least two representatives of underrepresented populations to sit on interview panels for all new hiring in 2014. Intel's diversity numbers have risen dramatically since then. Before the new rule, just 31% of new recruits were women or persons of color; two years later, that percentage had risen to 45 percent.

4. Hold your recruiter or search business accountable. We hear a lot about slates that are varied. However, as Stickney pointed out, you might have a broad slate but never hire a woman. You might also have a 50-50 gender split in your slate, but genuine diversity isn't achieved if everyone comes from the same ethnic or cultural background. True diversity, according to Stickney, is a representative slate. Request candidates that reflect the gender and racial composition of your nation or area when dealing with an executive recruiter, and make the search company you've engaged commit to bringing a representative slate of quality prospects and keep them responsible to deliver what you want. Top executive recruiters will have a larger network of diverse people, thus a decent rule of thumb for a successful representative slate is to have 50% women and 40% people of color. Don't make concessions for the purpose of saving time, and if you don't get what you want, push back.

5. Recognize and debunk common misconceptions. Stickney identified three fallacies about recruiting methods that need to be dispelled. The first is that only the best students got to the best schools. As a Harvard Business School and Yale University alumnus, I can attest to the fact that there are plenty of outstanding people who have climbed up the ranks by their own guts and persistence without ever receiving a degree. When a fellow Yalie's application comes across my desk, I obviously have my own prejudice, but anybody who has employed enough individuals would agree that top colleges are less important than a person's love for their profession.

Second, Stickney points out that the term "cultural fit" is overused and has to be redefined. Hiring for cultural fit rather than personality fit merely asks: "Are you like me?" Is it possible for me to get along with you? Is it possible for us to socialize together? Do I have your attention? Do you get what I'm saying? While knowing if you'll be able to work with someone on a daily basis is crucial, these factors should only be used to a certain extent. Defining your business culture through corporate values and matching individuals that share those values should be a part of the hiring process.

The third misconception is that there aren't enough qualified women and people of color for available executive and board positions. This is a network issue, as Stickney pointed out. If we want to identify better prospects, we must all continue to broaden our networks. There are lots of qualified women who can go up the corporate ladder. It's a question of being active on professional sites like as Mogul and LinkedIn, as well as expanding your network, to locate them.

Progress is being made, albeit at a glacial pace

Finally, a word on the progress we've made together. According to the 2019 Spencer Stuart Board Index, a record-breaking 59 percent of new directors are diverse, with women accounting for 46% of new directors. Women and minorities currently account for 39 percent of all directors on the S&P 500. Yes, it's a new high point, but it's still a long way from 50%.

Creating a diverse, egalitarian, and inclusive workforce requires a top-down approach, and I believe that firms must publicly commit to it. Being devoted to diversity and inclusion sends a message to top talent, as well as current workers, suppliers, and customers, that you are a firm that cares. Using your public-facing platforms to promote your accomplishments demonstrates that you are a champion of diversity and will attract the best and brightest to your company.