It makes dollars and sense to recruit from diverse sources and hire diverse minds. Here's the business case behind having a recruiting strategy for diversity candidates and an open workplace for LGBT candidates and employees.
4. #RDaily@KatrinaKibben
Sensitive Subjects: Coming Out
The Dollars and Sense Behind Our
Business Case
Recruitment Content That Doesn’t Suck
Diversifying Candidate Pipelines
Measuring Success and Failure
Q&A
ON
AGENDA
the
23. #RDaily@KatrinaKibben
Job Posts
List recent diversity recognitions
Breakdown Benefits
Say you’re LGBT friendly
“We are proud to be an EEO/AA employer. M/F/D/V/LGBT”
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How Do We Know It’s Working?
Promotions and transfers
Development and learning programs
Employee resource groups and
mentorship
If you haven’t heard of recruitingdaily, we’re your source for news technology and trends in HR and recruiting. EXPLAIN EACH SITE. That’s the last time I’ll promote our site today, promise.
Now, I want to start today by telling you a story.
I want to tell you a story about me. When I was a kid, I thought I’d join the Army when I great up. My whole family did. My mom was an Army Lieutenant Colonel and when the recruiters would call, they’d ask for me and she would sternly tell them never to call again. When I asked why, she told me I wasn’t a good fit. I think we’ve all know what she really meant
Well, in her generation it was not ok to be gay in the military. Hell, it wasn’t even ok to be a woman. She experienced that fight first hang, being a woman and part of the first “Army of one” after they merged the women’s army with the army we know today.
On top of that, I think she knew I was gay before I did. Not being a good fit has a lot to do with bias – that instinct that someone can make it or not. We build that up based on whatever is in our mind and it influences how we hire.
We’re going to take a look at the reality of what that creates and costs us in the workplace and talk about ways that we can do a better job recruiting and creating better workplaces for LGBt employees.
As I mentioned before, my name is Katrina Kibben and I’m the director of marketing so I think my schpeel was due. Two other fun facts about me. I live in nashville. I didn’t grow up there so no, I don’t have a southern accent but I can give myself one pretty easily when I’m in an awkward situation thanks to being born in North Carolina.
Second fun fact. I am not the most PC person. I don’t do politically correct. If you’ve ever read our blogs, you know that. But we do stick with the facts, stories and research.
I probably won’t use all the correct terms. I don’t know every acronym and I don’t know your organization. Just like interviewing, I don’t expect all of this to work for your org but I do hope I can make you think.
If I say anything too stupid, speak up – would ya?
So today’s agenda will take us through the statistics on LGBT employees and a bit of a sensitivity course so we can better understand the scope and landscape of the LGBT workplace trends, then we’ll review case studies of what people in the private sector are doing today and how you might implement and measure them in your organization .
Let’s get started.
There are 10 million LGBT employees currently working in full-time jobs in the United States alone. To put that in perspective, that’s about 4% of our population. That means you probably work with someone who is LGB or T. Now, working with someone who’s LGBT isn’t particularly different from working with someone who’s heterosexual. You know the inspirational song from Mackelmore – we’re all the same.
To take one step back, just in case anyone doesn’t know what LGBT stands for, let’s go over the list.
These are the PC words to use.
Intersex means born with both female and male genitals
Pansexual meaning no hounds to who you’ll date as far as gender
Demisexual means you only have relatinoships with someone you’re emotionally tied to.
Focus on LGBT marketing but I wanted to give the refresher on this acronym. Despite all these labels, we’re all the same. We want the same things for our lives, and from our work. But there’s this one thing we have to do because we have a label that some others might not.
I don’t really know how to convey what coming out feels like. I guess I could compare it to when you’re not telling a parent or friend something out of fear of a bad response? We are conditioned, or at least my generation was, that being gay wasn’t so cool. In fact I didn’t even know what gay was until I was in my teens. I mean, 5 year olds are transitioning now with well educated parents. The times have changed. Society has changed and we’re seeing a big shift in mentality and perceptions.
What hasn’t changed is the law. And that makes it 10 times harder for people to come out because it’s scary for more than the bad response. It’s scary because people can still be fired for being gay. As much as we talk about changing lives by giving people great job opportunities, it can change lives – not for the better - to comes out too.
While I’m assuming that most og the people in this room are LGBT friendly, we have to remember the backgrounds and breakdown of the majority of our workforce.
Contetxt of the workplace. WE have a few different generations with varying views on the LGBT community. Despite the changes and evolution in the workplace, we know we still have people who don’t “get” being gay.
Think about the way each generation grew up
Multi generational work environment
Baby boomers – no awareness of gay people
Gen X – negative association with gay, AIDS, 80’s
Gen Y – it’s cool.
I was just out walking the dog the other day and saw a kid with very flamboyant gay tendencies, and all the kids were hanging around him. I had this moment where I realized it was cool to be gay and that is really amazing.
