How to use talent pool data to set realistic DEI goals

Many large companies publicly announce their minority representation goals. They proudly report every percentage point increase in their annual diversity reports and celebrate new diverse hires.

Most of them set these goals because they are being pushed by the public and DEI activists who tend to criticize large companies for systemic sexism, racism and misrepresentation. The problem is that most of these numbers are announced under societal pressure, without taking into account the size and the composition of the talent pools, current workforce composition, retention rates, and growth projection among different positions and demographic groups, as well as biases embedded in existing hiring practices that impact hiring and representation.

When companies try to achieve these goals to please the public, they often realize that it takes much longer than expected. To boost the process, some of them create hidden preferences, quotas for minorities, bonuses for diversity etc., which lead to a growing sense of tension between different demographic groups and a declining sense of inclusion within a company.

In his presentation, Kostyantyn Gridin will lay out the methodology of setting realistic diversity goals and will talk about ways to create more transparency in achieving them.