A significant number of employers will devote greater attention to diversity and inclusion in the coming year, as well as more financial resources. So finds new data from job site Glassdoor.
One in three (35 percent) hiring decision makers expect to spend more on diversity and inclusion programs, and only three percent will spend less; the remainder will continue to invest at the same levels.
Diversity Matters
The research, which is based on 750 hiring decision makers from the United States and the UK, also finds that job candidate demographics are one of the most important recruiting metrics.
“In today’s era of the informed candidate, job seekers are hungry for as much information about a company as possible before they take a job. Job seekers want insights into what businesses are doing to build a workforce that is diverse in all aspects of the word be it age, gender, ethnicity or thought,” said Carmel Galvin, chief human resources officer of Glassdoor. “Driving toward greater diversity in the workplace is a high priority effort for many businesses. With increased investment in diversity and inclusion programs, it signals that employers are recognizing the value these efforts are having on recruiting and on financial performance.”
The research also finds recruiting is less effective when companies do not invest in diversity and inclusion programs. Nearly three in five (59 percent) hiring decision makers report that a lack of investment in diversity and inclusion is a barrier or challenge their organization faces in attracting and hiring quality candidates. Candidate demographics are a highly important measure of recruiting success.
In fact, the costs a company incurs for generating applicants and securing a hire are the only two measures more important than candidate demographics, according to hiring decision makers. They report candidate demographics are more important to recruiting success than the following measures: how long it takes to fill a role; how long it takes to deliver a job offer; the success a company has in converting job seekers to applicants; and applicants to hires.
Information on diversity and inclusion efforts can help sway candidates. Nearly one in five (18 percent) among those surveyed report that diversity and inclusion initiatives are among the top elements that have the greatest influence on a candidate’s decision to join their organization.
Proactive Approach
“The opportunity today for employers is to highlight and leverage their company’s diversity and inclusion efforts by enabling their recruiters, employees, and others to speak about it online and off so that job seekers can gain access to this valuable information where and when they need it,” said Galvin.
While only one in four (28 percent) are optimistic that they will make more progress toward achieving their diversity and inclusion goals in the next 12 months, the benefits of achieving those goals can be quite fruitful. Among this group, more than half (52 percent) indicate that they expect quality of hire to improve compared to 20 percent that expect quality of hire to worsen. Hiring decision makers that say diversity and inclusion will improve over the next year also indicate that they are six times more likely to convert applicants to quality hires.
In addition, not having a diversity and inclusion focus could be costly to more than just a company’s recruiting funnel. Ten percent of hiring decision makers believe employees will voluntarily leave their organization in the next 12 months as a result of no diversity and inclusion programs.