Published : 2 years ago, on 14/10/2022

By Lindsey Zuloaga, Chief Data Scientist at HireVue

The business case for Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DE&I) is stronger than ever. Research suggests that 75% of employees expect their employer takes a stance on societal and cultural issues. Yet, despite the clear need for implementing an effective DE&I strategy, not every business has the budget to completely overhaul its HR processes and bring in outside teams to analyse commitments to DE&I.

So, how can business leaders take control of their DE&I procedures in 2022?

Modern DE&I

DE&I is a complex issue. Diversity goes beyond gender and ethnicity and looks at sexual orientation, disability (visible and invisible), age, generation, parenthood and caring responsibilities, socioeconomic status and religion or beliefs. As such, HR leaders need to take the time to familiarise themselves with the different types of diversity,  how certain groups have different needs, and how these categories intersect in employees’ lives. A moral imperative first and foremost, research shows that 33% of businesses are more likely to experience industry-leading profitability if their senior teams represent more cultural and ethnic minorities.

But, when money and time are tight, implementing effective DE&I strategies can seem a daunting and difficult task. The good news is that there are countless ways HR leaders can improve DE&I in the workplace, regardless of headcount, budget, and bandwidth.

DE&I efforts: Less talk and more walk

Using free online resources, such as LinkedIn, which has a host of DE&I experts sharing their thoughts and opinions on the matter in the form of posts, articles and also polls, is a free and easy way for HR leaders to better their understanding. To boost awareness of DE&I in their own workplace, HR leaders should share insight gathered on the platform internally, starting open discussions about what DE&I means to different people across the business. For example, Aerica Shimizu Banks and Jazzmyne Jay Robbins both regularly post important and eye-opening content to their followers, on issues such as race, gender and body positivity.

HR leaders should also look to analyse their internal policies for any inclusive changes they could make to stretch their DE&I budget. For example, while encouraging employees back to offices to collaborate seems like a great idea, employees who are struggling financially or physically may suggest otherwise. Commuting is costly and public transport is not always the easiest to navigate. Building hybrid working policies that suit the needs of each employee will ensure all employees feel comfortable while at work.

Building diverse teams and cultures should also start right from the get-go with recruitment. When advertising roles, HR leaders must make sure all job adverts are easily accessible and specify that they’re an inclusive employer. This will encourage a wide variety of people to apply for roles.

HR leaders should also look at recruitment practices, ensuring that the process is fair throughout. Using highly structured processes and only using data that is job-relevant greatly reduces the chances that bias will play a role in hiring. For example, using an AI-driven, validated assessment to evaluate candidates, instead of relying on outdated CV reviews that fail to predict job success, minimises the implicit biases that run rampant in traditional processes. With AI, HR leaders are given a more holistic view of each candidate while AI can be tuned to ignore characteristics that could lead to bias- something a piece of paper simply can’t do.

Yet, despite all the benefits that come with AI, many HR leaders are still hesitant to use it. Some worry that it lacks accuracy and reliability. Others say it takes away that human element. But AI-driven pre-hire assessments adhere to the same industry standards around accuracy and reliability as traditional pre-hire assessments that have been used for decades. Also, AI does not mean replacing humans. It should be used as a tool to improve and enhance human decision-making in the hiring process.

While implementing such technology does come at a price, in the long run, using AI software in the hiring processes increases the chances of a good hire while reducing human bias. Automating the process also frees up time for HR leaders to focus on other DE&I initiatives across the business. For example, Unilever, a global leader in consumer goods, who uses our software to streamline recruitment has seen a recruiting time reduction of 75%. The company saw a 16% increase in diversity in their first HireVue-powered class of hires.

The chance to change the future

DE&I initiatives don’t have to cost a business large amounts of money, they just need to done with an understanding of the current DE&I landscape. HR leaders need to make immediate changes to ensure DE&I is a top priority within their workplace in order to show their businesses’ employees how seriously they are taking this issue.