TALiNT International provides unique business insight for recruitment companies, in-house talent acquisition teams, RPOs and HR tech providers through daily news, weekly newsletters and industry leading monthly magazines.

Featured

Latest in the Region: Global

Best locations for digital nomad lifestyle revealed

According to Instant Offices, there are currently 35 million digital nomads globally and it is predicted that one billion people could live and work as digital nomads by 2035.

A digital nomad is a remote worker who travels and works simultaneously. They can work from anywhere, allowing them to spend anything from a few months to years traveling. According to research, 80% of digital nomads prefer to stay in one location for 3-9 months.

The research found that 51% of digital nomads are in digital marketing, computer science, and creative industries.

In a list of the top 80 locations ranked according to factors such as affordability, weather, and broadband speed, popular tourist cities such as London, Paris, and Venice are relatively low on the list. The top 10 digital nomad locations are:

  1. Lisbon, Portugal
  2. Bangkok, Thailand
  3. Thessaloniki, Greece
  4. Dallas, USA
  5. San Antonio, USA
  6. Seville, Spain
  7. Seoul, South Korea
  8. Sydney, Australia
  9. Athens, Greece
  10. Budapest, Hungary

This trend is increasing, fuelled by advances in technology, remote working, and workplace culture.

Share this article on social media

Impact of the Ukraine crisis is not reflected in employer hiring 

According to the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey, strong hiring optimism has continued into the second quarter of 2022. The survey of 41,000 employers showed that employers in 36 of 40 countries reported stronger hiring intentions than this time last year with the greatest demand in IT, finance, and manufacturing. The demand for skilled workers has remained at a record high as employers continue to look to attract and retain the best, diverse talent while embracing the post-pandemic era. 

The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey is the most comprehensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind, used globally as a key economic indicator. The Net Employment Outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from this the percentage of employers expecting a decrease in hiring activity. 

Jonas Prising, CEO and Chairman of ManpowerGroup commented: “Labour markets around the world are looking strong for Q2, with hiring outlooks back at pre-pandemic levels in most countries. Any impact of the Ukraine crisis is not reflected in employer hiring intentions. While Poland and neighbouring countries are dealing with the humanitarian crisis, we must be poised to help resettlement and employment efforts for refugees, adapting roles and requirements to fill vacancies and create new opportunities.” 

Jonas continued: “At ManpowerGroup we are working fast to leverage our experience integrating refugees into labour markets from other countries – for example from Syria to Germany, Afghanistan to U.S. – and to adapt and scale reskilling and upskilling programmes specifically targeted to this population. Now is the time for collaboration between employers and governments to make it as fast and simple as possible to integrate refugees into the workforce so they can earn a living, contribute to society, and most importantly feel welcomed in their new surroundings.” 

Share this article on social media

Effective communication with candidates can improve the hiring process

Skills and worker shortages are issues businesses continue to face but establishing effective communication during the recruitment process is a sure-fire way to increase recruiting efficiency.

In the US and many other parts of the world, employers are struggling to fill vacant positions. According to statistics from the National Association of Business (NABE), nearly half of American companies are short on workers.

Experts believe that communication apps can improve the hiring experience for recruiters and applicants. Unfortunately, many companies do not use communication apps in recruiting workers.

Globally, recruiting the right workers is now a herculean task for many employers. While some companies complain of receiving few applications, others say those who apply lack the requisite skills for the job.

The Importance of Effective Communication During the Hiring Process

Industry research has revealed that candidates preferred it when recruiters employ better communication during the application process. The most common communication channels for recruiters include phone calls, emails and text chats.

TALiNT International has put together a list of reasons highlighting why communication is important during the hiring process. Make your candidate feel like they belong, and chances are they won’t renege on offers or ghost you.

Benefits of effective communication during the hiring process include:

  • Saves time for the hiring teams and the candidates
  • Brings transparency into the hiring process
  • Gives positive experience to all the candidates
  • Prevents unnecessary communication between recruiters and candidates
  • Keep recruiters informed about job openings

Following on from benefits of solid communication. TALiNT International has compiled a list of the top communication apps that will help TA teams overcome communication issues that are inherent in recruiting process.

LinkedIn Recruiter

The LinkedIn Recruiter app enables companies to find the right candidates in record time. The app has communication features that let you contact candidates and schedule interviews through LinkedIn’s Inmail.

WhatsApp Business

The WhatsApp Business app provides a secure messaging channel for businesses to recruit candidates.

