What steps can HR take to become more diverse?

Listen as Rachel Davis uncovers the 7 things that HR leaders could and should be doing to tackle diversity.

HR needs to be doing something very different, part of that is to do with the relationship between CHRO and CEO. The DE&I agenda has to come from the top and if HR doesn't have real sponsorship, and if the CEO of the business hasn't given real accountability to HR then HR's hands continue to be tied.

That's a key step that businesses need to change. We talked a lot over the years; "isn't it great that HR finally has a seat at the top table." It doesn't, in all cases, still. But where it does, is it just that token voice or are the board and the leadership teams really listening?

HR should be advising the board of what they need to do and then holding them to account for it, but I suspect that just isn't the case. So you get the initiatives still going and we all know the initiatives just fizzle out over time and that's where you've got to change things, really. HR, ironically, have all the tools in their own house to fix some of this stuff; 

1. HR has to really focus on itself as a destination career.
2. Change the assumption about HR being a female-dominated nurturing profession.
3. EVP sits in HR, so start shouting about HR as a destination career.
4. HR needs to get a message across to diverse populations, by targeting schools and offering early-career advice.
5. HR holds L&D, think about training and retraining, reskilling people to come into HR in later life.
6. Succession planning for HR is critical, and it isn't right yet.
7. There's a huge onus on the CEO to stop thinking about H.R. as an administrative function and as an absolute core part of the strategic running of the business.

For more insight, visit our DE&I Resources hub to access our vast range of diversity and inclusion insights. Here you'll find industry insights, expert opinions and in-depth whitepapers highlighting how HR professionals around the world are addressing the push for diversity.