How to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion when hiring
Going beyond the talk to drive meaningful action toward a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.
I recently met with Felicia Jadczak, co-CEO and Head of DEI at She+ Geeks Out, to hear her perspective on DEI and hiring. Felicia first started working on diversity initiatives back in 2013, when she built an employee resource group (ERG) at VMware. She recalls, “This was very early in terms of how the tech industry was thinking about gender breakdowns and diversity in general. They weren’t even using language like ERGs to talk about the work that I was doing — that language came out afterward.” That same year, she ran what would become the first of many events for the womxn in tech community, and later launched She+ Geeks Out with her co-Founder, Rachel Murray. Recently celebrating its 5-year anniversary, She+ Geeks Out continues to support a growing womxn in tech community, as well as companies who want to better integrate DEI into their organizations.
In this post, Felicia shares advice for companies for addressing DEI early on, cultivating an equitable experience, and thinking critically about what “success” really looks like when it comes to DEI.
Reflecting on your current practices
Companies often say they care about DEI and want a diverse team, but find it difficult to get started and move beyond the talk. As Felicia points out, “What actions are companies taking? You can’t just say you support diversity. […] Even though a lot of these organizations have great intent, it doesn’t always translate to the actual experiences and outcomes.” If you’re bringing people into an already dysfunctional culture, any efforts done while hiring will be moot long-term. What’s the point of hiring from underrepresented groups if you’re not retaining them? Is having a 50/50 gender split really impressive if none of your leadership roles are held by women? It’s something Felicia and Rachel noticed as She+ Geeks Out grew.
“It wasn’t just about getting womxn great jobs at tech companies. We were seeing this real issue of people leaving because they weren’t being supported. They weren’t being promoted. They weren’t being given good opportunities.”
So what outcomes should you be focusing on? Felicia recommends starting by asking yourself some questions that go beyond surface-level metrics:
- Has my own team received any training on inclusive hiring practices?
- Are we paying attention to things like pay equity?
- Are there pay disparities across different groups?
- Are there pay differences for people with different degrees, and is an advanced degree critical for the requirements of the job?
- Do we find our talent from the same small pool of places?
- Are we being thoughtful about how we promote people? Who’s getting promoted and when?
- Do we have any formalized programs related to DEI, or have they all been ad-hoc?
- What does representation look like beyond a general breakdown, and have we looked at it at every level of the company (entry-level vs. managers vs. senior leadership)?
- Who leaves, and why do they leave? Why do people stay, and is it for the right reasons?
For a small company, it may seem premature to evaluate DEI outcomes based on the above metrics. In fact, Felicia says the earlier you start, the better.
“A lot of companies tend to look at DEI as a sort of an add on that they’ll deal with later. That’s a really dangerous way of looking at it. That’s how companies get to a point where they have grown, but they’re very homogenous. Or there’s a toxic culture because they haven’t really addressed some of these issues.”
As a company that waited until further down the road to start considering DEI, you may be concerned about the picture the numbers will paint. The good news? It’s never too late to start. These are great initiatives to weave into, or even use to overhaul existing processes.
Actions to take as you grow your team
Many of these important outcomes will be impacted by what you do before you even hire. Think of it as building a house — you need to start with a strong foundation.
“Organizations that take the time to be thoughtful about building DEI into the very fabric of their foundations and processes from day one have such a leg up on other companies, because they can provide meaningful answers to these types of questions, and they’ll grow in a much different way, with different ideas, voices, and people at the table.”
Regardless of where you are now, there are many actions you can take to build a strong DEI foundation as you grow:
- Ensure there is implicit or unconscious bias training for you and your team. She+ Geeks Out is well-versed on this topic, and Felicia recommends Google and Facebook for free resources. At Insight, anytime we hire we make sure bias is top of mind by asking: “Given this specific role, candidate pool, and interview plan, where is bias most likely to creep into our decision-making? What steps can we take to address that?”
- Establish clear processes for promoting and paying the people you hire. Continue to re-evaluate these procedures on a regular basis, and set specific times to do that in advance.
- Make sure you’re writing job descriptions without biased language. You can use tools like Textio to analyze what you’re curating.
- Evaluate the language you use with employees (e.g., employee handbooks, descriptions of benefits). Felicia points to vacation policies as an example: “Does your organization have a “Christmas break”, “holiday break”, or “winter break”? Do you give time off for other holidays besides, like Ramadan?”
