The state of inclusivity during the onboarding process: New research from Greenhouse and EVERFI

2 mins, 19 secs read time

We all know that today’s job-seekers are looking beyond salary and perks. They're looking for fulfillment at people-first companies that make employees feel valued. A whopping 86% of candidates are evaluating a company’s investment in diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) before they apply and even during the hiring process. How can employers send the message that they’re genuinely committed to DE&I – and that they’re in it for the long haul? We wanted to understand how companies are making that kind of ongoing commitment to DE&I, so we partnered with EVERFI to survey over 200 global HR professionals. The results were illuminating and worth sharing. Let’s explore some of our key findings.

DE&I efforts drop off after hiring

The majority of HR pros (69%) believe inclusive hiring and onboarding practices have a positive impact on a company’s brand and contribute to greater employee wellbeing. That’s the good news.

However, our research shows that DE&I efforts drop off significantly once employees are hired. This mismatch indicates that employers are failing to recognize the true importance of embedding inclusivity into every stage of the hiring process. These efforts should be enterprise-wide at every stage for every employee journey, before anyone has applied and until retirement and beyond.

People-first employers should be onboarding and training to retain the diverse teams they are building and prioritizing during the recruiting process.

Promising progress with consistent onboarding

It’s not all bad news, though. Over half of employers (54%) say they offer a consistent and inclusive onboarding experience. While there’s more progress to be made, this is an indication that companies are recognizing the important role inclusive onboarding plays in building and retaining all employees.

DE&I in action: Steps to take

Setting new hires up for success isn’t a nice-to-have. Great onboarding is a must to ensure that employees are productive and active members of the company faster and immediately ingrained in the company culture.

So how can you make your onboarding process as robust, engaging and inclusive as possible?

Applying these learnings and actioning on the items above are the first steps to a great onboarding process that is not only inclusive, but extremely effective.

Access the full data from the survey, "Mitigating biases when building a diverse team," by downloading the infographic through the form on the right.

If you’re looking for more expert guidance on how to learn from this data, tune in to our upcoming March 29 (US/CAN) and March 30 (EMEA) webinar, How to reduce bias and improve your DE&I.