Plan for a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce

Plan for a Diverse and Inclusive Workforce

The pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and altered the way work is done, leading many organizations to take a look at the structure of workplaces and workforces. Skills and education requirements have evolved rapidly and our collective understanding of how and where work is done has shifted.

From flex scheduling for retail and warehouse workers to contract engagements to support changing technology needs, companies are rethinking their workforce mix – meaning the optimal combination of permanent, contingent, contract and gig workers. This presents an important opportunity to build DE&I strategies and objectives into their planning.

Make DE&I a part of total workforce planning – The kind of market analysis that's done to optimize workforce mix can also be leveraged to advance DE&I objectives, source and recruit top talent and create pipelines of future candidates. For example, when a company looks for markets that are rich in certain skill sets like English proficiency or have a large population of technology workers, they can also think about markets that are well suited to their DE&I goals.

  A D&I Leader Expands Efforts to its Contingent Workforce

 A nationwide retail and healthcare company has made a $350 million commitment to DE&I across its workforce over the next five years. Contingent labor is an important part of the company's workforce strategy, capturing everything from pharmacy and nursing roles to customer care, retail and warehouse jobs. Like many organizations, they sought to inform costs and future planning through processes that ensure visibility across their workforce. The difference here is that the company also saw this as an opportunity to understand and shape DE&I across their contingent workforce.  

In addition to establishing a baseline and diversity targets, the program will help the company to understand where improvements are needed by role, level and geography. Another key investment involves bias training. Although the company's hiring managers have been trained on removing bias from hiring decisions, their contingent supplier community has not. The company is investing in efforts to foster behaviors that will impact their entire workforce and create ecosystem-level change, including setting D&I expectations and metrics, and expanding trainings to their suppliers. 

Think about location – Location planning is also critical for many organizations, especially those in highly competitive, low-margin industries. Organizations that are serious about DE&I consider it a key component of location planning. This ties back to what diversity means to your organization. In the U.S., that's often – although certainly not always – about race and ethnicity. In some parts of the world, it could be about class. In other places, it's more likely to be about gender, age or ability. Location planning provides an opportunity to consider diversity factors in evaluations of market intelligence.    

European Insurance Company Uses Total Workforce IndexTM to Meet Diversity Goals in New U.S. Location

When a European underwriter of insurance policies established a U.S.-based headquarters, the company saw an opportunity to take in-depth look at markets that could help meet diversity and inclusion goals. The company turned to ManpowerGroup Talent Solutions' Total Workforce Index™ to analyze market options best aligned with their business objectives and workforce availability. By looking at markets with sustainable talent pools and demographics that are aligned with the company's objectives, the company was able to identify several location options that could meet its needs.

Align goals across your organization – Workforce planning is also a great opportunity for an organization to align its goals. All too often, HR, contingent programs and procurement have distinct goals. If each is driving toward a different goal for representation of women, for example, it's unlikely that the DE&I effort will be as effective as it should be.

The bottom line is all workforce planning should be total workforce planning. And that means DE&I should be built in from the beginning.