Dive Brief:
- LinkedIn Recruiter is introducing “Diversity Nudges” to help improve the gender balance of recruiter job searches, the company announced Aug. 10. Diversity Nudges will offer filter recommendations for recruiters when a given talent pool is unbalanced, LinkedIn said.
- Organizations will also be able to add a dedicated section to their LinkedIn pages showcasing their commitments to diversity, sustainability, career development and work-life balance, among other things.
- In addition, LinkedIn Learning is offering 24 free DEI-related courses for companies until Sept. 8, including a course on equitable hiring.
Dive Insight:
While recruiting technology has modernized significantly, recruiter strategy hasn’t kept up, experts previously told HR Dive. Data can help recruiters understand where in the process they are losing candidates from underrepresented groups — and for many, that’s right at the top of the funnel, experts said; the traditional sources of finding talent, including referrals and tried-and-true searches, tend to be “inherently less diverse.”
Employers also want to be careful not to focus DEI recruiting efforts on entry-level jobs alone, a DEI strategist said during an HR Technology Conference and Expo keynote in 2021. Other common missteps include judging candidates for job hopping or retaining leaders who hedge on DEI commitments.
Companywide accountability — including from recruiters to the rest of the hiring team, especially if recruiters aren’t the decision-makers — is key to DEI initiatives, one DEI expert said during a 2021 Fairygodboss webinar. While recruiters are responsible for ensuring the talent pool is diverse and expansive, one expert said, they may also need to point out to hiring managers when and where they see certain candidates dropping out of the process entirely. But for that to work across an organization, all members of the hiring team need to be incentivized to hire a diverse array of candidates, webinar speakers said.
Companies that don’t do this — or do it poorly — may be at a severe disadvantage, various surveys have shown. According to June survey results from HR firm Buck, employees are more likely to leave organizations that don’t showcase a commitment to DEI or don’t make it clear diversity in culture and background is respected.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the number of free DEI courses offered.
