Hi there. This is Cindy Lu with CHRO partners and I'm joined with Eric Mraz of R3S2 strategic search. And, today we're going to talk about diversity recruiting. So,  , Eric has,  , his firm has amazing track record with diversity recruiting, not even on purpose, just because of the proactive way they do things. And so we were talking to the other day about how a huge percentage of their hires in the last three years have been all diverse candidates.

And so, Eric, do you want to introduce your firm a bit and then we can get into how that happens and how others can make sure that they are, they've gotten, you know, diverse slates as well as high? Absolutely. Thanks for having me on Cindy I'm Eric. Whereas our three strategic search, we go by our three,

we're a routine search firm focused in the HR sales and technology space.  , and yeah, to your point about diversity metrics,  , 65%, uh, over the last three years of our hires have been diverse,  , which is pretty cool. All things considered right now,  , that it wasn't necessarily a plan intention. It was just,

we wanted to find the best people. Yeah. So,  , for those of you don't know, Eric and I used to work together, he was our, director of HR and, headed up talent and amazing at selecting,  , great talent and culture. And we were just running in and missing about a client that will remain unnamed,

but they were a global management consulting firm. And we started working with them actually during the last downturn. So about 10 years ago. And,  , they are having to do really well and grow during a bad recession cause they work on SGNA, expense management type of consulting. And so they had some pretty serious diversity metrics that they, their HR function was tied to.

Right. And so they brought us in and, put us on a project where we actually had our success bonuses tied to diverse slates. And I believe we did an amazing job hitting most of those metrics, except I think females were hard because it was a hundred percent travel job. Right, right. So, you know, I remember the metrics of like,

if it takes typically a hundred candidates like sourcing a hundred candidates to get one person hired, it would take us 200 candidates to make ensure that we had a diverse slate, right. To hit those numbers. And so luckily this client was great about putting their money where their mouth was, meaning like take the time. Did I just say that wrong? Take the time to,

 , to basically make sure that we have a diverse slate, you know, do what it takes to get a diverse slate. So, uh, they're a real pleasure to work with, but Eric maybe explain to us and I wasn't in the nitty gritty details the day to day, but how did, I mean, what's the methodology to ensure that you can have a diverse slate?

Yeah. Well, I think first and foremost, to, to your point about doubling up the number, it wasn't just about doubling up. I mean, we're talking about passive talent, so we weren't just sitting, waiting for a bunch of people to apply to postings. We were putting out there. I mean, it was a deliberate effort to say,

where are the people are that, you know, are going to have diversity in thoughts and background,  , and how are we going to find them. So,  , we spent a fair amount of time upfront, really doing the research,  , you know, what associations, what grad programs, because they required MBAs.  , that was part of the,

the litmus for those, those,  , and really looked around to, to incorporate,  , those into keyword searches into the bullying and sourcing we were doing,  , any way that we could uncover,  , connectivity to those groups, those associations,  , that diverse thought,  , was, was really kind of at the baseline of building in those sourcing efforts.

And then it was, it was time. I mean, ultimately, and it's your point? You know, the last thing a client wants to hear is this is gonna take a little more time.  , you know, we were bringing a lot of quality people to the table.  , but the difference was, you know, we wanted to make sure that,

that those slates included, diversity in them,, whether it was,, BiPAP or female hires.  , and so, yeah, I mean, it was great to be able to walk them through the process of what it takes to find the people and then what it takes to engage with those individuals.  , and then of course managing them through an assessment process to ensure that everyone was vetted equally and fairly and in what we were doing.

And so, you know, it typically I forget exactly what our, our time to fill was, but I mean, we had, we had hires that would normally take, you know, six to eight weeks that were pushing, you know, 12, 15, 16 weeks. Right. But, you know, we had the time to invest to do it,

um, which their own recruiting team didn't so yeah. So research, making sure, you know, when you're doing your Boolean searches and sourcing which organizations you wanted to include so that those candidates are coming up. So the second step is sourcing, like just being proactive, having the time to be proactive versus just waiting to see who responds to you and ad which for these kinds of roles,

right there, a hundred percent travel consulting roles, people weren't applying anyways.  , so the research, the proactive sourcing, and then just making sure that,  , you sort of set expectations with your hiring leaders for the extra time. It might take to get to these candidates to the table And help them understand the metrics too, behind what we're doing.

Right. This isn't just give us more time. It's let's you understand the quantity of talent that we are assessing and the time it's taking to assess each one of those profiles we come across,  , before we present them. And the landscape's changed quite a bit since that project years ago, as far as, you know, the tools that were available.

I mean, back then,  , there were hundreds of diversity quote unquote sites that you could source resumes from and find talent.  , and social media today has kind of leveled that playing field a little bit more.  , so it becomes less about, let's find someone from specific sites and more about, you know, what sort of natural language to someone have in their profile,

or what types of affiliations do they make that could ID them as somebody,  , that would,  , kind of fit that diversity Metro. Yeah. So,  , how do you think things have changed like today? Like, I don't know if you got directives from your clients for diverse lights or if it was just because, okay. Yeah.

So We have a consulting client that,  , they're in the technology space and they,  , specifically have said, we appreciate working with you because we in the past have not seen diversity in the candidates that come through.  , and maybe this is a little off color, but they kind of joke. They were like, you know, we don't want to hire just a bunch of old white guys.

and I mean for a client to say that and mean it, I mean, it was, it was significant. And so,  , you know, they were bought into how do we construct, you know, the position descriptions, how are we marketing to make sure that,  , you know, they, they appear as though they are welcoming and not just internally,

but to an external candidate.  , and then yeah, building that, that program up to make sure that we're finding those people. And again, I think the biggest shift for us that I've noticed from a sourcing perspective is you're not just going to a diversity site to hire a diversity candidate. There are plenty of sites still out there to do that.

but especially when it comes to passive talent, you know, you want to find the