Purposeful Talent Development: Be intentional about removing bias from your pipeline for people
You may have diversity initiatives and goals, but what behaviors are present and how does the climate support inclusion?
It has been wonderful to see so many organizations embracing and identifying ways they can further diversity, equity and inclusion internally and in their communities. We know that DEI is more than just helping people in an organization feel included and welcome. It’s also about broadening the pool of people we consider when making decisions about hiring or promotions.
In 2020, we’ve seen an assertion that a “lack of black talent” is the reason for insufficient diversity in some organizations, especially in leadership positions. Truth is, if you can’t find talent that doesn’t look like you, you’re not giving your hiring efforts enough attention. Are you telling the same people you always tell when you have an open position when, if you think about it, you know people who might be able to help you broaden your candidate pool? Are you sending your job postings to the same places as always—to the same job sites, universities and recuiters? A great first step toward putting more diversity in your pipeline is to broadcast your job ads in different ways. Consider recruiting at historically black colleges and universities and reaching out to the National Black MBA Association, the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources, and the National Association of Black Accountants. The talent is there, if you look in the right places.
Whether recruiting externally or identifying talent internally, another obstacle to having more diverse talent pipelines lies with the unconscious biases of those charged with hiring and developing talent. As the conversations deepen around the need to have a pipeline of diverse talent, those who hire and develop talent at credit unions need to shed light on and become aware of these biases, including:
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