Trends in Inclusive Hiring Practices for Technology Jobs for 2022

August 2, 2021/,
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Have You Got a DEI Strategy in Place?

Trends in inclusive hiring practices in technology jobs today are less of a general direction in which hiring is heading, and more of an essential priority to the success of your business.

According to McLean & Company’s 2021 HR Trends Report, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) jumped four positions on HR’s priorities this year. Yet, while the importance of DEI is finally being recognized, only 38% of organizations have a DEI strategy in place.

The benefits of inclusive hiring practices are huge. Want your business to accelerate? Here’s how.

The Benefits of DEI Hiring

Hiring for DEI used to be a tick box duty. Yet, the real reason behind inclusion is to create two-way opportunities for all parties. The benefits of DEI hiring in your business are being recognized, such as:

  • Hiring better talent – hugely advantageous accessing skills your competitors are not
  • Making better business decisions – eliminating biased decisions will accelerate performance
  • Accelerating innovation – technology breeds off creativity, which is much greater when different mindsets and backgrounds collaborate
  • Richer customer satisfaction – from higher-quality deliverance, ideas, and company brand
  • Strong company culture with improved employee satisfaction, which leads to a better reputation and attracts the best talent

These benefits cannot be ignored.

The Impact Covid Had

The pandemic changed the way businesses operate. Technology jobs are now in bigger demand than ever before. To keep the world connected, tech talent and businesses themselves had to drastically adapt to ensure the safety of their employees and continued forward motion of their products and services. These changes aren’t going to go away, as the aftershock of the pandemic continues to reverberate for some time.

While inclusive hiring changed and benefitted employers, employees are less prepared to give up allowances such as flexibility and remote working. What a business offers in terms of perks and benefits is increasingly important to the most skilled workers.

6 Developing Trends in DEI

The following six trends are how the strongest tech organizations are enriching their DEI strategies:

1.     Employing Data to Define DEI Gaps

Quantifying inclusion is becoming increasingly sophisticated, to help employers understand where they may be falling short in their DEI hiring. Businesses are beginning to consistently measure inclusion and diversity metrics (such as demographics, race, and gender), though commitment is certainly needed.

Organizations must also commit to developing more concise and strategic DEI intersectional analysis, such as experiences for female employees of color, for example.

2.     Engaging Executive Teams in DEI Strategy Creation

Executive teams and individuals must understand their role in changing how the organization hires for inclusion, and this is certainly coming into focus for the strongest companies. To excel, you need an engaged leadership, which can be achieved through:

  • Supportive learning and carefully curated milestones
  • Engraining authentic understanding of why DEI is important
  • Engaging middle managers and employees and collating feedback to help support executive engagement

Having an executive team who champion DEI will be strongly advantageous for DEI progression.

3.     DEI in Remote Teams

With more of your tech people working further apart, it’s critical that diversity still melds with a feeling of unison and consistency. It is therefore essential the context of remote messages is conveyed in an agreeable translation, rather than making assumptions. Virtual experiences must also be tested and measured for success.

4.     Hiring for DEI

Your hiring strategy needs to be restructured:

  • Reach out to communities and pools of talent that are underrepresented in your workforce
  • Ensure your hiring decision makers are diversified and DEI advocates
  • Eliminate unconscious bias – review anonymized resumes, for example
  • Don’t cull candidates with overstrict skills and experience criteria – you may miss out on exceptional candidates

5.     Creating a DEI Team

Pump resources and commitment into your DEI with a dedicated team. Map out where you need DEI in your organization, and budget carefully to cater for their roles. Successful organizations big and small are investing in the expertise they need to accelerate their DEI commitment.

6.     DEI Training

If you’ve got the skilled workforce you need, don’t switch off on training. It’s time to get proactive:

  • Offer different ways to access training (remote, in-person, on demand, event, etc.).
  • Offer further intense training for those who harbor greater interest or skill.
  • Keep it changing – like technology, employees’ views and needs change, as does the best way to deliver DEI training. So, keep on top of it.

Access the Specialized Workforce You Need Today

Act today for tomorrow. Technology doesn’t wait. Despite the talent shortage, there is a world of high-quality talent out there, which you have more access to today than ever before. Don’t let your competitors tread on your toes. Contact TotalTek. We’re your specialist partner with the workforce solutions that always align with the latest hiring trends.