TextRecruit

TextRecruit is a text messaging-based app available on iOS, Android, Desktop, and web apps. TextRecruit has changed the way people communicate about job opportunities. The app allows recruiters to attract candidates, engage with existing talent and report on all recruiters to candidate text conversations.

TextUs

TextUs is another text messaging service provider that businesses can use to engage in real-time conversation with candidates.

JobAdder

The JobAdder app has agency panel management platforms that facilitate communication between recruiters and applicants. It also has a candidate matching tools that streamline the recruitment process and track the activities of the applicants.

Workable

The workable app, which operates on iOS and Android, helps companies of all sizes to hire at scale. The app enables hiring teams to collaborate in gathering feedback, assessing applicants and deciding on the best candidates. Workable has features that let you engage in bulk communication with candidates. Hiring teams can also create a structured interview process and schedule repetitive recruiting tasks and communication with candidates. This ensures that candidates have the same recruitment experience and go through the same evaluation for consistency.

 

Photo courtesy of Canva.com

Share this article on social media

40% rate healthcare benefits packages more important than salary

A survey by Aetna International has revealed that 88% of expats in key global markets want the choice to pick their employer health care package inclusions based on their own lifestyles and health concerns, promoting the need for personalisation.

Proactive self care, according to the survey forms a central part of expat lifestyles and those surveyed expressed a desire for more holistic benefits that supported wellbeing, mental and physical health. With 52% stating that having tailored benefits featuring wellbeing elements was more important now than pre-pandemic. Furthermore, the survey revealed that a quarter (25%) of expats thought counselling and therapy sessions should be included in packages. Overall, this was the largest endorsement for any well-being offer which respondents were surveyed on.

Of the markets surveyed, counselling and therapy topped the inclusions list in the USA and Singapore, ranked second in the UK and UAE, and fourth in Hong Kong. These findings underline a growing global recognition of the importance of mental health.

Interestingly, 40% of expats surveyed ranked a health care benefits package as the most important job offer consideration, compared to 52% who stated salary.

Fitness sessions and apps, life coaching and yoga and meditation sessions round out the top* inclusions respondents were keen on. Mindfulness app subscriptions followed closely at six on the list, overall demonstrating an appetite for a more well-integrated healthy lifestyle offer.

Dr Hemal Desai, Global Medical Director, Aetna International commented: “People are becoming more aware of all areas of their health. They are understanding that a healthy lifestyle amounts to more than just exercising and eating well, and that each person is different. Mental health is clearly growing in focus and more people are learning about how to manage it. There are plenty of tools available to help an individual with everything from mindfulness and sleep to calming and alleviating stress. We’re also observing that convenient access to these tools included as part of an employer’s benefits offer appears to be a growing priority for busy expats.”

Share this article on social media

12% of employees believe HR doesn’t champion DE&I

New research from Cezanne HR has revealed that a staggering number of employees don’t trust their HR departments with 58% of respondents agreeing that their HR team champions DE&I, which evidenced strong HR leadership in this area. The same 58% also indicated better performance for HR when asked if they trusted their HR team more or less than before COVID-19. It was perceived that there is less favouritism by HR towards senior or junior staff in the business.

The industry is seeing the benefits that conscious DE&I brings to businesses when it comes to talent attraction and retention, but it seems most HR professionals and organisation leaders may not realise its ripple effects with almost a third of respondents (30%) didn’t know if their HR team champions DE&I, and 12% said their HR team didn’t.

For Cezanne HR’s new report, The Psychology of HR Relationship Building: Trust, visibility, and respect, 1,000 people across the UK and Ireland were asked about different factors that might influence HR’s relationships with the workforce.

For the last 18 months HR departments have grappled with how COVID-19 has affected the workforce and there’s been a definite increased focus on DE&I due to world events. The survey revealed that those HR professionals who are motivated and invested in DE&I showed a higher percentage of people who trusted them more before the pandemic (40% versus 32% for all respondents) than they do following the pandemic.

Shandel McAuliffe, Head of Content for Cezanne HR commented: “At a time when many employees are re-evaluating their career options, the relationship HR has with the wider workforce is critical. Trust is key to that. Employees that trust HR to help them grow with their current employer and create an environment that is fair and inclusive, are going to think twice before jumping ship.”

Share this article on social media

Mobile makes up 80% of the working population, says Bersin Report

Research and advisory group, The Josh Bersin Company, has revealed that 80% of the current working population is “deskless”, this according to its latest report called The Big Reset Playbook: Deskless Workers.

