Has high job vacancies made hiring for diversity easier or more difficult?
How have diversity and inclusion policies been tracking in Australia? And what has been the impact of the pandemic and high numbers of unfilled vacancies?
Although international talent is starting to trickle back, the news of how the pandemic was handled in Australia has meant some potential employees from overseas fear coming here and being ‘locked in’, says Rob Stone, chief people officer at Wunderman Thompson. The resulting lack of talent in some sectors coupled with a high job mobility has brought pros and cons.
“In some organisations, a lack of talent has accelerated change and forced employers to go fishing outside the usual ponds, hiring people with diverse skills and different ways of thinking. On the flip side, the negative scenario is an employer will get anyone in to fill urgent needs and D&I is put on the back burner,” says Stone.
In the past, nine times out of 10, a company would hire someone from a direct competitor. That’s now down to 50%. Instead, employers are hiring from consultancies, the client side or completely outside the industry. What you get then are different skill sets and new ways of thinking
A consensus agree that a huge bonus of the pandemic has been how flexible working has become mainstream. It has allowed conversations to happen about part-time work and job sharing, too – options that were considered ‘too difficult’ prior to Covid.
“This is such a positive from a diversity of thought perspective, especially in marketing and communications where I work. If we don’t reflect society in our organisations, then we don’t connect with people,” says Stone.
As a member of the Global Diversity and Inclusion Coalition, Stone was part of a team that presented evidence to the House of Lords on the benefits of an internationally diverse workforce in the wake of Brexit. His work in the UK and Europe, informs his view of how D&I is progressing in Australia.
“Australia is a bit behind the eight-ball compared to UK and Europe. The reasons for that are understandable - scale plays a big factor in progressive policy - having large numbers of staff and clients. Out here, the big four consultancies and leading banks are pretty good as far as moving the needle, making it meaningful rather than a policy on paper,” says Stone.
Progress has been made in the consultancies and leading banks, particularly in understanding and respecting indigenous culture, in hiring policies directed at indigenous students, and building connections to work with indigenous businesses, says Stone.
Another big step on the diversity and inclusion ladder has been to push hard into rural communities.
“A lot of businesses default to within 15 to 20kms of the major cities when recruiting graduates, but more forward-thinking companies have put in place structures such as scholarships or sponsorships, to allow people to succeed from rural and lower socio-economic areas - people who can’t afford to live or travel to the cities. It means you get different mindsets into workforces,” says Stone.
In many organisations what can happen is that there are a few passionate people who are trying to impact diversity and inclusion as part of their day job. Stone believes it’s a full-time job by itself and should have dedicated employees and commitment put around it.
“There is risk in that if you are not educated or experienced in D&I, it can be more damaging if you are implementing strategies that aren’t done in the right way. This is especially the case with Indigenous communities where businesses don’t have a deep understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. There have been organisations who have got it very wrong in the past,” says Stone.
Australia continues to be one of the key markets for the Asia Pacific but Stone warns that if we are not careful, then the D&I gap between us and Europe and North America could widen. “A lot of organisations understand that and change their way of working. But for others, D&I is treated as just a phase or trend. It’s those businesses that will be left behind.
