Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B) is rightly a hot topic in the corporate world. Increasingly, companies are building policy frameworks which they hope will help them to create a positive environment that accepts and embraces individual experiences and supports a true sense of belonging among their workforces. But policies are not enough – commitments and progress need to be overtly visible to your people and your customers.

Your company’s employer brand is your most powerful tool to share who your organisation is from an external applicant lens. Your DEI&B proposition should stand clearly at the centre of your employee and applicant experiences.

Conversely, companies that place social justice and equality at the centre of marketing campaigns are coming under fire if they fall short of those standards within their own organisations. Your organisation’s internal reality needs to reflect the ambition of your external campaigns.

DEI&B matters
DEI&B is a moral responsibility, but beyond this there is compelling evidence of the significant commercial benefits of a diverse workforce. According to research from McKinsey “companies in the top quartile for gender or racial and ethnic diversity are more likely to have financial returns above their national industry medians”. Similarly, a Forbes study found that 85% of surveyed companies with $500m+ revenue agreed or strongly agreed that diversity is crucial to fostering innovation in the workplace.

Indeed, the opposite is also true of companies that fall in the lower ranks for diversity, with McKinsey concluding that “diversity is probably a competitive differentiator that shifts market share toward more diverse companies over time”. Separate research* suggests that diverse companies report reduced levels of absenteeism and improved staff retention.

Gains in productivity and the ability to retain talent are the foundations of a high performing company. As we move further away from the novelty of lockdown into a virtual world that feels like business as usual, retention of talent has become a huge challenge. Our people, who’ve endured months of “statis”, crave a change. This recognition that DEI&B aids retention sits alongside the moral and social responsibility of companies to build rigorous processes of recruitment, training and development that are underpinned by an authentic commitment to fairness and equality.

A diverse team contributes to the personal growth of everybody within it, exposing each individual to different perspectives and experiences while reducing unconscious biases or negative stereotypes.

Addressing DEI&B challenges and ensuring the right policies and behaviours are in place is a complex task, which is why companies continue to bring in experts to help them on their journey to become the organisation they wish to be.

To understand where you are in the process, you should consider how a candidate is likely to experience and be influenced by the images, messaging and content of your DEI&B brand, and how it compares to your industry competitors. It’s also vital to implement a joined-up communications strategy to ensure that a candidate experience aligns to that of current employees.

This will enable you to gain a comprehensive assessment of your DEI&B presence from the perspective of a job applicant, as well as providing an understand of what works and what needs improvements.

Why choose a Recruitment Process Outsourcer (RPO)?
It is important that DEI&B is embedded in your culture from a candidate’s initial engagement to offboarding. Crafting an authentic employer brand can be a great starting point. An RPO partner will ensure that your values are reflected in your messaging and your recruitment processes. Leveraging the experience of RPO experts and the technological solutions necessary to roll out a comprehensive recruitment strategy can drive your business forward on its DEI&B mission.

Choosing to partner with an RPO provider brings experience that will enable you to proactively build communities of diverse candidates for your specific requirements. These skilled partners are experts in recruitment, providing access to wider talent pools, as well as having insight on and access to the latest technology, which can prove invaluable when seeking out the best specialised talent.

No two companies have the same challenges, nor do they require the same solutions. A good RPO provider will conduct a thorough audit of the current position of their client and of their ambitions at the start of the partnership. For example, Cielo implements a 21-point checklist for clients to assess a wide spectrum of facets of their employer brand and recruitment process which companies may not have considered. The checklist includes vetting a company’s policies on harassment, work/life balance, and of course DEI&B, to ensure that businesses can not only attract the best talent but also retain that talent. We also audit an organisations website, social profiles and reputation as well as assessing the competitive landscape and hosting focus groups with employees and recruiters.

This process is then supported by guidance on brand messaging, process re-engineering, experience design, market mapping, and performance analytics.

The way your employer brand is viewed at each point of the recruitment process has a significant impact on the volume of quality candidates you attract and retain through the recruitment lifecycle. Which is why it’s important to work with recruitment experts to understand which aspects of your brand to keep, change or leverage.

Technological solutions
If you’re serious about improving DEI&B in your organisation, technology can help to remove problematic language and wording to drive more inclusive job descriptions and adverts. Technology solutions provide structured recruitment guidance and advanced language insight to ensure a streamlined and inclusive process.

Targeting sourcing tools and tactics can be used to ensure candidates who are underrepresented in other recruitment processes are given fair opportunity. This must be supplemented by a strong understanding of market demographics in a particular country or region. Utilising AI such as Natural Language Processing means that recruiters can match profiles to role requirements. Crucially, this removes unconscious bias that favours certain names, locations, or education establishments. Similarly, CVs can be redacted to remove personal information and demographics when creating shortlists for interview.  At the interview stage itself, it’s important to use predeveloped interview guides that are designed to be inclusive and focus on matching competencies, strengths, emotional behaviours or situational judgement to requirements.

Conclusion
A good RPO partner works hard to understand each organisation’s goals and to create a client-specific way to target, communicate, engage and convert the diverse talent each organisation needs in order to outperform its competition, bringing in the right technology at the right time.

DEI&B is one of the most important focuses of talent acquisition. Partnering with experts using innovative strategies and tactics ensures your company can reach a diverse range of high-quality candidates and ultimately hire the best people for your organisation.

*Research conducted by Catalyst