This latest report is based on insights from the company’s ongoing Big Reset executive working groups. The report focuses on the recommended practices needed to create optimal work experiences for “deskless” employees in retail, healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality, transportation, and other sectors.

The report also revealed that based on current research by multiple sources, it’s in fact hourly workers who take the lead in resignation statistics.

Josh Bersin commented: “Because so little attention has been given to the working and personal needs of deskless employees, companies are now seeing mass resignations, unionisation efforts, and scores of unfilled jobs.”

The seven critical components of deskless work according to The Big Reset Playbook are:

  1. Promote and enable human connections and time for creativity. Deskless workers are the closest to the customer, but a mere 6% of manufacturing companies and 7% of consumer companies design jobs to allow people time to rest, reinvent, and innovate, compared to 21% of technology firms and 29% of professional services companies.
  2. Train managers to better coach deskless workers. Many companies fail to adequately support managers in the training and development of their people. Just 11% of hospitality companies invest in developing leaders at all levels, compared to 75% of pharmaceutical companies.
  3. Make the commute easy and establish belonging at work. Because remote work is not feasible for deskless workers, they need extra support with easy and safe commutes. A sense of belonging is especially important in light of the current resignation trends and skills shortages. Leaders need to demonstrate that they are actively listening to employees and taking actions as appropriate.
  4. Support the deskless worker’s entire life. Work flexibility is often not an option for deskless workers, so they need backup for taking care of families and support for balancing finances. The vast majority live paycheck to paycheck, and only 13% of the 2.7 billion deskless workers worldwide have paid sick leave.
  5. Help deskless workers build fulfilling careers. Deskless workers – especially those who may be in jobs ripe for automation – need pathways to future-proof careers.
  6. Create a deskless-first culture. A sense of belonging and community is critically important for deskless workers, yet many are often disconnected from the overall corporate mission and values when communication channels are designed for deskbound employees.
  7. Provide tools and services geared for mobile. Deskless workers are often left behind with no access to communication, tools, or resources. Mobile-first or adaptable approaches should be implemented.

Josh Bersin, global HR trends analyst and CEO of The Josh Bersin Company, commented on the findings: “As we go into the second winter season of the pandemic, hybrid work continues to be especially important, and much work remains to be done to design a new paradigm. In parallel, we must not forget the 80% of employees around the world have a work reality that is drastically different from their managers. Work strategies must keep in mind the needs of shop floor employees, restaurant servers, nurses, doctors, pharmacists, teachers, truck drivers, and warehouse workers.

“Many things have changed since March 2020, and deskless workers are at the receiving end of many of the most difficult work challenges. In some industries such as transportation or hospitality, large numbers of people were furloughed or laid off. Healthcare employees had to face extreme health risk in coming to work. Designing a new work reality for these deskless workers is a lesson in empathy, listening, learning, and communication.”

Share this article on social media

Does your company suffer from toxic positivity?

A recent study by Leadership IQ, an employee engagement and leadership training company, found that an organization that pretends everything is fine or sends companywide memos avoiding topics that can’t be positively spun might be suffering from “toxic positivity”.

Toxic positivity in organizations is often seen when leaders avoid sharing or discussing the tough challenges they’re facing. The study showed that only 15% of employees believe that their organization always openly shares the challenges facing it. By contrast, 42% said their company never or rarely shares its challenges.

There’s a long-standing belief among many leaders that talking about tough issues scares people and worsens the situation where the reality is the opposite. The study found that if an employee believes their company openly shares the challenges facing it, they’re about 10 times more likely to recommend it as a great employer.

It’s not just sharing organizational challenges where toxic positivity appears, however.

In a complementary study, The State of Leadership Development, more than 21,000 employees were asked to what extent their leader responded well to hearing about problems. Disturbingly, a mere 26% of employees said that their leader always responds constructively when employees share their work problems.

Developing resilience

The key to developing resilience, optimism, self-efficacy, and a host of other emotional-wellness skills is to acknowledge reality, not to deny, avoid, or dismiss it. Wallowing in misery will, of course, increase negative feelings. But denying misery or tough challenges is even worse.

To avoid toxic positivity, leaders need to accept that their employees are not clueless and can’t handle reality. In fact, ignoring or dismissing reality is one of the fastest ways to undermine employees’ trust in leadership. Instead, leaders should acknowledge reality and then focus their efforts on developing and explaining plans to make that reality better.

