According to Ian Cook writing on HR Technology Central, new technologies are helping human resource managers to build more diverse and inclusive workforces. Cook’s observations are supported by research from McKinsey which shows those companies with an ethnically diverse workforce are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above industry averages.
A similarly high figure is shown for gender diverse companies. Other analysis, from Catalyst, shows that companies that have a high proportion of women at board level outperform their peers over a long period of time.
Those tasked with recruitment and talent spotting need to focus their searches across the entire demographic, finding new ways to find the appropriate candidates from all backgrounds who can add value to the company. To achieve this data-driven recruitment is required, supported by workforce analytics to profile the existing make-up within the organization.
Providers
There are many providers of workforce analytics software. Such systems provide actionable information and insight, often on a daily basis. The best systems allow for external and internal profiling, such as applicant tracking and visual databases. Optimal systems also allow for rapid identification of cost-saving measures and have the ability to constructsimple, intuitive reports with drag-and-drop functionality. Examples of software include PeopleFluent® Analytics; Viser; and Workforce Software. There are many others, and the technological development of workforce analytics represents a key growth area for businesses.
A whole new picture of workforce management
How this analysis is used is of importance. Cook points out that analysis must be accompanied by some important things if real change is to be undertaken. The first major shift is in the advertising of available jobs. If the goal is to achieve a diverse workforce, then different marketing programs may be required.
The second key undertaking is workforce mapping. Such exercises will reveal where the diversity gaps in the company are. Analytics can categorize the workforce by gender, ethnicity, age and so on.
Avoiding bias
It is also important to examine for hiring bias to see if one area of the wider population is continually failing to get recruited. Here data-driven recruitment allows for the continuous monitoring of the selection and interview pipeline. Analytics can also assist with tracking diversity ratios in aggregates for each stage of the recruitment process. This can be tracked more easily through data visualization.
A further area to pay attention to is with the monitoring of ‘post-hire data’. It is all well and good increasing diversity, but it is less satisfactory if candidates from underrepresented groups do not stay in post for very long.
The application of analytics is an example of why taking a holistic view of human resources matters and of how the digital transformation of human resources can pay dividends within any company, irrespective of its size or operating sector.
