Millions of employees have walked out of their glass and concrete corporate doors, pledging never to return. According to the Labor Department, over four million members of the workforce quit in April alone; a part of a movement equal parts labor and existential christened the “Great Resignation.” As hundreds of companies scramble to fill open positions, they have been met with another recruitment hurdle: their diversity and inclusion efforts. Without a clear understanding of what creates the limitations and difficulties, the national momentum championing diversity and equity may lose a bit of its steam, challenging any progress made and bringing many efforts back to square one.
What’s driving this mass exit?
Unfortunately for many companies, the pandemic, although very sad and tragic in its destruction, created a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for everyone: the time to think and reflect. The world moves at a breakneck speed, and the daily language is “go, go, go” doesn’t allow for the essential human introspection of “Does this make me happy?” “Does this even make sense?” And the time given by the world collectively being granted the chance to sit with themselves and think; people are taking this opportunity and running with it. If a company is unable or unwilling to pivot and be flexible, they’ll feel the brunt of the deflation from this modern workplace exodus and may never achieve the innovative and diverse team they may have been working so hard to build.
Why is diversity so difficult to maintain right now?
In a stunning new report from the academic publishing giant Wiley, for industries like the tech industry, the constant struggle with inclusion, equity, and diversity is one of the main contributing factors to their talent taking this opportunity to leave and never come back.
According to the survey of more than 2,000 employees, 50% said they had left or wanted to resign from their IT or tech job because the culture of the company was unfriendly or made them feel not so comfortable, with 68% of respondents believing this was due to their ethnicity, gender, socio-economic background, or neurodevelopmental condition.
Why don’t they want to return?
For people from diverse communities, the pandemic was more than a health epidemic; it was an extinct-level collision of race, gender, and sexual orientation disparity and discrimination with a public health crisis. As tragic as this pandemic has been, not being in a workplace that is uncomfortable, unwelcoming, and littered with microaggressions and glass ceilings has been a bit of a relief for many people.
Looking Ahead
Leaders today have it tough with so many competing priorities. You have to work on retaining your workforce, cultivating a hybrid culture, improving the productivity and profitability of your business, AND pursuing DEI goals, all at the same time. The key here is to stay flexible and focused; make sure you look at this from longer-term play. As the saying goes, focus on DEI to being a marathon and not a sprint.
- Although it’s a crazy time – don’t rush your hiring process.
- Outsource or delegate a focused recruiting and onboarding strategy (if possible).
- Cast a wide net in diverse recruitment. Expand the ideas and framing of what “diversity.” means
- Have straightforward yet realistic expectations and requirements.
- Above all – be flexible. Old methods may not work in a modern and chaotic context.
Although our way of life has been challenged, we can use this as an excellent opportunity to change methods, strategies and do what we’ve always said we wanted to do – think outside the box.