While February is Black History Month, tech recruiters in Denver agree that promoting diversity and inclusion in your organization should be top of mind all year long. Whether you’re looking to boost employee engagement or improve productivity, building diverse teams in tech is an excellent place to start.
We know that the research shows organizations that feature diverse teams are more innovative. They also have a better bottom line. Creating a more diverse hiring strategy doesn’t have to be a challenge for Denver tech companies, especially with the help of professional IT recruiters. Not only is partnering with a tech recruiting agency a smart move for your company’s financials, but it’s also the right thing to do for your culture.
In honor of Black History Month, expert IT recruiters in Denver discuss hiring strategies that will ensure diverse representation on our tech teams.
What Does Diversity in Tech Mean for Denver Employers?
When it comes to tech, all the IT staffing services companies in Denver and around the U.S. are competing for the same candidates. But the best IT recruiters in Denver are making the extra effort to source and recruit candidates that fit very specific diversity requirements for employers. What does that mean, exactly? What is diversity in the tech field?
Diversity in tech refers to the inclusion and representation of individuals from diverse backgrounds, such as different genders, races, ethnicities, cultures, religions, and socioeconomic statuses. Diversity initiatives in the tech industry aim to create a more equitable and inclusive workplace, fostering innovation and addressing historical underrepresentation and discrimination.
Diversity initiatives are often included with equity and inclusion. Equity and inclusion in hiring refer to the fair and unbiased treatment of job applicants, regardless of their gender, age, religion, or other characteristics that don’t impact their ability to perform a job. Tech recruiters in Denver engaged in equity and inclusion initiatives try to remove any potential barriers or biases that hamper hiring. These initiatives often require seeking out underrepresented groups to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
Together, these critical initiatives to build a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive tech workforce should make up a significant part of your recruiting efforts.
Despite efforts by tech recruitment agencies in Denver like Prosum, the IT industry is, admittedly, not particularly diverse. For example:
- Less than one-third of tech jobs (26.7%) are held by women; men inhabit the rest (73.3%).
- Black Americans hold just 7% of the tech jobs out there, Latinos 8%, Asian Americans 20%, and 62% are occupied by white Americans.
- On average, women in tech receive a salary that is 3% less than men for the same job, with the same experience, and at the same company.
What tactics can companies undertake as part of a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative to balance their hiring processes in the tech field? Why should you care enough about DEI to make it part of your key hiring initiatives?
Why Should Denver Tech Companies Care About Recruiting for Diversity?
Tech companies and their IT recruiters in Denver should care about recruiting for diversity for the following reasons:
- Diversity initiatives help you access a broader range of candidates.
- DEI improves company culture.
- Diversity in tech teams increases collaboration across your company.
Access Broad Range of Skilled Tech Candidates
Most job candidates today look for employers committed to diversity. But not only does a diverse team attract job candidates, but it can also help you retain your current staff. Surveys show millennials and Generation X job seekers are more likely to value workplace diversity and stay at a company longer if the organization has a clear mission to diversify its workforce. That’s why your company should put DEI at the top of your hiring goals.
Diversity in Tech Improves Company Culture
Diversity is the “holy tension” in organizations that allows for a push and pull between different types of people, all striving for a common goal. A diverse workforce brings together people with different backgrounds and experiences. This effort leads to various perspectives on your team, creating an innovative spark that can benefit your business and improve company culture.
Increase Collaboration Amongst Tech Teams
Diverse teams can better identify and understand problems from a range of perspectives and ideas that can drive performance and production. Companies prioritizing diversity and inclusion as part of their corporate mission can build a positive reputation among job candidates, customers, and the community. These initiatives help increase collaboration and learning at every level of your organization.
5 Diverse Hiring Strategies from Denver’s IT Recruitment Experts
IT staffing services in Denver understand the importance of DEI initiatives and actively apply recruiting strategies to help their clients achieve their goals. If your company is seeking a way to increase its DEI efforts, we have five clear strategies that will help.
