For organisations globally , sourcing diverse talent has become a strategic priority – and must start early in the sourcing and recruiting process . Building rich talent pools will help you establish a firm foundation for your strategy and contribute to achieving your diversity and inclusion ambitions . So what does it take to ensure you are building a sufficiently diverse pipeline of talent ?
At Future Talent Learning ' s recent Future Talent Conference , AMS led a virtual masterclass for a global audience of HR directors and heads of talent and learning . The conversation between Nicky Hancock , Managing Director , Americas , at AMS and Katie McAuliffe , Talent Executive at Bank of America , explored the journey of building diverse strategies , as well as highlighting the importance of educating stakeholders and communicating the benefits of robust DE & I strategies for getting the best people in the right jobs .
Hancock said : “ For many leaders in talent acquisition and broader HR , there is an increasing focus and pressure to do more and do things differently when it comes to hiring diverse talent .” She added that this is the responsibility of the whole organisation , not just talent acquisition and HR .
Cultivating the right inclusive dialogue around women ’ s strategy is key
A focus on internal mobility
An often-overlooked strategy for putting DE & I centre stage of a talent pipeline and sourcing strategy is driving internal mobility . McAuliffe explained that Bank of America has committed to focusing on internal mobility and the importance of recruiting from within . This translates to inviting existing employees to career fairs , where staff can find out about opportunities that exist elsewhere in the business .
“ Filling out a profile and getting someone to talk to them gets them into the pipeline ,” McAuliffe said . “ It can be as simple as ensuring opportunities are internally advertised and communicated , and that applications are open to all .”
Fostering inclusive dialogue
Having allies is also an important part of embedding the right culture to deliver strategy when it comes to sourcing diverse talent . For example , “ cultivating the right inclusive dialogue around women ’ s strategy is key . It starts with the internal culture that is based around how we support each other . It begins with having allies which are men as well .”
We publish metrics around internal mobility and we talk about how our internal hiring is more diverse than our external hiring
Dialogue and communicating wins are part of obtaining buy-in from elsewhere in the organisation : “ We publish metrics around internal mobility and we talk about how our internal hiring is more diverse than our external hiring .”
McAuliffe also acknowledged the strong part that positive storytelling plays in expressing the benefits of accessing diverse talent pools and ensuring that career opportunities are communicated across internal networks .
For McAuliffe , it is also crucial that leaders are supported and mentored in the importance and value of widening their own networks , forums and groups to broaden their reach .
Ensuring that unconscious bias is removed has always played a key part and that is guided by consistent interview practices and processes . Embedding DE & I in the whole talent life cycle is not only the remit of talent acquisition specialists but the responsibility of the organisation as a whole . Education unlocks the benefits and communicates the bottom-line benefits to help this to happen .