Progress stalls around equity at work

It is common knowledge that having a diverse workplace is good for business.

“Diversity increases productivity, produces more innovation and lowers employee turnover”, HireVue’s chief data scientist Dr Lindsey Zuloaga shares with UNLEASH.

Employers have been doing a good job around diversity. New global research from HireVue found that while 90% of HR leaders think that their organization is set to include diversity, and 74% of employees agreed. This is based on a survey of 1,500 HR leaders and 6,000 employees in the US, UK and Australia.

But it is important to remember that the benefits of diversity can only be reaped if organizations also focus on inclusion, equity and belonging. Employers aren’t doing such a good job here.

Credit: HireVue’s 2023 equity in hiring research.

HireVue’s report also found that while 86% of HR leaders think that those with unique backgrounds and identities are valued, only half (53%) of employees agree. In addition, 88% of HR leaders think employees have a sense of belonging at work, but just three in five of employees agree.

This mismatch between HR and employees’ perspectives suggests that employers are not following up their words and commitments with concrete action.

And this needs to change if employers genuinely want to reap the benefits of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB).

A skills-based approach to equity

“The good news is there are so many tools and resources available”, shares Dr Zuloaga.

The first step is for employers to be really deliberate, intentional and actively work to eliminate systemic biases and barriers for disadvantaged groups.

But HireVue’s report digs into specific improvements that HR teams, and organizations, must make to truly drive equity at work. These all lead back to focusing in on being skills-first – something that LinkedIn has also noted as having huge benefits for DEIB.

One major challenge is around equity in compensation – and HR is aware. Although 84% of HR leaders said they are completely transparent about pay to employees and candidates, almost seven in ten admitted that there were significant differences in pay between employees with the same job.

Employees are aware of this problem – just half believe pay is transparent in their organization.

HireVue calls on employers to audit salaries, but then do skills assessments to eliminate subjective barriers in pay.

Of course, this approach requires organizations to ensure everyone has opportunities to develop and grow their skills – this also solves another equity challenge around career growth.

The report also found that this skills-based approach has the added benefit of democratizing the talent pool and allowing HR to move away from prioritizing degree requirements when hiring (and promoting) people.

Currently less than a third of organizations have adopted an approach that looks beyond degrees, and only a quarter have replaced resume requirements with skills-based assessments.

These organizations are tapping into broader, skilled talent pools that other companies are ignoring because of their outdated, biased views.

It’s time to focus in on skills, and turn DEIB from being a tick-box exercise to driving genuine change in organizations, and society as a whole.

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