Hiring for Diversity

CHAPTER 6Diversity Sourcing

Nearly every employer we speak with believes that the success of their diversity recruiting depends primarily on their ability to source candidates from underrepresented communities. If only they could get this part right, everything else would fall into place. Somewhere out there is that magic diversity job board or silver-bullet sourcing solution they believe will solve this problem indefinitely, once and for all.

We wish it were that simple. Diversity sourcing is challenging for every employer we know. We have yet to find a single organization that has definitively and permanently figured it out. There isn't a single stakeholder at your organization who can achieve it on their own, and there's no magical tactic that does the trick for every role. Josh Bersin, a leading expert in talent management and industry research, recently conducted a study that showed 12 percent of leaders hold their hiring managers responsible for diversity sourcing. However, the same study also shows that only 11 percent of recruiters are assessed for their diversity sourcing. These statistics alone demonstrate the dissonance between intention and impact in the diversity sourcing space.

To really make your diversity sourcing solutions effective, you need to assess the representation among each of your existing teams and be realistic about the potential applicant pools. Consider role-specific strategies that account for the unique challenges of every open position. It's ...