Look at the news. Think about the coming out stories you’ve heard and seen in the news.
Ellen lost her job bc she was gay.
Caitlin Jenner = people forget she was the greatest athlete in the world.
This headline in itself proves it’s cool to be gay. Calling it an art instead of coming out, for example.
And none of these people have had negative consequences for being gay as of late. If naything it made them cooler.
But when was the last time you saw an LGBT family on the cover of a magazine that wasn’t for Mom’s or actors? Our workplaces aren’t so magical.
There are coming out stories you don’t hear in the news. Kids who are beaten just outside of their workplace. The “;ady man” told to look somewhere else for a job. People who are told they aren’t a fit.
According to mic.com, in the last 5 years 38% experienced harrassment because they were gay
9% lost their jobs
And when we’re talking about 4% of the population, that has a huge impact on the bottom line for a lot of companies and employees.
Who knew being a good human would pay off? It really does though.
http://mic.com/articles/121496/one-map-shows-where-you-can-still-be-fired-for-being-gay-in-2015#.Ch181DmTR
First of all, it’s important to candidates.
A survey last year from Out Now, an LGBT focused research group, did a study of candidates measuring how important it is to have diversity policies. 80% said it was either fairly or very important.
Unfortunately this group isn’t quite comfortable asking about the diversity policy, which makes your marketing of it even that much more important.
Being out at work makes people feel more comfortable around the world. Look at these statistics. In most countries, it influences how much employees believe someone cares by more than 20% just to be honest about who they are.
Retaining great people means saving money. Savings for companies based on creating an environment that’s prime for coming out.
At scale, at all levels, this can save you millions.
Yet despite all of this information in support of LGBT candidates and being out at work, we can still be fired for being gay.
And as much as times are changing, the laws are not. Companies can fire you for being gay.
Check out this map from Mic.com. What do you see? A lot of red. For those of you in the back, red means that there are no employment nondiscrimination laws. These kinds of laws cover bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, compensation, retaliation, and various types of harassment.
No laws mean I can come out, be fired and that’s that. We’re left helpless.
Now we can’t change laws. But I do know that creating a more friendly workplace is not only good for your business but good for your people. And to recruit people who are more open, we need to market our own perspectives.
http://mic.com/articles/121496/one-map-shows-where-you-can-still-be-fired-for-being-gay-in-2015#.Ch181DmTR
I think we do a better job in each function of the hiring process to make sure we’re brining in diverse candidates
In the talent management lifecycle, HR has a lot of touch points with employees. Touchpoints are opportunities.
I want to focus on two areas where I think your diversity initiatives can make the biggest impact. Acquisition and development.
Focus on Acquisition then do a quick touch on development
The reason I focus on these smaller marketing tactics is because fi there’s one thing I know, It’s that a diversity recruiter is not a strategy.
Diversity must be a company initiative. Now, yes – you need a leader. And that leader must have partners across the company to make this happen.
Has to be owned by people across the board – hiring manger, diversity teams, c suite and recruiting – but lead by you because you, unlike others across the organization have a full life cycle of a relationship with these new hires. A lot of people like to use an umbrella and show you how all the parts work together, but I think yo uget the point.
When I talk about attraction, I’m talking about recruitment marketing. How we brand our business will define the diverse candidates we attract..
That is a big bucket. Candidate experience, career sites, traffic sources, etc.. Everything from the different sources of traffic to your career sites, the site itself on to interviews. Let’s start at the first stop on the candidate experience train.
When I teach recruiters how to be marketers, I always start with this idea because it’s important to remember.
One size fits all doesn’t work for marketing or suits. I’m not cocky enough to think that everthing I say here is going to be a good fit for your business. But I want you to listen for the applications that are and focus on the best practice I’m trying to put forward.
The same goes for lumping in all the diverse groups. It’s a huge mistake by lumping all diversity groups into a single category. Whenever you lump everyone together you not only stereotype but you show that you don’t realize or appreciate the real differences among members of the many different protected groups.
As a gay person, I have been in more than one scenario where people think I know all about being gay. I know a lot but that’s not the right approach.
Get around this assumption by using surveys and focus groups to identify specifically how employees look for a job and the unique approaches that are required in order to successfully recruit members from each individual targeted diverse group. Then customize or personalize the recruiting approach as much as possible, so that the unique needs of the diverse individual being targeted are met.
Some qs you might ask. Ask these of all groups.
Recognizing where you stand and getting all of this info is just the beginning. You need to translate this into changes in your recruitment marketing.
Easiest way to convey you’re LGBT friendly is to show people that are gay, or your support of gay events, at your organization.
I speak from being a gay person that when I see a commercial with gay people in it, I pause for a moment.
I think to myself “oh that’s cool.” Hell, I live in the suburbs of the bible belt. I get excited just to see other gay people.