- Consider implementing a sponsorship or mentorship program, which Felicia argues can be instrumental in retaining diverse talent. “Sponsorship is so key because it’s about identifying people that senior staff and leaders can bring up through the ranks and that can be so helpful, especially when the organization is still struggling with some of these issues and don’t have it all figured out.”
- Think about establishing an Employee Resource Group. Strong, well-supported ERGs can become a powerful partner to your recruiting team.
- Consider “Stay Interviews” in addition to Exit interviews. Stay interviews can add context to why folks might leave — what’s keeping them at your company, and did the people who leave experience that too? If not, why were the experiences different?
Your sources for finding talent should support DEI
Companies often get comfortable sourcing from the same places when things work out well. Maybe you’ve been lucky with a handful of local schools, or you’ve always just found people through your network. There’s nothing inherently wrong with returning to those sources, but Felicia emphasizes the importance of thinking critically about the limitations of this strategy and being able to reflect on where you’re sourcing from.
“How can you break down as many barriers as possible? You may find people with a variety of experiences and identities within those sources, but you’re still leaving out a whole host of others who could have just as much, or different, experience that you’re looking for. They could be just as successful but are missing that one name or organization on their resume.”
Incorporate DEI into the interview process
If you’re interviewing, it’s likely that a candidate will ask about DEI on your team (or point out the lack of it). Be upfront and honest about where you’re at, even if your team hasn’t reached its DEI goals. If you’ve begun implementing initiatives, that’s a great start. Felicia advises, “Talk about what’s on the roadmap. How are you thinking about addressing DEI beyond just trying to hire someone who’s different?” Acknowledge where you’re falling short, the work that needs to be done, and your strategy to get there. If a candidate is hesitant to join your team as the first person from an underrepresented group, learning about the concrete actions you are taking will provide some reassurance that it’s a priority for the company. And if this truly is something you are taking action on, don’t wait to be asked about it — consider it just as important as discussing the company’s product roadmap, the projects they will work on, or who they’ll report to.
Bottom line: Deliver an honest representation of the DEI situation at your company, whatever that is, but also focus on actions you’re taking to continue to improve.
Ensuring equitable interviews, especially virtually
With many interviews happening virtually right now, there’s an extra level of consideration needed when interviewing to ensure an equitable experience. Felicia points out that there’s been a level of professionalism stripped from us. We’re talking to each other from our homes, sometimes with children or pets around, a situation that may have looked careless during an interview in the past, but is now simply the reality of the world we’re living in. We need to be aware, more than ever, of the biases that come along with that new reality.
“We have to be so much more lenient and forgiving of things like a partner walking in, pets jumping into the frame, or kids running around.”
It’s also important to check our assumptions, which can inevitably lead to bias: not everyone has access to good wifi, not everyone has a good at-home setup, and not everyone is familiar with Zoom or comfortable with someone interviewing them while looking into their home. To avoid making those assumptions, it’s important to be incredibly clear, set expectations, and be over-communicative. Simple steps, like including a line that states explicitly “If you’re working from home — kids, pets, and other cohabitators in the background are welcome” will go a long way towards ensuring candidates (and your team) are able to focus on what really matters in their interviews.
Ultimately, it’s crucial to keep your own assumptions and biases in mind to ensure an equitable experience, and you have to start with equity to make diversity and inclusion work long-term.
Making it happen
Our understanding of DEI is ever-changing and evolving. You don’t have to know it all or do it all, but there should be an honest and ongoing effort to integrate DEI into your organization.
“There’s never going to be an end-stage of perfection where you’ve checked off all the boxes on a list or you’ve achieved gold star status. There will always be something to work on. Part of this is because our understanding and our definitions are nuanced and they’re ever-evolving. The language that we’re using, and how we’re thinking about these topics, these terms and concepts, are really different today than they were in June 2013, September 2016, or January 2017 — it’s constantly changing.”
It’s also important to remember what you’re ultimately trying to accomplish when you think of DEI. The goal is to create a team of people with different backgrounds and experiences and provide an inclusive and equitable experience for those people. It’s not enough to give someone a seat at the table — they need a voice, too. Create paths for people to ensure a fair chance to join your team. And when they do join, give them opportunities for growth and development. It’s crucial to think about DEI when you’re hiring, but it doesn’t stop once you get someone through the door. As Felicia points out, “A person in and of themselves cannot be diverse. A group of people can have diversity within that group.”
Thanks very much to Felicia Jadczak for sharing her thoughts and perspective, and to She+ Geeks Out for all the great work they do around DEI.
Interested in seeing more resources like this? Sign up for our monthly newsletter, and get the latest on interviewing, hiring, and leading tech teams.
