Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is at the top of many companies goals for the future as we recognize that diversity hasn’t always been at the forefront of organizations focus.
In fact, in the United States, federal regulations require companies with 100 or more workers to file demographic information.
Many companies are taking different approaches to this, but one thing remains the same; it starts with your recruitment process.
First, you need to get a range of candidates to apply for your roles, which leans heavily on job description and employer brand reputation. But when looking to ensure you’re recruiting in-line with your DEI goals, it’s important to consider the entire scope of the process. It doesn’t end with ensuring you’ve got a diverse pool of applicants, but it needs to be delving into whether your recruitment processes are inclusive enough to keep them in the funnel. In other words: Candidate Experience is a key part of fulfilling your DEI initiatives.
Why should you measure candidates’ DEI experience?
Building a diverse and inclusive company has been and will continue to be a priority for HR pros in the years to come.
As we know, the process starts with recruitment and with an enhanced focus on hiring in people from a range of demographics, but what if you are losing candidates within those demographics to poor Candidate Experience?
You may get 50% of applicants from a minority background, but if 80% drop out due to an issue within the process of interviewing then there is a problem, and this problem will hinder your overall success, meaning you are unlikely to hit your DEI goals.
“Candidate experience is often future employees’ first impression of the organization — and the first point at which an organization can prove its commitment to equitable principles by treating people in a fair and consistent way. Our data shows the current candidate experience is not consistent at all”
[$quote]Lauren Romansky, Managing Vice President at Gartner in a recent report.[$quote]
It has never been more important as we lean on tech and data more to drill down into what is actually turning your candidates off of your company, hindering your DEI goals.
How can you measure Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in your Candidate Experience?
So how do you start tracking this? You can start simple, with tracking the basic demographic data on candidates applying for the role - but be conscious of those who do not wish to disclose.
A Harvard study found that more than a third (36 percent) of Asian and African-American students between the ages of 18 and 25 who were seeking jobs and internships whiten their resumes, including changing foreign-sounding names to something American-sounding. It’s easy to question whether candidates feel comfortable submitting these details rather opting for the ‘rather not disclose’ options.
But to fully understand whether your processes are aligned with your DEI goals, and if your organization might be losing out on candidates, you need to dive a bit deeper into how candidates feel. Being able to delve into the granular details, e.g.if certain recruiters need extra training on communicating in an inclusive way, or how your EVP looks to external candidates, can provide you with key insights to driving your organization forward.
Here are some example questions you can ask candidates to measure their feelings:
Segmentation of data
So how can you utilize your data more to see if your candidates feel that your company is diverse and inclusive? Segmenting!
For example, if you are hiring and notice that, post-selection, you’re left with a line-up of candidates that are all the same, then something has gone wrong. In that instance, being able to drill down into the candidate experience specifically from a demographic, for example, as a woman, allows you to uncover any issues that could be preventing the candidate from moving down the funnel.
Simply put, diverse teams attract diverse candidates. Keeping a finger on the pulse of your candidates, and how they think your DEI initiatives are going, is important to providing a positive Candidate Experience
At Starred, we offer a completely customizable module that allows you to deep dive into how candidates feel about their experience, delving into how they feel about every facet of their experience interviewing for your company.
How important is DEI to candidates?
In a recent Gartner report, 70% of Latinx, Black, BIPOC and Asian candidates said they had stopped an application short in the past year because their preferences didn’t align to the role. That compares to 60% of white Americans. Racially diverse candidates attributed their behavior to two major factors: The diversity of the team and the management style of the potential manager.