In the workplace, and from a business perspective, having a diverse workforce is no longer a question. The world is interconnected and due to the huge advances in international travel and communication, people easily move and work across borders. This article serves to remind people of the pros and cons to having a diverse workforce and provides five recommendations for recruiters and managers on how to manage one. Yes, having a diverse workforce may sound obvious, but it’s not so straightforward to manage as some might think.

Struggling with Human Nature

Diversity means difference in all manner and form. The antonym to diversity would be uniformity. In the workplace, diversity refers to the composition of your workforce – people of dissimilar background, culture, experience, psychical and mental characteristics, etc. Whereas uniformity would involve cloning Mr. One & Only – we all think the same; we all do the same; we all look the same…how boring! Why is having a diverse workforce so important? And what can backfire if people are too different? Let’s explore.

In an article about the challenges of having a diverse board, WSJ sums-up brilliantly the benefit and obstacles: diversity leads to more out-of-the box thinking; yet, it also creates contention and disunity. Although this is an article about how diversity can backfire on company boards, the same obviously applies to employees and large to small project teams. WSJ reports that if a company has a board of like-minded individuals, the following arises:
“They look at problems—and solutions—the same way. There’s no one to challenge prevailing ideas, or to speak out on issues important to certain groups of customers and employees.” Read the rest of this entry »

By Dilek Ayhan, the managing director of Alarga.

The Global Talent Risks Report 2011 published by the World Economic Forum addresses how industries and countries worldwide will require major increases of highly educated people in their workforces to sustain economic growth. Despite today’s high unemployment rates, the global talent risk is growing. The number of vacant positions will be increasing rapidly. Soon staggering talent gaps will appear in large parts of the world, threatening economic growth. Economies will struggle to remain competitive while organisations will compete for talent on an unprecedented scale. Now, human capital is replacing financial capital as the engine of economic prosperity. Read the rest of this entry »

By Nikki Hall, chief HR officer at SHL in Recruitment, Managing people, Business lifestyle

“Trends 2012: Talent management” was first published on HRZone

It’s been difficult for the HR industry to keep pace with the multitude of employment law changes this year – a situation compounded by the turbulent economic situation in Europe.

The UK Government’s reference to ”six years of austerity” was no empty threat and businesses are continuing to make redundancies, undertake restructuring and redeploy staff as a result. But while unemployment rates soar, talent gaps also continue to exist.

Forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility suggest that a huge 2.8 million people – many of whom are aged between 16 and 24 – will be out of work in 2012, some 200,000 more than forecast in 2011. And such a scenario is only likely to result in companies being even more inundated with job applications than they already are. Read the rest of this entry »

I would like to wish everyone a good start to 2012 – let’s hope we start believing in opportunities again, find solutions to problems and, more importantly, make positive changes for a better future.

Before we embark into a new year, I would like to make a quick recap of the top 5 most read articles on employer branding today, i.e. non-ranking related stories.

1. Talent management from an EB perspective

Talent management is about how to manage employees. Employer branding is about how to create and communicate a strong corporate culture that resonates well with your right target group. This article addresses how talent managers can incorporate employer branding activities in their work. Read more

2. Talent relationship management is the future

Universum has seen a trend of employers targeting younger audiences. In this article, we highlight a few examples of companies that are thinking long-term about their talent pipeline and we go back to basics on what talent relationship management actually means. Read more

3. The Era of Personality Targeting

Cecilia Dahlström, Global Marketing Director and guru of personality targeting, introduces the new trend of attracting candidates based on their cultural fit rather than skill set. Having the right attitude today is more important than aptitude. Read more

4. Universum meets Facebook to get the inside story

Being a social network, Facebook is its people and they, in turn, are the company’s brand ambassadors. The organization is extremely flat, no hierarchy of positions or top management sitting in an ivory tower. This is the image that Facebook conveyed to Universum in an exclusive one-on-one session with Matt Millunchick, recruiting programs manager, and Orna Holland, EMEA recruiting manager, to get the inside story. Read more

5. Your guide to build a diverse workforce

It’s unquestionable that today’s employers need to embrace a diverse and globalised workforce. Aside from being obligated by law to provide equal opportunities and not to discriminate, evidence shows that diversity is beneficial in a number of aspects. However, if employers want to build a more diverse workforce, they need to be sensitive to dissimilar needs and wants. Read more

Anna Mindelöf, Universum´s Talent Strategy Director, reports on the progress of her work on the company´s internal employer brand. Among many things, it´s about making a revision in the company´s Talent Management process, changes that simultaneously enrich HR.