#1 Assess Where DEI Issues Lie in Your Tech Recruitment Strategy
Tech recruitment agencies in Denver live and die by their numbers. This strategy suggests that companies should also focus strongly on their diversity in hiring numbers. Review your company’s demographic data on hiring as a first step toward your DEI initiative. Collect and analyze data on the diversity of the current workforce and the applicants for your open tech positions. This effort can help identify areas lacking diversity and provide a baseline for measuring progress. Also, review your job descriptions for any hidden biases in language or requirements that create barriers for underrepresented groups. Take the time to evaluate your Denver tech recruitment staffing partner for their efforts to source and recruit diverse candidates. Look for ways to expand your recruitment channels, such as partnering with diverse bootcamps, or job boards devoted to certain types of candidates. Once you understand the lay of the land, move on to step two in your DEI strategy.
#2 Determine Hiring Goals and Track Diversity Metrics
What are your diversity goals this year? What positions do you need to fill and what kind of talent do you want to attract? Consider how your diversity goals fit your hiring goals. Then develop a hiring strategy that could include:
- Attending diversity hiring events.
- Posting tech positions on diverse job boards.
- Working with IT recruiters in Denver to expand your reach.
- Reaching out to diverse professional associations.
Finally, develop diversity hiring metrics that are most important to your organization. You can track the percentage of hires that fit your diversity goals but also track your retention of existing employees from a broad set of demographic categories.
#3 Incorporate Inclusive Language in IT Job Descriptions
Language matters. Incorporating inclusive language in IT job descriptions should include the following:
- Using gender-neutral language that avoids bias. For example, use “they” instead of “he” or “she.”
- Avoiding any terms that are exclusionary or offensive. Use “partner” instead of “spouse” to avoid the assumption of traditional marriage.
- Focusing on skills and qualifications instead of listing unnecessary requirements that could limit the pool of job candidates.
- Highlighting your DEI initiatives by listing your commitment to them in the job description.
Consider seeking feedback from underrepresented groups to ensure your job description is free of hidden biases. This effort can help improve the language and tone of the job description.
#4 Provide DEI Training for Your Denver Tech Recruiters
If you’re outsourcing to IT recruiters in Denver, consider working with these teams to engage them in the success of your DEI initiatives. Companies should provide training to both their in-house and external recruiters to equip them to attract a diverse pool of IT candidates. Diversity training is an important learning tool for recruiters to help them identify and address their own internal biases. Recruiters trained in DEI can ultimately create a more inclusive work environment in your organization, but they can also attract more tech candidates with what they’ve learned.
#5 Outsource Your Hiring Efforts to a Tech Recruitment Agency
Tech recruitment agencies specialize in finding and hiring top tech talent. They have expansive networks, a deep commitment, and an understanding of the imperative to hire diverse talent. Partnering with a tech recruitment agency in Denver can boost your DEI efforts and increase your reach to fill IT positions.
Hiring is also time-consuming, so outsourcing to IT recruiters in Denver means you can free up your HR teams to focus on mission-critical initiatives. Working with a tech recruitment agency in Denver also allows you to scale up your hiring efforts in times of growth. When taken together, these benefits are significant.
Need to Improve Your Diverse Hiring Strategy? Partner with the Top IT Recruiters in Denver
Prosum, the leading tech recruitment agency in Denver, wants to be your diversity and hiring partner. Organizations of all sizes and industries work with our teams to further their diversity initiatives and hire top tech talent. Prosum can do both.
As a certified minority owned enterprise and diverse supplier, we understand the importance of an inclusive workplace. Our tech recruitment agency in Denver provides IT staffing services for government agencies and healthcare facilities that typically prefer and sometimes require working with minority certified suppliers as part of their diversity strategy.
Get to know us. We have the resources you need to recruit for diversity in tech. Prosum has offices in Denver, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, staffed with highly trained and experienced technical recruiters. Contact Prosum today for help reaching your diversity goals in IT.