Dance to the tune
A practical benefit of diversity in recruitment
In the aftermath of that tragic day in September 2001, there was an in-depth analysis of why the CIA had failed to prevent those attacks.
Amongst the complex discussions, one insidious issue was highlighted - that we are unaware of our own blind spots.
The CIA had stringent recruitment requirements, including intelligence, psychology and medical assessments designed to filter out everyone but the best of the best.
No one could deny the robustness of their process, which appointed only the most capable candidates based on the CIA's definition of ‘what good is’.
The result was an employee base consisting pretty much entirely of smart white blokes.
This was a consequence of different-but-same smart white blokes putting together their recruitment criteria.
But they never thought to ask ‘what gap does this leave?’ in achieving their goals.
And it seems these gaps contributed to not preventing 9/11.
Their homogenous team all approached problem-solving broadly the same way, blind to their limited perspectives.
They didn’t know what they didn’t know.
Would a more diverse group of people have approached problem-solving more diversely, with different lived experiences and perspectives?
In 2015, in their internal report on 9/11, the then Director of the CIA, John Brennan, stated:
"The study group took a hard look at our agency and reached an unequivocal conclusion: CIA simply must do more to develop the diverse and inclusive leadership environment that our values require and that our mission demands."
For me, the key point in this summary is ‘that our mission demands’.
This is to say their mission demands greater diversity to better prevent tragedies such as 9/11.
A more diverse team would both better solve their existing problems and identify the problems they didn’t even know existed.
This is the crux of today’s edition of YMMV – diversity as an opportunity to better solve your business problems.
The recruitment above is termed homophily and sometimes it’s excused as “culture fit”.
Take a look at your teams.
Are they all similar faces or from similar backgrounds?
Do you reject good candidates only for ‘culture fit’?
Do you interview candidates that come from a different demographic than the people you currently employ?
It’s likely you face much the same operational blindspot the CIA had.
If you consider the population as a whole, the people who can solve the problems that are your vacancies can be found anywhere.
While they can enhance your business through different lived experiences, cognitive capabilities, philosophies and so on – all these qualities can fill in gaps in your culture that may be unconsciously holding you back.
A recruitment process that allows better diversity makes it simpler to recruit (through access to more candidates) and improves your operational outcomes (by avoiding the naivety of homophily).
If you decide to take advantage of this opportunity by recruiting for greater diversity, there are three other related steps that are required:
1/ better definitions for ‘what good is’ in your ideal candidates.
How else can your role be fulfilled by different people?
What opportunity does that bring?
What are the consequences?
2/ accessibility that allows all skilled candidates an even playing field
A complex ATS application process that discriminates against dyslexics?
Bloated advert requirements that dissuade women from applying?
Interview banter on personal interests that pushes the ‘wrong fit’ away?
3/ a retention strategy that accommodates a diverse workforce with individual needs
What’s the point of jumping aboard the diversity bandwagon, if the candidates you wish to employ face insurmountable barriers caused by your process or culture?
Diversity doesn’t just mean hiring more minorities.
What about accessing highly skilled part-time workers?
Or anyone that isn’t a ‘traditional’ hire?
There is another benefit of doing these steps, which is the same things you do to improve a diverse application/employee base, benefits everyone.
Your business too, given the evidence that improving employee experience improves your bottom line.
Of course, this is no simple matter, and if you recognise the need to recruit and employ for diversity, you will benefit from expert advice. I’m happy to put you in touch with people who can help.
I’ll leave you with this quote from Ashley Banjo, of the amazing dance troupe Diversity, and the reason for their name:
“Apart from dancing, there's university, school, college, IT solutions, telecoms engineers... we're diverse - ages, race, heights, hairstyles - we're just a diverse group of people,”
Diversity was the consequence of their hiring process and in part the reason for their success.
Although, as my daughter pointed out - few girls - how did I miss that?
Thanks for reading.
Regards,
Greg
p.s. While you are here, if you like the idea of improving how you recruit, lack capacity or need better candidates, and are curious how I can help, these are my services:
- commercial, operational and technical leadership recruitment (available for no more than two vacancies)
- manage part or all of your recruitment on an individually designed basis for one client
- recruitment coaching and mentoring (one place available at £250/hr + VAT. Yes, prices have gone up. I value my time.)
- recruitment strategy setting
- outplacement support
Just hit reply to check if my approach is right for you.