How to Use Sourcing to Align with Your Company’s Diversity Goals

In today’s business landscape, diversity and inclusion (D&I) are key values for many organizations. However, creating meaningful diversity within a company goes beyond setting goals—it requires focused action and deliberate processes. One of the most effective strategies for building a diverse workforce is sourcing.

Sourcing, in the context of recruitment, refers to the proactive process of finding and identifying candidates who meet the requirements of a job. But when it comes to diversity, sourcing is much more than just identifying the most qualified individuals for a role—it’s about intentionally attracting, recruiting, and retaining people from various backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

This blog will explore how sourcing can help support your company’s diversity objectives, providing actionable strategies, best practices, and potential challenges to consider. One key area to focus on is avoiding common pitfalls in the process, so it’s essential to understand the top mistakes to avoid in candidate sourcing that could hinder your diversity goals.

How Sourcing Can Help Achieve Diversity Goals

Sourcing is a critical part of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion because it directly influences the talent pool from which your organization hires. If your sourcing methods aren’t designed to tap into a wide range of candidates, your company may inadvertently limit its diversity by hiring people from similar backgrounds. However, when sourcing is intentionally focused on diversity, it can help open the doors to a more varied and inclusive workforce.

Why Sourcing for Diversity Matters

Diverse Perspectives: A diverse team brings new ideas and innovative solutions by combining a range of viewpoints.

Improved Company Culture: A commitment to diversity can foster an inclusive environment where employees feel valued and understood.

Attracting Top Talent: Many job seekers are now prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion when choosing employers.

Strengthening Company Reputation: Companies that embrace diversity are often seen more favorably by customers, investors, and business partners.

Reflecting Your Customer Base: A diverse workforce can better understand and connect with a diverse customer base, leading to improved customer service and product development.

Steps to Align Sourcing with Diversity Goals

1. Define Your Diversity Objectives

Before you can adjust your sourcing strategy to support diversity, it’s essential to understand your company’s specific diversity goals. Diversity encompasses many dimensions, including:

  • Racial and ethnic diversity
  • Gender diversity
  • Age diversity
  • Disability inclusion
  • Cultural and linguistic diversity
  • Socioeconomic background
  • LGBTQ+ inclusion

Your diversity objectives will depend on your company’s values and the areas where you feel your workforce needs to improve. For example, if your goal is to increase the representation of women in leadership, you may need to focus sourcing efforts on women in fields traditionally dominated by men. On the other hand, if you aim to improve racial and ethnic diversity, you might prioritize partnerships with institutions serving underrepresented communities.

2. Expand Your Sourcing Channels

To create a more diverse talent pool, it’s important to broaden the sourcing channels you use. Traditional job boards and platforms like LinkedIn may not necessarily reach candidates from diverse backgrounds. By tapping into different sourcing channels, you increase your chances of finding candidates from a variety of experiences and perspectives.

Here are some strategies to diversify your sourcing channels:

Diversity-focused job boards: Platforms like DiversityJobs, HBCUConnect, and The National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) connect diverse candidates with employers.

Partnering with educational institutions: Collaborate with universities and colleges, especially those with diverse student bodies, such as Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) or Hispanic-serving institutions.

Attending networking events: Participate in diversity-focused job fairs, conferences, and meetups, such as those for women in tech or LGBTQ+ professionals.

Using social media and community networks: Leverage platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to engage with professional groups and networks dedicated to underrepresented communities.

Employee resource groups (ERGs): Engage with ERGs within your company to access networks and connect with diverse talent.

By utilizing a range of diverse channels, you not only increase access to underrepresented groups, but also demonstrate your commitment to diversity, which may encourage even more candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply.

3. Eliminate Bias in Job Descriptions and Requirements

Job descriptions are often the first point of contact between candidates and your company. Bias—whether intentional or unconscious—can be embedded in the language used, which may unintentionally discourage diverse candidates from applying.

For example, using language such as “assertive” or “dominant” may deter women from applying, while terms like “young” or “recent graduate” could exclude older candidates. To reduce bias:

Use inclusive, gender-neutral language: Ensure your job descriptions are free from language that could alienate specific genders or groups.