Since my last blog post, I’ve launched a new Talent Management process. Earlier we’ve measured performance and attitude on a six-degree scale. Now I’ve added a dimension I call “potential”. I think we need to work on identifying our super talents at Universum and help them to maximize their potential. It´s at Universum we should find our future management team and middle managers. Read the rest of this entry »

 It couldn’t be timelier, with International Women’s Day, to address the topic of diversity. It’s unquestionable that today’s employers need to embrace a diverse and globalised workforce. Aside from being obligated by law to provide equal opportunities and not to discriminate, evidence shows that diversity is beneficial in a number of aspects.  

One, it allows employers to tap into the entire talent pool to meet their recruitment needs. Two, having a workforce that reflects the diversity of today’s consumer base means that organizations are better at marketing and catering to a much varied and complex audience. Three, there is evidence that it leads to higher productivity and financial performance.

Clearly, there are benefits to having a diverse workforce, but not all employers succeed in achieving one. Certain industries, for example, tend to be favored more by men than women and vice versa. Certain employers struggle to address the different needs and appeal to desired target groups.

Although we strive for equality in the developed world, it doesn’t mean that we are all the same. On the contrary, we are all different.  Lovisa Öhnell, research and consulting director at Universum, explains that companies need to keep in mind that men and women are dissimilar: they are attracted to different things, respond to different communication styles, have different consumer experiences and different realities.

In other words, if employers want to build a more diverse workforce, they need to be sensitive to dissimilar needs and wants. For example, women tend to give more importance to flexible working conditions and a culture that supports equality between the sexes, whereas men want more responsibility and leadership opportunities (see chart below). “This may change, but for now our research shows just how stereotypical we all are”, said Lovisa.

Click on image to see full size. Males & Females are attracted to different things in an employer

In terms of which industries or companies men and women are drawn to, one could almost guess the results. Men find the automotive industry to be an appealing sector to work in, while more women want to work in marketing or advertising. The same goes for investment banking and financial services, where more men than women seem to be interested in the sector (see chart below).

Click on image to see full size. Male & Female preference over industries.

Is this an ideal situation? “Definitely not”, says Lovisa. “Employers that face challenges to build a diverse workforce will suffer in the long-term. They’ll have a harder time meeting their recruitment needs and will not be able to generate as much business compared to organisations that are able to attract and retain people of diverse backgrounds and skills”.

To address the diversity challenge, Lovisa proposes a four-step process for employers to consider: 

1) Understand your position
• Study your attractiveness in your key target groups
• Compare the trend against competitors in your industry
• Study the development over time

2) Explore the underlying causes
• Is your offer less attractive to one gender?
• Are you perceived differently?
• Do you have an awareness problem?

   Evaluate your communication approach
• Is the design effective?
• Are you using the right channels?

3) Create an action plan
• Adapt the message to become more relevant and attractive
• Adapt the design in order to have more impact
• Use the right channel mix to address your challenge: awareness building, relationship building or targeted

4) Communicate
• Use authentic communication, like employee testimonials
• Show, not tell
• Communicate what is relevant to the potential employee
• Be consistent!

It makes perfect business sense that a diverse workforce, with people from various backgrounds and skills, should help businesses improve their competiveness. Employers that struggle to build a diverse workforce should consider the four-step process above and take action now.

Beth Axelrod, head of HR at eBay, probably said it best:
“Having talented women in key decision-making roles helps us better understand our customer base. And we have several strong, capable women executives leading our biggest business. This didn’t happen by accident, and it certainly didn’t happen simply because they were female”.

Viviane Reding, European Commissioner, in an interview in today’s metro, done by Elisabeth Braw, explains her logic behind imposing diversity quotas. She wants to ensure that European companies’ boards are comprised of at least 40 per cent women. It’s not for feminist reasons but for sound business, she explains. 

The female predisposition or mentality is advantageous. According to her, women apparently ask questions because they want to know and understand. Compared to men, they are cautious and take fewer risks. She jokes that if it had been the Lehman Sisters instead of Brothers, we most probably would have avoided the financial crisis – maybe so. 

Indeed, there are a number of positive aspects of having more female managers. Women in decision-making positions will help companies commit fewer mistakes and increase revenue, she adds. It’s also unquestionable that not only women, but everyone, should have equal opportunities to succeed. 

From a business perspective, having more females in management positions might just make European companies more competitive. Her most compelling argument, although she says isn’t the only one, is economic: “80 per cent of all purchasing decisions in everyday are made by women, not only butter but cars and apartments” among many other things.

If women are the biggest influencers and represent a significant proportion of consumers, it’s then only logical to incorporate them in business. Yes, a company’s workforce should represent their customer base, so companies should naturally start putting women in management positions.