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PSD 62 Queen Street London EC4R 1EB Telephone +44 (0)207 970 9700 Email [email protected] www.psdgroup.com Promoting & Sharing Diversity PSD meets Anne Tynan & David D’ Souza to discuss changing attitudes. The area of diversity is rightly raising its profile on the agenda of employers as they look to make their workforce more aligned to their clients’ populations, and as they realise that by always bringing in new employees in the image of their existing headcount, they are missing out on a network of high potential candidates. However how should we as recruiters support this - should there be quota’s on short-lists? Should we promote candidates from a particular gender/ ethnicity or with a disability? We decided to speak to two experts. David D’Souza, HR Consultant and social media expert and Anne Tynan, Equality and Diversity expert with over 20 years experience of working with, developing and producing diversity policies, procedures, and publications. PSD has known David for a number of years and we knew that David would give us an honest overview, not just as an HR Consultant but as a realist, with a real honesty and integrity. “David has been on a similar journey looking at the Diversity agenda and how it has impacted his thoughts, and he comments:” “I could not even hazard a guess as to how many candidates I have directly interviewed for jobs. If you were to include candidates for roles in my broader team/ department (where I may have sat in on the later stages of the process or for ‘coffee sign off’), it must run into hundreds. To the best of my recollection, however, I have never interviewed a disabled candidate for a position. If I have done, their disabilities must have been invisible and/or undisclosed. It was during an online conversation on Twitter regarding my scant knowledge about disabled HR professionals that I realised this and my reactions went as follows: I cannot believe I have not noticed this before, THEN I cannot believe there are not more disabled HR professionals out there, THEN I am angry that agencies have not done more to direct their CV’s to me, THEN I am directly accountable for never asking the agencies I work with why they have never sent me a visibly disabled candidate. It was a humbling and embarrassing moment. If you had asked me to talk about anything to do with disability, equality, inclusion and diversity, I would have given you a typical preachy HR response about how much I value it and how concerned I am that many companies appear to ignore it. This would be entirely hypocritical, because my positive action as an individual who made hiring decisions was non- existent. I am convinced that I would have acted differently had anyone (agency or otherwise) challenged my thinking or poor track record.” Following our conversation with David, we spoke to Anne Tynan for more detail on what would make a difference. Three years ago, Anne carried out a study of 300 recruitment websites looking specifically at issues of accessibility, equality and diversity. Anne’s comments focus on how recruiters, from both an in-house and consultancy background, need to take action. David D’Souza HR Consultant and social media expert Anne Tynan Equality and Diversity expert

Diversity HR in Focus

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Page 1: Diversity HR in Focus

PSD 62 Queen StreetLondon EC4R 1EB

Telephone+44 (0)207 970 [email protected]

www.psdgroup.com

Promoting & Sharing DiversityPSD meets Anne Tynan & David D’ Souza

to discuss changing attitudes.The area of diversity is rightly raising its profile on the agenda of employers as they look to make their workforce more

aligned to their clients’ populations, and as they realise that by always bringing in new employees in the image of their existing headcount, they are missing out on a network of high potential candidates. However how should we as

recruiters support this - should there be quota’s on short-lists? Should we promote candidates from a particular gender/ ethnicity or with a disability?

We decided to speak to two experts. David D’Souza, HR Consultant and social media expert and Anne Tynan, Equality and Diversity expert with over 20 years experience of working with, developing and producing diversity policies, procedures, and publications.

PSD has known David for a number of years and we knew that David would give us an honest overview, not just as an HR Consultant but as a realist, with a real honesty and integrity. “David has been on a similar journey looking at the Diversity agenda and how it has impacted his thoughts, and he comments:”

“I could not even hazard a guess as to how many candidates I have directly interviewed for jobs. If you were to include candidates for roles in my broader team/department (where I may have sat in on the later stages of the process or for ‘coffee sign off’), it must run into hundreds. To the best of my recollection, however, I have never interviewed a disabled candidate for a position. If I have done, their disabilities must have been invisible and/or undisclosed.

It was during an online conversation on Twitter regarding my scant knowledge about disabled HR professionals that I realised this and my reactions went as follows:

• I cannot believe I have not noticed this before, THEN• I cannot believe there are not more disabled HR professionals out there, THEN• I am angry that agencies have not done more to direct their CV’s to me, THEN• I am directly accountable for never asking the agencies I work with why they

have never sent me a visibly disabled candidate.

It was a humbling and embarrassing moment. If you had asked me to talk about anything to do with disability, equality, inclusion and diversity, I would have given you a typical preachy HR response about how much I value it and how concerned I am that many companies appear to ignore it. This would be entirely hypocritical, because my positive action as an individual who made hiring decisions was non-existent. I am convinced that I would have acted differently had anyone (agency or otherwise) challenged my thinking or poor track record.”

Following our conversation with David, we spoke to Anne Tynan for more detail on what would make a difference. Three years ago, Anne carried out a study of 300 recruitment websites looking specifically at issues of accessibility, equality and diversity. Anne’s comments focus on how recruiters, from both an in-house and consultancy background, need to take action.

David D’SouzaHR Consultant and social media expert

Anne TynanEquality and Diversity expert

Page 2: Diversity HR in Focus

“Don’t blame employers! Since writing about recruitment websites, I have had wide-ranging feedback but one issue stands out: recruitment agencies should not hide behind the excuse that they are at the mercy of their clients. Employers have told me of instances where they have had to take agencies to task for the discriminatory attitudes and behaviour of agency staff. Admittedly, this is more difficult to handle when it happens in reverse because of the client-agency relationship but it is not impossible.

“Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end, then stop.”

This quote from ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ seems to sum up the approach to take. Companies often tell us that as there are so many different aspects to equality and diversity, they never get started with anything because they simply do not know where to start. It all looks like one big tangled mess that is impossible to unravel. So:

Begin at the beginning - Look at the people around you in your business; to what extent are they representative of your candidates?

Go on till you come to the end - Look at your current candidates; do you know the extent to which their personal characteristics represent a cross-section of the population?

Then stop - Stop to consider whether there are gaps and if so, why these exist. How could you apply industry expertise to the current state of play in your agency?

David went on to sum this up in the wider context of the competition for talent “I think the options are stark for both employers and agencies. Do nothing, blame each other, or start working together to improve;

• The ability of companies to attract the best talent• The ability of agencies to provide the best talent• The pathways for talent to access opportunities without being restricted by a lack of appreciation of diversity

We all need to ensure we are not ignoring, through convenience and ignorance, those candidates with the skills and abilities to deliver that are most often overlooked”

“So how do we make these changes in our mindset and, as a recruiter, support our clients’ diversity agenda. Firstly, follow Anne’s advise and start small. Work on the simple things and make sure we are being inclusive, accessible and open. Finally make sure we speak to our clients and make sure we are leading the diversity conversation.”

If you are interested in joining the diversity conversation or getting in touch with David, Anne or ourselves please do not hesitate to contact us.

Agencies may feel that they are the inferior partners in relation to clients but even the smallest agencies can access the power, knowledge and expertise of the whole industry. The Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) has Diversity and Inclusion as a campaigning issue; there are many resources available to members worth exploring. Anne suggests a straight forward approach:

HR Contacts

Richard PlaistoweFinancial and Professional Services+44 207 970 9613

HR Contacts

Daniel CooperProperty, Construction & Development+44 207 970 9677

HR Contacts

Marilyn Pollard-OdleTechnology and International+ 44 207 970 9615

HR Contacts

Patrick DahillFinancial Services & Banking+ 44 207 970 9630