“With that data, you can identify and develop strategies to address gaps in your talent pipeline, career pathing for current employees, or succession planning for executive positions.”
SIMON LUSTY, CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER, AQUENT
While companies say they value diversity, and many have made important strides to achieve it, most are struggling to achieve their goals. As Simon Lusty, CMO of Aquent, points out in a recent article for “The Staffing Stream,” there are two major stumbling blocks companies face in their DEI efforts: lack of demographic data and the exclusion of various talent communities. Regarding the lack of diversity data, it's not that businesses are hiding the information—they just don't have it. Lusty suggests putting in place a transparent process to encourage voluntary self-identification and communicating this anonymized, aggregated data with key stakeholders. Additionally, companies tend to take a one-dimensional approach to diversity by only considering race and gender. Companies would be wise to include other dimensions of diversity such as veteran, LGBTQIA+ status, age, ability, and neurodiversity. Lusty closes by noting that Aquent has built tools and infrastructure to help their clients see the full picture of diversity in their workforces, and they can do the same for other companies.
This article originally appeared on Staffing Industry Analysts.
