Almost every organization says that diversity is a top priority. But set hard goals? According to recent research, only slightly more than half dare to do that.
In this article, written by Peter Boerman, you can read more on this topic.
Is diversity a top priority for 2022? Of course, says no less than 98 % of all recruiters interviewed for the recent report The State of Diversity Recruiting from the American Fairygodboss. But at the same time, just 55 % say their organization has set specific and measurable diversity goals. And that after earlier research had already shown that 75 % are not confident that good intentions will actually lead to less inequality in the workplace and a reduction of bias.
More than half of companies are looking for or already have a diversity manager.
In the survey, it appears that companies are working on the subject. And how. Almost half of the organizations surveyed now employ a Chief Diversity Officer or ahead of diversity. And often those people are still almost at the highest administrative level. This makes it the fastest-growing board position in organizations, according to figures from LinkedIn. And then another 7 % of organizations were actively looking for such a diversity manager at the time of the survey.
The missed connection
But if you then look at what all those diversity managers are allowed to do, it turns out that a connection is being missed. Not only have almost half of them not set any measurable goals, but when asked about what happens most in practice, 3 to 4 answers: anti-bias training. And let such training courses just fall under heavy fire worldwide. As this research also underlines: 'Only offer such training? That does not work.
Only offer anti-bias training? That does not work.
By the way: 'gender-neutral vacancy texts', something that about 56 % of the surveyed recruiters say they are already working on. That is more useful than just bias training, the researchers say. 'But without additional employer branding and recruitment marketing, this doesn't make much sense either. Then it may happen that your (gender) neutral vacancies are still not visible to the communities you would like to hire people from.
Something like applying anonymously turns out not to happen at all.
Also striking in this list: something like applying anonymously appears to be very rare (10%). More action is therefore needed, says Georgene Huang, co-founder of Fairygodboss. Is diversity really a priority? Then leaders must invest in good resources and take time to form a coherent strategy. Moreover, with measurable goals for diversity. And they also have to organize the feedback on this.
Recovery takes longer for women
According to the WHO, it is mainly women, and especially women of color, who are suffering from the pandemic in the labor market. Models from McKinsey and Oxford Economics predict that it will take them two years longer for their chances to fully recover, compared to the situation of men.
Read the original article in Dutch here.
