When polled, 70 percent of the companies now consider people analytics to be a high priority. In fact, people analytics has become a major part of the Human Resources department today. Currently, 78 percent of big companies term people analytics as a vital part of their organizational procedures. So, why is it important?
“It is significant because the devil is in the data. Using analytics is a way of looking at large sets of data to find common patterns that are beneficial for your company. In this case, looking into data that can help prove what attracts diversity to the organization.”
If you are new to it, just starting, or looking to make the best use of your existent data to attract diversity, here are some ways through which you can use workforce analytics to do that:
IDENTIFY THE EXISTING GAPS
If you want to attract your ideal diverse candidates, you first have to identify the existing diversity gaps. With the help of people analytics, you can get a holistic view of the current employees. With the information you have, you can look into gaps based on age, education, gender, and experience among others.
Once you have the broader picture of the gaps in your leadership and employees' pipelines, use the insights to create a hiring funnel befitting those who you want more in your company. These analytical tools can help you get the data on performance and the career progression of the existing employees. Reframe the existing diversity agenda and center it around more on the existing gap. With the help of HR analytics, you can identify the biases and the patterns of discrimination that are stopping your employees from going up the career ladder.
DESIGN AN EQUITABLE PAY STRUCTURE
It is not just about the progression in the organization but the pay structure too. When you have the data, I am sure you will realize the huge compensation and designation gap between white employees, black employees, and other employees of color. These analytical tools can help you get the data on salaries and overall compensation of the existing employees.
You can then use it to create new pay structures for the existing employees and the ones you are looking to hire for the long term.
MAKE USE OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS
The most important thing to be taken care of is how you are writing job descriptions when you want to attract diverse employees. Now that you have the data, use it to your benefit. This data will help you see which previous job descriptions attracted the most diverse candidates, which were the most successful, and which resulted in more diverse hires applying for the job, etc.
Use this data to find the common patterns that resulted in success or failure. Based on that, create inclusive job descriptions that will help you in attracting more diverse talent.
BUILD A DATABASE OF DIVERSE CANDIDATES
As you focus more on data for diversity, equity, and inclusion you must create a database. It can become a valuable source for diverse talent. This database should be based on your current diverse employees, the departments they are working for, the positions they hold, their pay scale, designations, and the time worked for the company, etc. Use all this information to build a database that contains potential diverse talent fit for your company.
You cannot only have a database but whenever you have a job opening you can reach out to them and ask if they would consider applying. If you have a career or a team page, having the previous employees listed there will make them realize that your company might be a good fit for their next position. Analytics can also help predict the likelihood of a candidate accepting a particular job offer. Based on this data, recruiters can edit the job offers such as bonuses, compensation, etc. to increase the chances of attracting experts.
“Data is leading the way for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Talent is equally distributed among both white, black and people of color, but opportunities are not. Use this real-time data to make sure your company extends the right opportunities to the right people regardless of their race or gender.”