Maybe it’s still the tidal flow from the impact of George Floyd’s murder in 2020 that keeps washing DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) back onshore for employers. Yes, the tide has retreated in the workplace due to last year’s reversal of affirmative action and, unfortunately, how politically and socially divisive DEI has become. Even the largest HR organization, SHRM, dropped “equity” from DEI and said they would lead with inclusion because everyone has a right to feel they belong in the workplace and that they are included.
Regardless of where you sit on this and whether or not your company has dissolved or downsized your DEI leadership and/or teams and/or initiatives, DEI headcount remains far above where it was just four years ago, and nearly 60% of executives say their organizations have increased their DEI commitment and level of activity to some degree since 2022. The benefits of DEI (including equity) initiatives are many for organizations big and small across industries, including attracting and retaining their workforce.
Companies with strong DEI programs are still more attractive to the highly qualified and those who want to feel welcome and belong—not just on day one but on day 100 and beyond. Many job seekers prioritize inclusive workplaces where they feel respected and valued.
That’s why we’ve seen in our annual CandE Benchmark Research for the past few years, including this year, for which we’re still collecting data, that in addition to salary and benefits, candidates from all different demographics have told us that company values are the most important attributes they’re looking for in an employer. There are many other things job candidates are consuming before applying, but values remain number one.
Do the company’s values align with my values? According to our candidate experience research, most candidates ask themselves this question more so than before the pandemic. We believe that the huge investments in DEI employer branding that started in 2020 continue to impact the hearts and minds of job seekers from all backgrounds. However, not everyone perceives these changes positively, particularly those who feel excluded.
So far in 2024, our candidate experience research shows that females, people of color (Asian, Black/African American, and Hispanic/Latinx), and younger candidates (Gen Z) rated their experiences more positively than older generations, male candidates, and White/Caucasian candidates (see table below). The 2024 data includes only professional candidates, excluding hourly or management roles. We focused on professional candidates for this article because professional hiring has been more challenging and sluggish than hourly hiring over the past six months, as reflected in our CandE Pulse research. Additionally, the overall sentiment among professional candidates has been more negative than in 2023.
Our CandE Score sorts the table above – a unique rating in our industry – as no other comprehensive cumulative NPS-like rating captures candidate sentiment and perception of fairness like it. It’s a calculation of four key ratings we measure every year: Overall Rating, Willingness to Apply Again, Willingness to Refer Others, and Likelihood of Changing Relationship Status with the Employer. Ultimately, the CandE Score is an NPS rating on the +100 to -100 scale. It’s also how we determine which employers win our coveted CandE Awards each year.
As you can see, all the ratings above, including the CandE Score, are less than 50. This is because 90% of our candidate responses are from those who didn’t get hired, hence the negative skew. It’s also important to note that candidates who identified as Non-Binary, Native American / Alaskan Native, and others were very small samples in our data. Also, gender, generation, race, and ethnicity are the only demographics we currently capture that are beyond work-related segmentation (job type, etc.).
The question then becomes, what’s the why of the above? Again, values are the big winner here, especially on the marketing end. The recruitment marketing content rated highest by women, people of color, and younger candidates in our benchmark research last year included:
Once we finish collecting the 2024 data through the end of August, we’ll begin writing our 2024 CandE Benchmark Research and see where all these insights land this year. It most likely will be similar. A myriad of variables, some of which we measure, impact the candidate journey, candidate sentiment, and overall perception of fairness across demographics.
What we do know is that those demographics above who had the highest CandE Scores had the highest Research NPS Ratings in our data. This means how candidates rated the candidate journey at the point of researching prior to applying for a job. One exception was the fact that males rated their Research NPS Rating 29% higher than females (43 vs. 32) but still had a 31% lower overall CandE Score than females (12.1 vs. 16.5).
Candidate resentment – the percentage of candidates who stated they had a poor candidate experience and aren’t willing to apply again, refer others, be brand advocates, or even be customers for B2C companies – is also lower from the demographics as mentioned above when you review the table. In fact, female candidate resentment is 34% lower than male candidate resentment (12% vs. 17%), which is quite the difference.
Another interesting takeaway from our data this year is that the demographics with the highest CandE Scores also had the lowest percentage of applying for the professional jobs they were researching in the first place. For example, Asian candidates applied for 24% fewer jobs than White / Caucasian candidates (65% vs. 83%). It’s possible that certain groups had more discriminating palettes before applying. But again, there are so many variables impacting every decision candidates make in the journey.
We want to explore these further in our research reports this year. Until then, the tides of DEI keep washing over the candidate experience throughout the candidate journey, especially at the marketing and branding stages. It’s clear in our CandE Benchmark Research from the past few years that historically marginalized groups in the workforce – females and people of color – have had a more positive and fair candidate experience overall for professional roles, as well as hourly and management (future research articles). When we begin our final analysis this year, we will further explore what differentiates these groups across all job types.
