EDI AND RECRUITMENT Despite growing awareness of the importance of EDI, only 47% of UK companies have an EDI-related strategy or action plan in place, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. 5
Based on this, 46% of our respondents said they had seen no meaningful change towards a more inclusive environment in their workplace
Organisations wishing to embrace EDI should be aware that there is still plenty of scope to adopt culture add approaches, with only 23% of respondents claiming that an inclusive environment for employees is a big focus for their employers. Meanwhile, 22% of respondents say their organisation claims to recruit people who can broaden the corporate culture. But the overriding policy in recruitment, expressed by 57% of managers and supervisors, is to acquire specific skill sets, as shown to the right in exhibit 9. This response suggests a high level of culture fit in hiring – likely because companies are seeking to plug skills gaps rather than adding to the diversity of talent. The research also shows that embracing an inclusive environment is a stronger focus for dynamic and collaborative organisations, cited by 34% and 30%, respectively, than for competitive and hierarchical ones, where the levels fall to 24% and 18%. And only 13% of managers are seeking recruits with different life experiences to those they already have on staff.
This is particularly the case for hierarchical organisations, where 60% of respondents say there has been no meaningful change to EDI. Hierarchical structures are considered less supportive of their employees performing at their best. In such organisations, only 48% of employees say they can perform at their best. This compares to 51% in competitive organisations, 74% in collaborative ones and 76% in dynamic ones. Competitive and particularly hierarchal organisations may find it harder than collaborative and dynamic peers to maximise the value of EDI. Alongside this, the research shows that perceptions of culture type can differ amongst workers at different levels within the same organisation. Thus, only 18% of senior managers are likely to describe their workplace as hierarchical, compared to 27% of managers and 26% of executives. Conversely, 19% of senior managers will say their workplace has a dynamic culture when that assertion is only supported by 12% of managers and 9% of executives.
Those with a specific skill set we need
57%
27%
Those who can bring a new perspective and challenge the way we do things
Those who match our company/team communication style
26%
22%
Those who will broaden/evolve our company/team culture
17%
Those with industry connections
19%
Those who get involved with the wider industry we work in
14%
Those who share similar interests to colleagues in the company/team
11%
Those who enjoy the same activities we do as a team
13%
Those with a different experience in life than current employees
0
10% 20% 30% 40%
50%
60%
Exhibit 9: Percentage of managers answering: ‘What have been the main focuses when recruiting new talent into the company?’ Source: Newton research.
18
19
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