“Toxic positivity is an excessive and distorted form of positive thinking. It’s putting a positive spin on all experiences, no matter how dire or tragic,” explains clinical psychologist Dr. Andrea Burgio-Murphy. “For example, you could be experiencing toxic positivity when a friend or boss minimizes or refuses to acknowledge your negative feelings. Or perhaps they go further and try to spin your dire situation in a positive way, like ‘this is a blessing in disguise’ or ‘all things happen for a reason.”

Please share any newsworthy content with debbie@talintpartners.com 

 

Share this article on social media

Reskilling workforce key to plugging skills shortage hole

The newest McKinsey Global Survey on reskilling has highlighted the urgency needed to address massive skills gaps across all industries. The accelerated move towards digitization and remote work has placed new demands on employees who now require different skills to support significant changes to the way they work and to the business priorities their companies are setting.

Most of the survey respondents said that skill building (more than hiring, contracting, or redeploying employees) is the best way to close skills gaps and that they have accelerated their efforts to reskill or upskill employees since the start of the pandemic. The results also pointed towards a shift in the most important skills to develop, which leaned towards being social and emotional in nature, for example, empathy, leadership, and adaptability.

The survey suggested that the need to address skill gaps is imperative with most respondents (58%) saying that closing skill gaps in their companies’ workforces has become a higher priority since the pandemic began. And of five key actions to close these gaps – hiring, contracting, redeploying, releasing, and building skills within the current workforce – skill building is more prevalent now than it was in the months preceding the pandemic. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said that their organizations do more skill building now than they did before the COVID-19 crisis.

The redeploying of talent to new roles often requires some degree of skill building and has become more commonplace over the past year with 46% of respondents reporting an increase in redeploying talent within their organizations.

Additionally, the results of the survey suggested that this commitment to skill building represents more than a one-time investment. More than half of respondents said that their companies plan to increase their spending on learning and skill building over the next year, compared with their investments since the end of 2019.

 

 

Share this article on social media

News channels negatively portray the community

According to new research by INvolve, 73% of the LGBT+ community believe they have witnessed discrimination because of unrealistic and negative media portrayals.

In the survey of 537 respondents, 369 of which identified as LGBT+, 50% report that the news is the platform that showcases the most negative portrayals of the community with 68% reporting unrealistic portrayals of the LGBT+ community. These figures were followed closely by Reality TV (47% and 60%) and TV Dramas (25% and 52%).

The research revealed that the way that the LGBT+ community is represented in media is having ripple effects on ‘real-world’ situations for LGBT+ individuals. Nearly 70% believe that the media affects the way they are perceived in the workplace, 60% within their family and 50% within their social circles. Over half of respondents (53%) believe that these perceptions are negative and only 16% believe they are positive.

It is clear from the study that there is a need for more diverse, realistic, and positive representations of the LGBT+ community within the media but INvolve believes this can only happen if there are powerful role models leading the way in the news media and in workplaces.

The annual OUTstanding LGBT+ Role Model List has launched and it celebrates businesspeople who play a key role in breaking the glass ceiling for LGBT+ individuals in the workplace.  The OUTstanding Role Model Lists, supported by Yahoo Finance UK, is one of three sets of role model lists produced annually by INvolve.

Lex Chan, General Counsel at the Business of Fashion, is named number one of the Future Leaders list. They are named alongside two other British businesspeople, Bruna Gil, Channel Partner Lead at LinkedIn, and Jules Buet, Quantitative Developer at Citi.

Francesca McDonagh, Group Chief Executive Officer for Bank of Ireland Group, Beatriz Martin, UK Chief Executive & Group Treasurer of UBS Group AG, and Caroline Frankum, Global CEO of Kantar, take three spots in the Top Ten Advocates list.

Suki Sandhu OBE, founder and CEO of INvolve, commented:

“Positive role models in business are vital. They blaze a trail for change and inspire others to take action for inclusion.

“They are all working to dismantle systems and smash barriers to progress that can prevent the LGBT+ community from succeeding and thriving both in business and beyond. You can’t be what you can’t see so there is a great need for strong and meaningful role models to be visible in business, across the media and in society.”

Share this article on social media

Bullhorn, a global leader in cloud-based software for the staffing industry and Pixid, a European-owned cloud-based recruitment technology provider have joined forces to increase their service offering for their clients. This partnership is set to reinforce both enterprises’ position in key global recruitment markets.

