Every year, we survey hundreds of hiring professionals from a wide range of industries to learn how they hire. This year, we wanted to know more about how organizations are prioritizing diversity in the workplace. We published the results in our annual Hiring Benchmark Report.
From the data, we found that most organizations were making diversity a priority. 32% say it is a top priority, 46% say it’s somewhat a priority, and just 22% say it’s not a priority. We also discovered that bigger organizations are more likely to say diversity is a top priority. Over half of the large organizations (2500+ employees) we surveyed said this. This isn’t too surprising, considering that major organizations have greater resources and better employee data to achieve diversity goals.
We also asked how these organizations are actually working towards achieving diversity goals. Here’s what the data says:
First, more than half of hiring professionals, 58%, say that they are using more inclusive job descriptions in order to hire a more diverse workforce. 46% say they are proactively sourcing candidates from underrepresented groups, while 44% say they are conducting diversity training for hiring managers. 38% say they use diverse hiring teams, while 31% have created a Diversity and Inclusion team. Finally, just 16% are using some form of blind hiring.
This data gives us insight into the tangible, actionable steps that organizations are taking to achieve the goal of hiring a more diverse workforce. From this data, we see that some of the less resource-heavy initiatives, such as job descriptions or proactive sourcing, are widely used because they are more accessible to businesses of all sizes. After all, editing your job descriptions to make sure the language is inclusive is one of the easiest, most cost-effective ways to attract a more diverse set of applicants.
On the other hand, bigger initiatives, such as establishing a D&I team, is something that only a much larger organization would have the resources to do. In fact, we saw that 75% hiring professionals at organizations with 2500+ employees say that their organization has created a team dedicated to workplace diversity. For reference, 0% of small companies (fewer than 20 companies) say they have created one, and just 9% of companies with 20-99 employees have created one.
Ultimately, diversity efforts are not one-size-fits-all, and every organization is different. The intention to prioritize diversity is just an intention if it isn’t accompanied by action. Our data shows that organizations are experimenting with a variety of initiatives to pursue the goal of a more diverse workforce. These organizations will have to measure and track their progress towards these goals in order to see if they really move the needle.
Want more insights into how organizations hired in 2020? Get your copy of the 2020 Hiring Benchmark Report.
