Data doesn't lie. Companies with a diverse workforce outperform and outearn companies with limited diversity. However, even as organizations talk about hiring a diverse workforce, data shows that many are still falling short. Furthermore, companies with hiring practices that exclude underrepresented groups are shutting out 39% of potential job applicants, significantly reducing eligible applicants for every role.

It's safe to say that businesses and organizations across all industries are aware of the challenging labor market and record-breaking activity of employees seeking improved opportunities. Even as hiring percentages exceed quits in the JOLT report for November 2021, recruiters will be utilizing their most competitive skills entering 2022. So, how can you utilize recruitment tactics that help your organization stand out from the crowd? By using data for hiring practices that promote diversity, you can take the guesswork out of diverse hiring and expand your candidate pool for any and all positions.

Hiring Practices That Promote Diversity

Consider these 7 ways data can help you improve your hiring practices to promote diversity.

1. Identify Existing Diversity Gaps

While many companies claim to employ a diverse workforce, the numbers show there is a considerable amount of work to be done before real changes are recognized. While the national unemployment rate is 3.9%, rates are quite different for various underrepresented groups.

• Unemployment for veterans is 6.5% (men) - 6.7% (women).
• The unemployment rate for disabled individuals is 12.6%.
• The average unemployment rate in 2019 was 3.3%, but it was 6.6% for black people and 4.4% for Hispanic or Latinx populations.

Data surrounding leadership roles shows similar gaps:

• Only 8.1% of Fortune 500 companies have female leaders.
• Only 4 Fortune 500 companies have a leader who is black.

By studying employee data, you can determine how your organization compares to the national statistics and how it compares to your future goals. After determining the diversity gap within your company, you can create a plan to eliminate the gap over a specific period of time.

2. Avoid Recruitment Bias

Every individual experiences unconscious bias. These unconscious biases may be revealed in screening bias that leads to hiring discrimination. A pre-hire candidate assessment check, like Crosschq 360 digital reference check,  helps eliminate unconscious bias from the hiring process by providing data from the candidate and their references from surveys developed by IO Psychologists to reduce unconscious bias. 

This data allows recruiters to rely only on performance metrics, skills, and past employment experiences.

3. Expand Qualified Candidate Pools to Promote Diversity

By using measurable data to quantify the experience, skills, and qualifications of each candidate, you can add more candidates to your candidate network and automatically increase diversity in your organization. 

When you utilize a variety of sources to attract potential candidates to your recruitment pipeline, it's important to track where these leads come from and the success rates of each source. A candidate source like Crosschq Recruit that supplies you with a network of qualified applicants backed with data about past performance, education, and soft skills enables you to make informed hiring decisions.

4. Create Improved Compensation Packages

Rewards are only effective if they provide sufficient benefits to the employees who receive them. In the past, compensation packages were focused mainly on financial rewards. 

Today's workers are seeking compensation packages that focus on their needs, like flexibility and health benefits. By recording performance and employee satisfaction data, you can create modern compensation packages that establish benefits to encourage workers to perform at a higher level. 

Including details about these compensation packages in job postings is a key part of attracting new recruits. When compensation packages reflect the varied needs of different employees within your company, you'll be more likely to attract diverse employees to your recruitment pipeline.

5. Optimize Engagement During the Onboarding Phase

Thirty-three percent of new employees leave their new position within the first 90 days. If you experience significant turnover during the first six months of hiring new employees, it might be time to overhaul your onboarding process. 

When you combine data using tools like Crosschq Analytics from your hiring process that demonstrates which hiring channels are most effective with information that highlights quick quits and high performers, it's easier to determine which candidates are more likely to match with your company's culture. 

Upon welcoming new employees to your organization, it's helpful to collect early performance data and employee satisfaction rates to ensure employees get a purposeful work experience. 

6. Improve Retention of Diverse Employees

By utilizing recruitment data during the hiring phase and performance data of new and long-term employees, you can improve employee engagement and attract more recruits. 

Retention metrics provide information about how long the average employee stays at your company. By comparing the average tenure of diverse employees to that of your entire workforce, you can determine if you need to make changes to your diversity and inclusion efforts. 

7. Track Improvement to Diversity Recruiting Programs Over Time

When you consistently gather and store relevant data about your hiring processes, you can easily pinpoint strategies and tools that are most effective. As you attempt to implement hiring practices that promote diversity, data collection should include sourcing metrics, representation data, retention metrics, and equity and promotion data that compare the pay and promotions of diverse employees with that of other employees in the company. By tracking this data from month to month, you can measure improvement and track your progress to your company goals.

Crosschq Can Help Implement Hiring Practices That Promote Diversity

Many companies turn toward more complicated recruitment practices when facing a challenging labor market. However, you don't have to launch into crisis mode to successfully recruit top talent. 

With the use of measurable data, you can gain an advantage over your competitors and turn a stressful time into an opportunity. By using measurable data to improve diversity in your hiring practices, you can increase your company's hiring pool and improve overall performance. 

Ensure that your recruitment team is hiring top talent and promoting diversity with data analytics and AI technology from Crosschq. Request a demo to discover how the Crosschq platform can help you promote diverse hiring practices through candidate data, pre-hire assessments, and hiring analytics.