Diversity sourcing: A winning business strategy

4 mins, 39 secs read time

Diversity sourcing and why it’s important

Diversity sourcing refers to a proactive recruitment strategy aimed at identifying and hiring top talent from historically underrepresented communities. It involves reaching out to smaller talent pools with diverse backgrounds to create a broader spectrum of candidates. The focus is on hiring individuals who bring unique perspectives and experiences to the organization, rather than just filling a job requirement. By expanding the search for candidates, teams are encouraged to keep an open mind about what factors make for a great candidate profile beyond the basic job qualifications.

It’s important for companies to prioritize diversity sourcing to promote a more inclusive workplace where differences are celebrated and all employees feel valued. To achieve this, companies must ensure they're holding themselves accountable throughout the recruitment process to hire fairly and equitably. A diverse workforce that operates within a culture of belonging not only benefits the company’s current and future employees, but also helps to build stronger relationships with customers and clients, and ultimately leads to a more successful business. That makes diversity sourcing a vital practice for businesses that want to create an inclusive and welcoming environment while also improving their bottom line.

Assess your company’s demographic breakdown

To start incorporating diversity sourcing, first take a closer look at your company's current employee demographics in the areas where you’re hiring. This initial step provides valuable insights into the makeup of your teams, and helps you pinpoint areas where representation may be lacking. By analyzing this information, you can make more informed hiring decisions and prioritize diversity and inclusivity right from the beginning of the recruitment process.

Depending on your company's goals and available data, you may choose to review demographic factors such as gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Any demographic data collected is to be kept confidential, and used only for appropriate purposes and in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. You can use this demographic data to determine where you need to focus your diversity sourcing efforts to improve representation. Taking a proactive approach can benefit your organization and foster a more inclusive work environment that values and celebrates diversity.

How hiring for diversity works at Greenhouse

Adding representation to our hiring pipelines is a top priority at Greenhouse. We have invested in a skilled Talent Sourcing Manager to actively seek out candidates with many different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. Our Talent Sourcing Manager plays an active role in shaping our diversity sourcing strategy by identifying valuable new sources of talent, and creating and sharing resources with the Talent Acquisition Managers they partner with to promote sourcing best practices. To ensure that we are effectively measuring the impact of our strategy, our Talent Sourcing Manager regularly tracks and reports on key metrics, including response and conversion rates and the progress of sourced candidates through a pipeline.

As part of our hiring strategy, we may choose to postpone advertising a newly opened role on external job boards for the first week of a search in order to prioritize our outbound diversity sourcing efforts. This allows us to actively seek out candidates with many different kinds of backgrounds and experiences, leading to greater representation within our pipelines. It also gives us the opportunity to engage with candidates who may not be active on the job market but would be a great addition to the team in the role.

How Greenhouse Sourcing Automation can help

By examining data from various sources to identify and surface suitable prospects, Greenhouse Sourcing Automation can enable businesses to tap into more diverse pools of potential candidates from underrepresented communities that may have been missed using conventional sourcing methods. Broadening applicant pools and attracting a more varied range of candidates is critical in creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

Another big advantage of Greenhouse Sourcing Automation is its ability to enhance time management and streamline the recruitment process. Traditional sourcing techniques often demand a lot of manual labor. With Greenhouse Sourcing Automation, businesses can automate time-consuming tasks such as searching for candidates and sending outreach emails. Recruiters and sourcers can then devote their time and attention to other high priority activities like establishing connections with candidates and creating a more welcoming candidate journey.

Other ways to improve diversity

Actively engage with communities that promote diversity
Establishing relationships with organizations and groups that prioritize diversity is a vital strategy for businesses looking to improve their talent sourcing. Attending diversity-focused events and conferences, forming partnerships with community organizations and engaging with employee resource groups representing different backgrounds can broaden a company's access to great candidates and demonstrate its commitment to diversity.

Explore alternative sources of talent
Businesses can also expand their diversity sourcing by exploring alternative and innovative sources of talent. For example, utilizing social media platforms and online communities can broaden their reach and uncover talent pools that may not be accessible through conventional means. Advertising open roles on platforms that cater to different groups such as niche job boards is a great way to reach diverse talent pools. Consider posting job openings on boards like DiversityJobs and Prentus.

Focus on qualifications and skills using a blind recruitment process
Blind recruitment processes that exclude personal information such as name, age, gender and ethnicity can decrease the influence of unconscious biases during hiring and shift the focus toward qualifications and skills, which can improve the diversity of candidate backgrounds. By prioritizing more representation in talent sourcing, companies can cultivate a workforce that reflects the perspectives and experiences of their clients and communities, which also leads to a more innovative and inclusive workplace culture.