MONEY & BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Building diverse teams (because they are smarter) Strategies and tactics to guide your transformation
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ou’re an entrepreneur or hiring manager looking to grow your team. You know that diverse teams perform higher than their homogeneous counterparts and that an inclusive culture makes for an environment where employees can thrive. Simply put, diverse teams are smarter, and you have stats to back it up too. As Harvard Business Review summarized it, a 2015 McKinsey report “found that companies in the top quartile for ethnic and racial diversity in management were 35 per cent more likely to have financial returns above their industry mean.” Below are some strategies and tactics that will guide you in building diverse teams.
Planning and execution
Once you know where you stand, you can set new targets and make a plan to attain them. What is your target headcount and in what departments and/or roles? What community groups have you identified as underrepresented in your team and what are the revised targets? What are your timelines for these new strategic talent acquisition targets?
Once you have determined your targets, it is time for execution. You must be intentional in your pursuit of hiring diverse tech talent. Seek communities that represent these groups such as women in STEM, immigrants in tech or Black professional groups. Where do you currently stand? Many organizations such as Latam Start off by doing an internal Startups, Scale Without Borders or evaluation of your current team QueerTech can connect you with (if you have one in place). Some diverse and high-quality talent and statistics to look for include how build strong relationships with them. many of your team members identify as BIPOC, women, immigrant, or Evaluating and interviewing LGBTQ+; your overall employee candidates retention/turnover rate and for Connecting with diverse tech specific community groups; and/or talent is merely the first step. Bias overall mobility in your company (both subconscious and intentional) and for specific community groups. can manifest in the screening Note any diversity gaps such as process. This might be due to traditional underrepresentation in outdated interview techniques, your industry. unconscious bias, or questions/
screening processes that do not set up certain groups for success. For instance, including requirements or interview questions such as “do you have Canadian experience” are not only irrelevant to most jobs but automatically discriminate against newcomers with high-potential tech talent.
job openings where they meet as low as 60 per cent. This means that applicants from different groups approach job applications differently. For a successfully diversified talent acquisition approach, you must consider this by creating a nuanced job application and interviewing process.
Also, keep your requirements flexible. If you know that the role you are hiring for does not necessarily require a computer science master's degree, spare applicants this additional requirement. Get meticulous about the ‘must haves’ and distinguish them from the ‘nice to haves’. This will create a more nuanced approach to your recruitment process and shatter barriers that systemically impact underrepresented communities, while unlocking a whole new tech talent pool for your company.
Summary
To give a specific example, research suggests that women are less likely to apply to a job unless they meet 100 per cent of the requirements whereas their male counterparts, are likely to apply to
Evaluate where you currently stand and what your team composition looks like. Identify the gaps and how they came to be. Then, set both new milestones and a strategy to build a more diverse and heterogeneous team. Execute your plan with a special emphasis on finding new communities to unlock new talent, engaging them and establishing longterm relationships with them. Ensure you’re also revamping your entire hiring process from evaluation to onboarding in a way where diversity and inclusion are mainstreamed. These are only some of the steps in the ongoing journey to build diverse teams and creating inclusive workplaces for success.
Nouhaila Chelkhaoui is the founder & CEO of Scale Without Borders, a one-stop shop for newcomers in tech, and employers’ go-to partner to hire immigrant tech talent. CANADIANIMMIGRANT.CA |
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