Prioritize skills over credentials: Instead of focusing on specific degrees or years of experience, highlight the skills and competencies necessary for the role. This opens the door to candidates from different backgrounds who may have acquired their skills in non-traditional ways.

Inclusive phrasing: Ensure your job descriptions are welcoming and reflect the diverse, inclusive culture you want to cultivate. Tools like Textio or Gender Decoder can help identify biased language.

4. Engage with Passive Candidates

The most diverse candidates may not always be actively seeking new opportunities. By engaging in passive candidate sourcing, you can connect with individuals who may not have applied but would be a great fit for your organization.

Here are a few ways to engage passive candidates from diverse backgrounds:

LinkedIn outreach: Search for and connect with professionals from diverse backgrounds who meet the qualifications for your open roles. Personalize your messages to show that your outreach is sincere and diversity-focused.

Networking: Build relationships with organizations and mentorship programs that focus on underrepresented groups, helping you connect with candidates who might not be actively job hunting.

Talent pooling: Keep a list of diverse candidates who have previously expressed interest in your company. Stay in touch with them by sharing updates and job opportunities to keep them engaged.

5. Adopt Blind Hiring Practices

To minimize bias in the hiring process, consider implementing blind hiring practices. This involves removing identifiable details, such as names, gender, age, or ethnicity, from resumes and applications. By focusing on candidates’ skills and experience alone, you can help ensure that hiring decisions are based on merit, not unconscious bias.

Blind hiring can be especially helpful when sourcing for diverse talent, as it removes the possibility of bias influencing hiring decisions.

6. Build Diverse Interview Panels

When interviewing diverse candidates, it’s important that your interview panels reflect the diversity you seek in your workforce. A diverse interview panel provides a more balanced perspective on candidates and helps to reduce bias in the evaluation process.

Moreover, it signals to candidates that your company values diversity, creating a more welcoming atmosphere during the interview process.

7. Measure Your Success and Adjust

To ensure your sourcing strategies are aligned with your diversity goals, it’s important to track key metrics. Set measurable diversity targets and monitor your progress over time to see if your sourcing efforts are successful.

Some important diversity metrics to track include:

  • The diversity of your candidate pool
  • The diversity of those advancing through the interview process
  • The diversity of new hires
  • Retention rates of diverse employees
  • Time-to-hire and cost-per-hire for diverse candidates

By tracking these metrics, you can make informed adjustments to your sourcing practices and continually work towards meeting your diversity goals.

Potential Challenges to Keep in Mind

While sourcing for diversity is essential, there are challenges that companies may face:

  • Resistance to change: Some hiring managers may be hesitant to prioritize diversity, either because of unconscious biases or concerns about quality.
  • Limited talent pool: In certain sectors or regions, finding a sufficiently diverse candidate pool can be difficult. However, this should not deter companies from continuing to improve their sourcing strategies.
  • Maintaining diversity: Sourcing diverse candidates is only the beginning. Ensuring a diverse workforce requires creating an inclusive environment where all employees feel supported and have equal opportunities to thrive.

Conclusion

Sourcing plays an essential role in helping companies meet their diversity objectives. By expanding sourcing channels, eliminating bias, using blind hiring techniques, and measuring success, organizations can build a more diverse and inclusive workforce. However, sourcing is just one part of the equation. Achieving and maintaining a truly diverse organization requires ongoing efforts to build an inclusive company culture, provide equal career growth opportunities, and create a supportive work environment for all employees.

Ultimately, sourcing for diversity isn’t just about meeting quotas—it’s about creating a team that brings a variety of perspectives, experiences, and ideas to the table. By aligning sourcing strategies with your company’s diversity goals, you are taking significant steps toward building a more innovative, inclusive, and successful organization.

If you’re looking to streamline and enhance your diversity sourcing efforts, be sure to check out recruitRyte, a powerful candidate sourcing tool for recruiters. This platform can help you expand your reach, eliminate bias, and track your diversity progress, all while ensuring that your sourcing efforts align with your company’s diversity and inclusion objectives.

Take the first step toward building a more diverse and inclusive workforce today with recruitRyte!