Want a Better Employer Brand? Start by Investing in Diversity
Vertex Ventures Israel hosting Joonko — Post by Ilit Raz and Yaara Kassner
One small step towards diversity, one giant leap for your employer brand
In today’s talent economy, candidates are searching for organizations that are manifesting radical change. From responding to public outcry to celebrating diversity, candidates are now taking heed to corporate responsibility. Therefore, to attract and retain skilled talent, companies must prioritize building a strong employer brand, while addressing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I).
he future workforce, especially Millennials and Gen Z, wants to see companies that make bold pledges and act on them. In fact, 81% of Millennials believe a successful business should have a genuine purpose, while 78% want to work for a company with aligned values.¹ That means companies should take initiatives such as supporting underrepresented talent and implementing best practices to enhance inclusion in the workplace. This improves a company’s likeability among candidates and positions it as a leader amongst other competitors.
A growing number of companies are seeing the value of linking their names with major DE&I initiatives. Only recently, Salesforce announced plans to double Black leaders by 2023, while Apple launched a one-hundred million dollars Racial Equity and Justice initiative. Startups today are competing over the same talent pool as the big brands. Sometimes, a successful and value-oriented employer brand is what’s standing between those startups and a robust talent pipeline.
- Over 86% of job-seekers say workplace diversity is an important factor when looking for a job.²
- 67% of Job-seekers said a diverse workforce is important when considering a job offer.
- 48% of employees would consider switching to another company if it had a built-out DE&I strategy.³
- 80% of talent acquisition managers agree that their employer brand has a significant impact on their ability to hire great talent.⁴
Enhance your brand through diversity, equity & inclusion
Nowadays, candidates are paying attention to every public move a company makes and are seeking transparency about the company’s values. Building a brand that supports workplace diversity is a quick and effective way of enhancing the employer brand.
By following the tips below, companies can easily transform their reputation and attract top quality talent:
- Be intentional and transparent about diversity recruiting — Build intentional initiatives to encourage diversity hiring — and start with your management team and board. Set clear goals, track your progress and make your goals known to your team and externally. State your goals on your career page, highlight your values on job postings, and create incentives for a diverse pipeline. Make your candidates (and your employees to that effect!) know that you care about diversity and keep on communicating this message.
2. Challenge your recruiting paradigms — Companies looking to attract candidates from underrepresented backgrounds would have to challenge their existing sourcing and recruiting process. Change would have to start from outreach — finding proactive ways to reach out to diverse talent, continue in the wording you choose for your job descriptions, to make sure they’re inclusive, and finally being critical towards the interview process. This means no more “beer test” to see who your hiring manager would want to work with. It could also mean being attentive to special needs or cultural differences in interpersonal interactions.
3. Create an inclusive environment — Put your people first. Run anonymous surveys and ask for the employees’ input. What would make them feel more at ease in the organization? Is there anything that’s being overlooked? You’d be surprised by the level of involvement and by how much this would make your employees feel engaged, cared for and included.
4. Demonstrate care through attractive benefits and incentives — A company should show that it not only values DE&I, but also embodies it in the benefits and incentives it offers. With the pandemic affecting employee mental health, having flexible remote policies may address each employee’s concern over COVID-19 while also showing a company cares about work-life balance. On top of that, other incentives like parental leave and comprehensive childcare can highlight business efforts to empower and support all gender employees.
5. Share your process as well as success stories — Utilize your social media channels to build your brand and increase inclusivity. Show you’re a non-homogenous workplace by sharing employee success stories and highlighting your DE&I initiatives. Even if you are just getting started, make sure to emphasize your goals. An Absence of online commitment to diversity or corporate responsibility is a red flag to 70% of job seekers⁵, and 32% of candidates say they strongly distrust a company not showcasing their efforts or reputation online⁶.
The bottom line: everything starts with your intention. When looking to create an inclusive workplace, analyze your current preferences and check for unconscious biases that hold you back from finding the right talent. Underrepresented candidates are waiting for opportunities just as eagerly as you’re looking for employees and to build a stronger employer brand. The two come hand in hand, so make sure you’re inclusive and thinking of everyone’s needs.
On a mission to accelerate corporate diversity and foster workplace equality, Joonko creates a completely new way for companies to source and recruit underrepresented candidates with its automated diversity recruiting solution. Joonko’s Zero-touch technology matches candidates’ skills and professional background to relevant open positions at its +100 partnering companies. Amongst Joonko’s clients are companies such as Adidas, PayPal, Amex, Intuit, and so many more companies who are successfully manifesting their D&I commitments through Joonko’s solution. Joonko is a Vertex portfolio company.
[1] “Millennials Want Companies Mixing Mission And Money.” 11 Dec. 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/annefield/2017/12/11/millennials-want-companies-mixing-mission-and-money/
[2] 25 Nov. 2019, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/over-86-of-job-seekers-say-workplace-diversity-is-an-important-factor-when-looking-for-a-job-300964115.html. Accessed 17 Aug. 2020.
[4] “The 28 Employer Branding Statistics Your Company Must Know.” 29 Jan. 2020, https://everyonesocial.com/blog/employer-branding-statistics/ [
[5] “employer brand research — Randstad.” https://www.randstad.com/workforce-insights/employer-branding/research-reports/
[6] 2020 Fortune 500 Employment Branding Report | WilsonHCG. https://www.wilsonhcg.com/reports/2020-employment-brand
