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In January, our then-new CEO asked if we should have a Rooney Rule to increase racial diversity in hiring. (Yes, she’s a dream.) Here’s how I approached the question & what I’m thinking now in case it’s helpful as you consider new #DEI policies for 2021./1
January 2020 reflections:
The NFL’s Rooney Rule is a hiring policy that requires teams to interview at least one candidate of color for head coaching positions. The Rule has failed to yield diversity 17 years after its adoption./2
https://www.google.com/search?q=rooney+rule&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwitucaGmpbnAhVEK80KHcoLAtkQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1800&bih=986
The NFL’s Rooney Rule is a hiring policy that requires teams to interview at least one candidate of color for head coaching positions. The Rule has failed to yield diversity 17 years after its adoption./2
https://www.google.com/search?q=rooney+rule&source=lnms&tbm=nws&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwitucaGmpbnAhVEK80KHcoLAtkQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1800&bih=986
That being said, numerous companies have adopted the rule or a variation of it in the name of diversity best practices. To assess if Upwork should institute our own version of the Rooney Rule, we analyzed the pros and cons of this rule and of diversity mandates more broadly./3
We also leveraged our own data to assess the potential impact of a Rooney-type rule for our company./4
PROS
Can help increase the odds of hiring a candidate of color
Can demonstrate an authentic top-down commitment to diversity
Can potentially drive more accountability for diversity in hiring
/5
Can help increase the odds of hiring a candidate of color Can demonstrate an authentic top-down commitment to diversity Can potentially drive more accountability for diversity in hiring/5
CONS
X Isn’t a panacea for mitigating common hiring process biases
X Doesn’t change diversity odds if the mandate is for just one candidate of color
X Mandated diversity efforts can spur counterproductive backlash
/6
X Isn’t a panacea for mitigating common hiring process biases
X Doesn’t change diversity odds if the mandate is for just one candidate of color
X Mandated diversity efforts can spur counterproductive backlash
/6
Two months into my role, I also needed us to answer two foundational questions to inform our decision: /7
Q1: What is diversity at Upwork?
The beauty & complexity of diversity is that it can literally mean anything. Of course, all team members matter but we needed to align on which demographics were strategic priority./8
The beauty & complexity of diversity is that it can literally mean anything. Of course, all team members matter but we needed to align on which demographics were strategic priority./8
Once we aligned on priorities, we needed to ensure that those populations had the ability to self identify in our HRIS and that our demographic reports regularly tracked how folks from those populations were moving in, up, and out of our organization. /9
Q2: Is retention or recruiting our bigger challenge?
Diversity is an outcome, a byproduct of whom we hire and who exits our company. To help dissect where we should be investing our attention, we examined our 2019 internal labor market movement for employees of color./10
Diversity is an outcome, a byproduct of whom we hire and who exits our company. To help dissect where we should be investing our attention, we examined our 2019 internal labor market movement for employees of color./10
We found that attrition was a more significant barrier to diversity than hiring.
So, my recommendations in January were to:
1) Invest strategic time & attention into interrogating the root causes of our retention challenges. /11
So, my recommendations in January were to:
1) Invest strategic time & attention into interrogating the root causes of our retention challenges. /11
That inspired this beautiful pre-pandemic day: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/black-employees-deserve-day-erin-l-thomas-phd/
and these subsequent analyses: https://www.upwork.com/resources/cultivating-an-antiracist-company-culture
/12
and these subsequent analyses: https://www.upwork.com/resources/cultivating-an-antiracist-company-culture
/12
2) Equip managers with the right education, tools and systems to engage and reward talent from all backgrounds — and then hold them highly accountable for their people’s outcomes./13
Some inside scoop: I also didn’t love the idea of my debut as our DIBs leader being to issue an obligatory mandate. It just felt premature. I think if we had done that 11 months ago, the rule would’ve been manipulated into a check-the-box exercise just as it has in the NFL./14
January 2021:
How am I thinking about this as we prepare for 2021? A lot has changed: 2020 accelerated our insights, enlightenment & bias for action. And I now lead both our DIBs & Talent Acquisition functions.
For 2021, we're focused on accountability ontology & swim lanes:/15
How am I thinking about this as we prepare for 2021? A lot has changed: 2020 accelerated our insights, enlightenment & bias for action. And I now lead both our DIBs & Talent Acquisition functions.
For 2021, we're focused on accountability ontology & swim lanes:/15
1) At the company level, we have a representation goal. That company goal is the aggregate of departmental goals, which were set using our forecasted hiring plan, existing dept. representation, and 2020 hiring funnel passthrough rate data spliced by demographics./16
Importantly, these goals are aggressive, unequivocal and context specific. We say Black, Indigenous and/or Latinx where we mean it vs. enabling demographics to get lost under large banners like “underrepresented” or “diverse.”/17
2) Talent Acquisition has a new-hire diversity goal and corresponding top of funnel representation targets and sourcing strategies./18
3) Managers will be accountable for bottom of funnel practices (adherence to our disciplined hiring protocols) and outcomes (the demographics of their hiring decisions)./19 https://twitter.com/ErinLThomasPhD/status/1322897404111314945?s=20
Importantly, we are empowering leaders and managers with more frequent and deeper data reviews because — just like Shakira's hips — the data don't lie./20
Conclusion: For us, a Rooney-type check and balance could be leveraged by individual managers to nudge hiring teams throughout each search but our top-down accountabilities should preclude the need and keep focus on our true outcomes, not approximations of it./21
It's tempting to try to expedite ambitious outcomes but if 2020 has taught us one thing, it's to slow down and critically examine the big picture. Remember to take the time you need to invest in the systems that make the most sense for your unique context. Hope this helps!/end
