Why Workplace Diversity is essential to increasing Productivity, Retention, and Revenue and How Online Data Collection can help

Diversity is a hot topic, especially in the workplace, according to a Glassdoor report 57% of employees would like to see more diversity in their workplace. Let’s find out why diversity is essential in the workplace and why implementing it is not so straightforward.

How workplace diversity and its benefits start at the hiring process

The aim of recruitment is to find the best candidates, but finding them can be quite challenging, especially when also taking into consideration how the workforce’s diversity and inclusion will be affected. Regardless, getting a range of employees involved with the recruitment process boosts morale and helps everyone feel involved and supported in all areas of the workplace. Unsurprisingly, research has shown that higher revenue growth, a greater readiness to innovate, an increased ability to recruit a diverse talent pool, and up to 5.4 times higher employee retention can be easily achieved by having a diverse and inclusive workplace. In fact, top-quartile companies are 33% more likely to outperform when looking at ethnic and cultural diversity.

But why is diversity hiring easier said than done? Due to inevitable unconscious bias.

Understanding unconscious bias and its effects on workplace diversity

Unconscious biases are social stereotypes about certain groups of people formed outside of individuals’ conscious awareness or more simply, it is what happens when we act on deeply ingrained ideas we have of groups of people. It could be based on age, race, name, beauty, or one of the many other factors that make an individual.

Unconscious biases can be quite common in the workplace and can negatively affect decisions on recruitment, promotion, staff development, and recognition, which not just affects the employee in question, but the wider workplace.

But how can online data collection help workplaces around the world to move away from outdated processes of hiring?

Letting automated online data collection simplifying diversity hiring and tacking unconscious bias at the same time

Hiring managers and HR departments can spend days searching the web for the perfect candidate, something which could be done in much less time through Automated solutions.

With automated online data collection, companies can overcome natural unconscious biases, save time, and dedicate themselves to a hiring process free from prejudices.

Catching up with Dave Walsh, co-founder and CEO of Mathison

We sat down with Dave Walsh to learn more about his company, Mathison, and how online data and The Bright Initiative is helping his company on its quest to revolutionize workplace inclusivity.

About Mathison

Founded in 2019 in New York, Mathison’s mission is to bridge the gap between the most underrepresented job seekers and employers committed to diversity and inclusion. Mathison is a highly innovative organization and a welcome change in the hiring landscape, as it is dedicated to advancing intersectional diversity, making it a fair and unbiased process, as well as reinvesting back in the community. Mathison’s success has spread far and wide, leading to collaborations with some of the biggest brands worldwide, such as Hello Fresh, Trip Advisor, Sonos, and many more. In direct partnership with enterprises and NGOs, hiring managers use Mathison’s platform to source, target, and find hard-to-reach candidates, while simultaneously ensuring an unbiased hiring process.

Why collect online data?

Typically, brands like Mathison need access to large amounts of public data from diversity talent networks to identify talent. They scour the web for relevant information based on applicant skill sets, background information, and the field they’re in, to find the best matches for the company’s customers. Based on the public online data collected, they can establish if a potential candidate is a right fit for their customers.
Mathison collects online data from the following public resources:

• Search data: Collection of publicly available social media data to identify information from diversity talent networks to source talent. This data helps brands target, source, and match job seekers to companies looking to hire diverse candidates.
• Audience demographics: Candidate demographics are another aspect from which brands can better identify underrepresented talent. Finding the right talent from a specific age group, location, ethnicity, the LGBTQIA+ community, people with disabilities, veterans, and many more, can be a strong indicator for the right fit.

What has your experience been with The Bright Initiative so far?

The Bright Initiative has been an extremely valuable partner in helping us meet our growing demands for online data, as we’re able to outsource our data collection and management efforts. Without their technology, we’d be forced to build and maintain datasets manually every time we partner with a new organization, which would take time and resources away from our team’s ultimate goal of matching underrepresented talent with their dream jobs.

Our mission is to bridge the gap between underrepresented job seekers and employers committed to inclusion by helping employers cast a much wider net in their hiring. Our partnership with The Bright Initiative will greatly help us bring this mission to life.