Delivery Hero’s commitment to diversity and inclusion has become integral to its decision-making over the years. More often than not, we hear talks about the importance of hiring diverse talent because we know from research that a diverse workforce fuels creativity and contributes to sustainable business success. People with different backgrounds and experiences can bring in different perspectives, producing better outcomes and driving innovation. A diverse and inclusive workplace increases employee engagement and retention, both of which are crucial for business success. The big question we have to answer is how do we attract diverse talent and how do we keep them after we have brought them in?
We had a chat with Tosin Anifowose, a Senior Tech Recruiter at Delivery Hero with experience hiring tech talent across all seniority levels, to find out what her three top tips are for hiring and retaining diverse talent.
Hiring diverse talent
Nearness to talent
Today, there are many different talent acquisition sources available. Leveraging your career page or the most widely used social media platforms alone may significantly limit your chance of reaching diverse talent. The onus, therefore, lies on you as an organization to find where these talents are and to present the unique opportunities that your organization gives to them. Sometimes people don’t know they are looking for you until you tell them about your company and what you have to offer. There is plenty of diverse talent out there waiting to be found. So instead of waiting for them to apply, actively seek them out by identifying where they are and developing a strategy tailored to this audience.
Potential and skillsets
In the talent acquisition space, we always want to hire people who are a perfect fit for a position. For example, most of our technical assessments are targeted toward finding out if they can deliver exactly what is required on the job. Getting back to the question of diverse talent, let’s then ask ourselves a question: why is the pool so limited? For example, a lot of organizations hope to hire female engineers, and female engineering managers and directors, but this is not an easy task. What we need is a proper understanding of the root cause to guide our approach on how to attract talent from a different pool while filling the position with someone who can meet the expectations of the role.
As a hiring manager or part of a hiring team, it’s important to understand that many female candidates I want to hire for a technical role might not be applying because they don’t think they tick all of the boxes, or might be entering the industry from a non-technical background. In this case, what matters is their mindset, the skills they can build upon, and their potential.
Asking why people might not be applying for these roles and adjusting the framework to attract candidates with potential is crucial to developing a diverse workforce. It is also vital to find ways to help candidates succeed in applying for roles that do fit their skill set, even if they don’t have direct experience in the specific field.
Retaining diverse talent
A constant feedback loop
Staying close to your teams and consistently promoting a culture of open feedback – while holding yourself accountable – is instrumental for any organizational leader to retain diverse talents. A sense of accountability pushes you to define key metrics and keeps you focused on creating a work environment that supports and maximizes the potential of your diverse team. In other words, the aim is to create an environment in which anyone can thrive.
The focal points of feedback opportunities should be flexible enough for leaders to adapt and evolve to address employees’ needs. When trying to retain diverse employees, paying attention to things like work-life balance, opportunities to grow and learn, being fairly compensated, and adequate manager support is vital.
Hiring diverse talent is achievable, but it needs to start with a deep understanding of why it is important. At Delivery Hero, diversity and inclusion is deeply ingrained in our company culture, starting with our core values, specifically: “We are Heroes because we care.” This means caring about fostering a workplace where everyone has fair career opportunities – starting with who we hire.
It is recruiters, like Tosin, who have the crucial task of enabling more diverse talent to enter the recruitment funnel and ensuring that the value of diversity is communicated to hiring managers and teams – who make the important final decision. Ultimately, the journey toward a fully inclusive work environment won’t happen overnight, but Delivery Hero is committed to integrating this value into every step of an employee’s path.
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