The new frontier of DEI – socio-economic backgrounds, ageism and skills-based hiring

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

A panel of diversity and business leaders recently emphasized the importance of incorporating socio-economic background, age, and skills-based hiring into Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategies. This message was delivered at an event to launch Workday’s Global Blueprint for Belonging and Diversity report.

Socio-economic Background in DEI Programs

Aviva, an insurance firm, has made socio-economic background a core focus of its DEI program. In addition to considering characteristics like gender identification, sexual orientation, faith, and neurodiversity in its user engagement survey, Aviva also includes questions about employees’ socio-economic status. Jonny Briggs, DEI and Resourcing Director at Aviva, explained:

“The challenge there is what questions to do. Our view is you get good indicators, but you can’t have an exact answer. We initially asked whether you were entitled to free school meals if you were brought up in the UK because that was means tested, and then whether you were the first to go to university.”

Aviva anonymously aggregated the collected data and collaborated with Progress Together to understand the impact of coming from a low socio-economic background on career progression. This data allowed Aviva to identify the number of leaders from low socio-economic backgrounds and compare their progression against individuals from higher socio-economic backgrounds.

Briggs added, “The tricky bit is what initiatives do we put in place to try and resolve some of that. That’s the bit that we need to get in place. We’re now in a brilliant place for data baseline, but it’s about what we’re going to do with it.”

Skills-Based Hiring and Closing the Skills Gap

Michael Houlihan, CEO of Generation UK&I, believes that shifting towards skills-based hiring can support individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds in their careers. He stated:

“Skills-based hiring should address some of the big blockers to people from different backgrounds getting fair opportunities to apply for these jobs. It’s one of the next frontiers of DEI, where there hasn’t been nearly enough progress.”

One challenge in closing the skills gap for underrepresented communities is that universities do not always equip students with all the necessary skills. AI technology can play a role in addressing this issue. Ashleigh Ainsley, co-founder at Colorintech, highlighted the gap between the number of Black students with STEM degrees and their successful entry into the tech workplace. Ainsley explained:

“We were hearing about the skills challenge, but we’re actually producing lots of people who seemingly would have some of these skills who still weren’t finding their way into the workplace. Why?”

Colorintech’s research revealed that individuals with computer science degrees often lacked interview experience or practical work in the sector. Ainsley stated:

“You get the opportunity to potentially have your first role and you fall down at the first hurdle. Even basic things like doing your CV or having a competitive application – tell me about a time when you led a team – that’s great if you have the opportunity to lead a team but not everybody has that equitable opportunity to lead a team at certain times in their career journey for whatever reason, whether it’s about responsibilities at home or access to finance or other opportunities.”

AI has the potential to support students and young people by acting as a learning co-pilot in their career field, providing guidance on interview questions, CV writing, and job applications. Ainsley added:

“That’s going to be a great enabler for people who otherwise potentially might not have had access to knowing somebody who’s been at an interview before, having a referral network to ask them about how can I support myself? Or you might dictate into it your answer and it might say, well, have you thought about this or that, or potentially somebody might ask you this follow-up question. You can start to close some of these gaps where historically, unless you knew somebody at this company, you wouldn’t know potentially what they might ask.”

Ageism in the Workplace

The panel also highlighted the issue of ageism in the workplace. Generation UK&I’s research found that individuals over the age of 45 face increasing challenges in their employment prospects. Despite their experience, employers often undervalue older workers. Michael Houlihan explained:

“Employers or prospective employers perceive people of age 45-plus as much less attractive employees on a number of fronts. They do not pay much value to the extra experience those individuals have. The paradox is that when you then track their performance, it’s just as good as the younger hires, if not better. The picture will get more severe as the person gets older and these biases become bigger.”

Addressing the Skills Gap and Recruitment Practices

Accenture, a Workday customer, is actively working to address the skills gap and transform its recruitment practices. Daniel Pell, VP and Country Manager at Accenture UKI, shared their challenges in hiring diverse talent:

“They have a real challenge, as we do, around hiring talent. It’s really hard. Even an organization like ours, there is a lot of competition for good talent and frankly, particularly diverse talent. If I go looking for salespeople or anyone, I can go to all other organizations like Workday and find people that look like people that we would typically hire, middle-aged, white men, a particular age. Finding young diverse talent is really hard for any business.”

Accenture faced difficulties finding the right talent among students from traditional prestigious universities. Pell explained:

“They were getting people that were very good at passing exams, very good at funding themselves through university but they weren’t finding the critical thinking skills and everything they needed.”

To overcome this challenge, Accenture utilized Workday Skills Cloud and recruiting tools to access a wider pool of candidates. They focused on individuals early in their careers who had gained relevant skills through their current roles. For account manager positions, Accenture targeted individuals with customer service and call center experience, as they possessed strong relationship skills. Pell added:

“They were fairly low paid and low in their career. They could take those individuals with the right skills and give them a huge boost in terms of their income, and

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

SDG 4: Quality Education

– Target 4.3: By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational, and tertiary education, including university.
– Indicator 4.3.1: Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months.

SDG 5: Gender Equality

– Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere.
– Indicator 5.1.1: Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce, and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

– Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.
– Indicator 8.5.1: Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age group, and persons with disabilities.

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

– Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
– Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, by age, sex, and persons with disabilities.

Analysis

1. The SDGs addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article are SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities).

2. Specific targets under those SDGs that can be identified based on the article’s content are:
– Target 4.3: Equal access to affordable and quality technical, vocational, and tertiary education.
– Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against women and girls.
– Target 8.5: Full and productive employment and decent work for all.
– Target 10.2: Social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.

3. Indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets are:
– Indicator 4.3.1: Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training.
– Indicator 5.1.1: Legal frameworks promoting equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex.
– Indicator 8.5.1: Average hourly earnings of female and male employees.
– Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income.

4. Table presenting the findings:

| SDGs | Targets | Indicators |
|——|———|————|
| SDG 4: Quality Education | Target 4.3: By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational, and tertiary education, including university. | Indicator 4.3.1: Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months. |
| SDG 5: Gender Equality | Target 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere. | Indicator 5.1.1: Whether or not legal frameworks are in place to promote, enforce, and monitor equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sex. |
| SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth | Target 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value. | Indicator 8.5.1: Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age group, and persons with disabilities. |
| SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities | Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status. | Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 percent of median income, by age, sex, and persons with disabilities. |

Copyright: Dive into this article, curated with care by SDG Investors Inc. Our advanced AI technology searches through vast amounts of data to spotlight how we are all moving forward with the Sustainable Development Goals. While we own the rights to this content, we invite you to share it to help spread knowledge and spark action on the SDGs.

Fuente: diginomica.com

 

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