The evolution of recruitment solutions ecosystem has seen innovative start-ups challenge larger enterprises. Bullhorn historically has actively sought out partnerships with those businesses offering the most innovative solutions. This has enabled Bullhorn customers to connect with other recruitment and HR systems.

PIXID VMS is the first global mid-market, fast-to-deploy, pay-as-you-go Vendor Management System (VMS) to implement a full two-way integration with Bullhorn. This is of major benefit for temporary staffing agencies and MSPs, who will now be able to connect these two very powerful tools.

The PIXID VMS solution enables temporary staffing agencies to streamline their contingent staffing processes and seamlessly connect with their end clients and workers. The new integration between Bullhorn and Pixid VMS, will allow recruitment suppliers to receive requests, identify, select and supply suitable candidates for contingent work assignments directly via the Bullhorn system, within seconds.

Group President of PIXID Group, Etienne Colella says: “PIXID Group has adopted a partnership strategy to connect the very best recruitment and staffing industry players to our state-of-the-art solutions. We look forward to growing further opportunities with Bullhorn as our markets in Europe and around the world expand.”

Peter Linas, CPO and EVP of Corporate Development at Bullhorn says: “We are delighted that Pixid Group has chosen to partner with Bullhorn. By combining PIXID VMS with our world-leading technology, Bullhorn users are now able to connect these two very powerful and complementary tools, giving them a competitive advantage by greatly expanding their abilities to provide rapid and reliable contingent staffing services to their clients via the Bullhorn platform.”

Share this article on social media

Trending Stories

Talent Solutions

TALiNT Partners and Stratigens are proud to announce a strategic partnership which will provide an unparalleled range of talent intelligence solutions to the needs of our members, partners and clients.

Alison Ettridge, CEO of Stratigens said “Companies do research on their customers, their markets and their competitors to inform decisions all the time. With Stratigens, they can now do research on the greatest asset –access to the workforce and people they need to deliver their strategy. Our partnership with TALiNT Partners will support our mission of putting human capital at the heart of business decision making. We are really excited about working with the team to overlay the insight that TALiNT Partners’ network brings with labour market data to empower HR, TA and business leaders to make critical strategic decisions.”

Ken Brotherston, CEO of TALiNT Partners added “for some time we have been looking for a partner to support the insight generated by our network with global workplace data to bring a unique offering to the market. Stratigens is the perfect partner to help us achieve this and together we look forward to continuing to help raise capability in how employers find and keep the people they need, and how staffing and talent solutions providers can better support their clients.”

About Stratigens

Stratigens software is helping the world’s best companies make smarter decisions about where to grow, who to hire from and the diversity of their workforce. We join the dots between the labour market, economics and locations. Putting human capital intelligence at the heart of decision making.

We live in a world rich with skills and geo economic data, but the data is messy, unstructured, big and in thousands of places. Stratigens uses the latest in machine learning and big data to gather, extract, categorise and label the data, and put it into a format that’s easy to digest. So our clients can make smarter, faster, more informed decisions.

Stratigens – https://www.stratigens.com

About TALiNT Partners

TALiNT Partners connects the talent ecosystem. We bring together a global network of leading employers and solution providers to make better talent and technology decisions. Providing intelligence, insight and peer-to-peer networking that drives quality, innovation and improves inclusion across the talent ecosystem

TALiNT Partners – https://talintpartners.com/

 

If you would like to know more about the partnership, please contact Ken Brotherston, CEO of TALiNT Partners, ken@talintpartners.com

Share this article on social media

Acquisition strengthens Nash Squared as a major MSP

Nash Squared, a provider of talent and technology solutions, has become a major force in Managed Service Provision with its recent acquisition of Het Flexhuis – a Managed Service Provider (MSP) of talent and recruitment services based in The Netherlands.

Het Flexhuis has a strong track record in delivering outsourced recruitment services for government, public services, and commercial organisations and will operate as an independent brand within Nash Squared’s recruitment business Harvey Nash.

Bev White, CEO of Nash Squared, commented: “I am delighted to welcome Het Flexhuis into the Nash Squared family. It is our vision to help our clients access talent and technology in every way possible, and offering a high quality MSP solution is an important next step for us. Het Flexhuis brings enormous experience and expertise with them, and I am excited by the potential.”

