What guidance would you give to an organization looking to source more diverse talent?

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We have a new HRBP on the team, who is a person of color and has deep experience with several local organizations that promote talent for diverse populations. She has introduced us to some of the organizations that are promoting talent locally. This has really allowed us to expand our search for diverse talent.

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From an HR perspective, I really think we need to think about the process end-to-end beyond just the recruitment. I see a recruiting team, or a talent acquisition team, as salespeople essentially. So going out and proactively engaging in the community, looking for the skills and the talent that they need, and who can make a difference in their organization. Typically we're waiting for people to apply which is reactive, but we could be more proactive in getting engaged with diverse communities or audiences, whether it be online or in our local communities. I also recommend building meaningful connections with people that you might not interact with on a regular basis, or communities that have a mission about increasing diverse representation in the workforce.

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The first thing is to widen the net. Look for professional organizations that specifically support and bring talent from different communities together. You can then make the decision as to where it makes sense to recruit.

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You have to break down what your company is truly looking for in each position and then you need to go source those attributes, not specific people or specific resumes. You need to look for those attributes.

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We built a diversity program in the financial market built on scholarship and we focus on certain groups. We have a program dedicated to indigenous recruitment programs. We also have a neurodiversity program. One of our key learnings is that when you're intentional with building these organizational programs, sourcing key diverse talent is much more seamless.

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Looking to hire diverse talent is a very broad areas that may take us in many directions. Talent channels are important gateways for organizations. Before solving a specific issues we will need to clearly understand the context and identify the problem statement. For example, in our of the organization I worked for, the organization was looking to solve for the representation of women in leadership levels ( Senior Manager, Director and VP).It was clear that that the drivers for women were different based on the where they were at based on the stages of their life and career. I recommended a number of different channels ( Skilled Women Immigrants who are looking to start a new career in a foreign country, Career Returners, Interim Women Professionals who may be open to Perm FT opportunities, Makeshift Entrepreneurs who are open to resume FT professional career, niche communities such as not for profits who runs mentoring programs for Women In Technology schemes etc.) The key is to customize the EVP based on different employee subgroups based on their unmet needs but yet keep the flexibility.

What guidance would you give to an organization looking to source more diverse talent?

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