The importance of diversity in the modern workplace cannot be understated. It boosts creativity and innovation, helps attract and retain top talent, and leads to better decision-making. According to a recent Glassdoor survey, 76% of employees and job seekers said diversity was important when evaluating companies and job offers. 37% of the respondents also said they wouldn't apply to a company with negative satisfaction ratings from people of colour.
Today, more and more businesses across the globe are investing time, effort, and capital to ensure that they're hiring qualified candidates irrespective of their gender, sexual orientation, background, race, or religion. In fact, A 2023 McKinsey report projects that the global market for DEI will grow from $7.5 billion in 2020 to $15.4 billion by 2026. say diversity, equity, and inclusion are among their top five priorities for 2022.
So how can HR teams hire diverse talent? Here are four companies with innovative diversity hiring programs that you can take inspiration from.
1. Nike
Over the last few years, Nike's top HR management has openly spoken about their DE&I initiatives, the challenges they've faced during the implementation process, and how they hope to improve with each passing year. Recently, Nike shared their 2025 vision which included reaching specific targets like 45% representation of women globally at the VP level and above, 30% representation of racial and ethnic minorities at the Director level and above, and a $125 million investment to support organizations working to address racial inequality.
Some ways they hope to achieve this target include:
- Implementing diverse hiring slates for Director and above positions, i.e., TA teams will intentionally search for and interview candidates from diverse backgrounds, identities, and experiences.
- Optimizing job descriptions in the U.S to attract a more diverse candidate pool
- Eliminating the requirement for candidate salary history
- Conducting Unconscious Bias Awareness training sessions to equip HR teams with the tools they need to conduct unbiased interviews and promote a diverse company culture
- Using 'blind resumes' where candidates' personal information such as date of birth, name, and location is blurred out to avoid conscious and unconscious bias.
2. Pinterest
Pinterest is another company committed to building a diverse and inclusive workforce. In the first quarter of 2021, Pinterest announced that their overall workforce comprised 50% women. Further, 30% of all leadership roles were held by women. Some strategies they implemented to make this possible are:
- Ensuring that 80% of open roles in the U.S follow the diverse hiring slates approach, with a strong focus on women and candidates from underrepresented communities and ethnicities.
- Analyzing compensation of all employees twice a year and making adjustments when necessary to ensure pay equity irrespective of gender, age, and race.
- Implementing an apprenticeship program that provides opportunities for candidates from underrepresented races and ethnicities to enter the tech industry.
3. Slack
Slack outperforms many tech companies when it comes to diversity, with 44.5% of Slack's global workforce being women. Further, their U.S workforce comprises people from various backgrounds and ethnicities, including Caucasians, Asians, African Americans, Hispanics, and Middle Eastern. Some of their diversity hiring strategies include:
- Sourcing candidates from coding bootcamps that focus on underrepresented talent
- Using technologies like Textio to evaluate job descriptions and screen for potentially biased words and phrases that would turn away candidates
- Implementing blind code reviews that candidates can take at home or in the office. The assignment is then evaluated based on a standard checklist, and all personal identifiers are removed to mitigate bias.
- Conducting mock interviews with other Slack employees to evaluate hiring managers' interview skills and identify potential unconscious biases.
4. Atlassian
Atlassian's Global Head of Diversity Inclusion, Aubrey Blanche, helped the company boost their number of female technical hires by 80%. Here are some recruitment strategies she implemented:
- Choosing candidates solely based on a pre-determined list of must-have qualities/skills, rather than reviewing resumes and comparing candidates against each other.
- Sending out interview agendas a day in advance to give introverts time to reflect and think about what they would like to convey during the interview.
- Including a more representative set of Atlassian employees on their website
- Developing location-specific pages to highlight international diversity
- Using tools like Textio to review job descriptions and messages sent to candidates.
We hope you found these tips useful. If you're looking for diversity hiring tools that you can use within your organization, check out our list of recommendations here.