Occo Lijding, MD of Harvey Nash The Netherlands, commented: “This represents a step change in how we can help and support our clients in talent and technology. I have long admired the team at Het Flexhuis, and when we met I was struck by how similar our values and ambitions were. They are the perfect fit for us, and I look forward to working with them.”

Frederieke Schmidt Crans, Managing Director, Het Flexhuis commented: “We are thrilled and excited to become part of Nash Squared. Our company was established ten years ago with a mission to create a world-class MSP with great people and processes at its core. We see joining Nash Squared as the natural next chapter in that success story.”

Share this article on social media

Search engines combine forces to accelerate Adzuna’s growth in the US

On Tuesday, 14 June, Adzuna announced their acquisition of the US job search engine Getwork.

The Getwork team, under the leadership of Brad Squibb, will be working alongside the Adzuna team, intending to accelerate Adzuna’s growth in North America.

Getwork links job seekers with vacant roles at North American companies by indexing millions of verified jobs daily directly from tens of thousands of employer career sites.

Adzuna, with headquarters in London, UK, Indianapolis, IN, and Sydney, AU, uses AI-powered technology to match people to jobs. The company has recently launched in Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, and Mexico. Their operations now cover 20 markets globally.

The two companies will operate as independent brands with their own established communities.

Doug Monro, CEO, and Co-founder of Adzuna, comments: “Adzuna acquiring Getwork will help us supercharge our growth in North America. The Getwork team’s stellar reputation for great service and delivery has led them to be trusted by an impressive roster of household name companies in the US. It’s also a great fit as their team and mission are so aligned with ours. The US enterprise market is crying out for strong alternatives to existing offerings and we’re looking forward to combining Adzuna’s marketing expertise, global footprint and programmatic job matching technology with Getwork’s deep industry knowledge and reputation to deliver even better for our customers. The US is the fastest-growing part of our business and this acquisition will accelerate our profitable growth trajectory.”

Brad Squibb, President of Getwork, comments: “Adzuna is a truly global business, operating across 20 countries, which creates an exciting opportunity for us to scale into new markets with the help of a brand that has already paved the way for international expansion. We can’t wait to join Doug and the team on this journey.”

 

Share this article on social media

Despite efforts there is still massive room for improvement in UK management and reporting

In research released today, findings reveal a lack of focus on progressing diversity in the workplace. In the study conducted by SD Worx, it was found that while 68% of UK companies are committed to removing unconscious bias in the recruitment process, many have failed to implement a reporting system to track progress on meeting ED&I objectives.

The survey revealed that only 26% of UK companies evaluate managerial commitment to achieving ED&I-related objectives. A further 32% admitted having no systems allowing employees to report discrimination.

The UK ranked third in its commitment to removing unconscious bias at 68% when it comes to ranking. Ireland ranked first at 74%, with Belgium coming in second, at 69%.

As far as rankings for equal access to training, the UK is slightly lower than other countries, with 64% of companies investing in equal access to training and development. Ireland (72%), Belgium (71%), and Poland (69%) topped the list.

While 64% of UK companies include transparency about ED&I goals and actions to attract a diverse workforce in their mission statement and corporate values, only 60% of the UK companies surveyed said that they promote ED&I in job advertisements, social media, and their websites.

The survey also revealed that countries vary in their level of focus concerning educating and involving managers in their ED&I policies. For example, in the UK, 60% of companies stated that they actively involve their managers in ED&I policies, and 60% provide internal training on the topic.

Colette Philp, UK HR Country Lead at SD Worx commented: “It’s no longer enough for businesses to say they prioritise diversity and inclusion. Instead, they must prove their commitment to achieving a more diverse workforce, both internally within their business and externally to attract talent.”

“There is more awareness than ever before regarding diversity in the workplace and it’s a deciding factor for many when it comes to searching for a role or staying with a business. A diverse workforce brings new experiences and perspectives and an inclusive environment allows individuals to thrive. If businesses aren’t already putting ED&I as a top priority, it’s essential they act now to do so.”

Jurgen Dejonghe, Portfolio Manager SD Worx Insights, added: “It’s important that companies start investing in an active reporting system about their actions concerning diversity, equality and inclusion. On the one hand, that data offers a strong basis for optimising the diversity policy with concrete and consciously controlled actions. On the other hand, such a system also provides clear evidence whether companies are effectively putting their money where their mouth is and not making false promises to (future) employees.”

For ED&I initiatives to be successful, change needs to come from the top, with proper rollouts and reporting system to track their progress.

Share this article on social media