When it comes to jobs, I’m even more surprised and I take even more notice. It’s not every day that we see LGBT support on corporate websites so when you do, you stand out. This element of your employer brand is convincing. You’re making a real impression instead of just being one in the crowd.
Videos, too.
Messagining means that these people should be talking about their lives and the influence of the company. How it helps.
Compelling. The best one I saw actually talked about a suicide attempt of an employee. I mean, that will catch your attention.
When I say compassionate, I mean that you should address real stories. It’s not reading note cards.
You can’t fake this and if you do, it will be obvious
https://youtu.be/RPhK08t2KR0
Let me show you the best video I’ve seen – I mentioned it earlier. It’s longer but it’s pwoerful.
Embed the images and videos into your job posts, or direct people to them both beofre and after applying.
You can also use LGBT friendly language in your job post.
But, as we all know, just having a job posted on yoru site doesn’t mean great candidates will come to you or really look at all the pieces of your site so we need to consider where we’re driving candidates from in the fist place if we really want a diverse workforce.
This is marketing disguised as recruiting. I’d compare it to times when there are different categories of people we’re trying to recruit as new customers. This is what’s happening when you start seeing a certain commercial on your favorite channel. Like when there’s babysitting commercials on Lifetime, they’re targeting the 40+ mom. Or when they put late night commercials on, if you know what I mean.
In our case, that’s where we recruit candidates. We need to seek out diverse sources if we want to build a more accepting workplace and to recruit new LGBT candidates. And I expect that you’d measure this initiative just like you’d measure any other source of hire.
GO THROUGH EACH
For programs like this, ensure that each member of your recruitment team is assigned at least one diversity initiative or organization to build a relationship with.
Here’s an example of diversifying your source of hire via colleges. Colleges are now offering explicit career counseling just for LGBT students. Her’es one from UC berkley.
If I were recruiting LGBT candidates, this is a relationship I’d want to build. To do that, I’d be honest that we’re diversifying our candidate pipeline and I am in charge of our LGBT initatives. Learn from them.
The thing they tend to harp on is benefits and making sure the student knows if they will be supported in the workplace. You can show that on your career site.
When it comes to diversity and your career site, the best way to talk about it is to simply make a specific mention in your benefits.
You need to explain perks that may be different for diverse groups explicitly. I stole this image off a banking career site. You can also just say “we provide benefits to all employees and their families. Honestly, I prefer the images. I love seeing other gay people, whether it’s in the store or on a site. It just makes me feel like you really are diverse, you’re not just saying it.
READ LIST AND EXPLAIN WHY THEY ARE NOTED
Explain difference between reproductive and healthcare
The best example of a career site I’ve seen, that pulls together all of this, is the page from Accenture.
https://www.accenture.com/us-en/company-lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender.aspx
Touches on everything from hiring policy to their global approach, even in countries where LGBT laws are not advanced like India.
Dedicated email account where LGBT employees can ask questions
LGBT diversity center to promote LGBT causes within the organization.
The best part is the stories. They tell real stories from Manila, Bangladesh, India, and they tell people about their statistics. How they were one of the first organizations to provide benefits.
You’ve done a great job sourcing all these candidates and now it’s interview time. If I were owning diversity, this is when I’d get nervous. Because everything you’ve worked really hard to create can go to shit.
Part of the shared ownership or diversity recruiting is making sure that the organization is trained. Don’t let these candidates, aka leads, go to waste because your hiring managers aren’t trained.
READ AND EXPLAIN
After hiring successful diverse candidates, go back to see which interview questions actually predicted their on-the-job capabilities and which ones did not.
Now, I spent the majority of this presentation on recruitment marketing because I think diversifying your shiring sources will have the biggest impact on your workplace, more than you can do with some posters and motivational speeches.
But, as a marketer, I must insist that we measure something, even if these are pretty “soft metrics” as we would call them – or things that are a bit subjective.
Tracking Diverse Groups
Mentorship programs
How do you know what to track? These are some suggestions.
READ EXPLAIN
Speaking from self and friend experiences, mentorship groups have the largest impact. It goes back to that whole seeing that people like you are being successful. That means something. I think we’ve all been there – where we’ve admired someone and they’ve either succeeded or failed. Remember how that made you feel? The same goes for these diverse mentorship groups.
MENTOR is an acronym that stands for…
Sodexo managers serve as mentors to the interns
Recruitment of MENTORs came from existing mentor database & recommendation. Sodexo has an award winning mentor program entitled IMPACT which we tapped as well.
Interns are matched with mentors based on their career interests backgrounds. We partner with Sodexos EBRG- SOL and AALF to be mentors for the interns.
Student ambassadors.
As you can see our college recruitment program is multi faceted and has D& I interwoven in to all aspects of it.
People will feel haraesed. Shit is going to happen. Things will be said that they “didn’t mean” and that is not a reflection on your or your hard work.
I’m so grateful there are people like you in this world to help the LGBT community have an equal chance. To experience the life and pride in work that people expect and want.
