Diversity and Inclusion Executive Summary
In an effort to explore the adoption and impact of diversity and inclusion initiatives within IT departments, TEKsystems surveyed more than 250 IT leaders (i.e., chief information officers, IT vice presidents, IT directors, IT hiring managers) and 500 IT professionals in April 2016. In this summary, we present the results of the survey and our analysis thereof. Overall, the research shows that IT departments are lagging in their adoption of formal diversity programs and not leveraging them as a business-driven initiative. At the same time, leaders express dissatisfaction in their ability to fill open IT positions with qualified candidates, but don t appear to see the use of diversity initiatives as a potential solution to these hiring challenges. Finally, there seems to be a delta between how IT leaders and IT professionals perceive the effectiveness of diversity initiatives and programs, with IT leaders overall being more positive regarding the integration of diversity programs while IT professionals are less so. Diversity and Inclusion TEKsystems.com 2
Diversity: Compliance or Initiative? An important distinction to make is that a formal diversity policy is most likely an HR compliance requirement, associated with programs like Equal Employment Opportunity, whereas employing diversity as a business initiative tends to be driven by the executive arm of the business. Utilized as an initiative, diversity is a way to increase competitiveness and attract more and better talent, as well as become more attractive to prospective partners and clients. [IT Leaders] Diversity is a business initiative at my company. Strongly agree Agree 35% 26% Disagree 17% Strongly disagree [IT Leaders] Q. Does your company have a formal diversity policy? 3 48% Yes No I don t know Less than half of IT leaders indicate their organizations have prioritized diversity as a business initiative (48 percent) or have a formal diversity program in place (39 percent). Of companies that indicated a formal policy is in place, three-quarters (75 percent) are with companies with revenues greater than $1 billion. Additional results from the survey indicate that 70 percent of IT leaders are not concerned with being audited for diversity compliance. TEKsystems believes this indicates many IT departments view diversity initiatives mainly as a non-enforced workforce compliance requirement, not as a talent sourcing initiative, and helps explain why IT departments lag in their diversity efforts compared to other parts of the organization (e.g., executive staff, marketing, sales). Diversity and Inclusion TEKsystems.com 3
[IT Leaders] Q. How concerned are you about being audited for your diversity compliance by, for example, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP)? Extremely concerned 4% Moderately concerned 4% Somewhat concerned Slightly concerned Not concerned 70% Companies who indicate they have a formal diversity policy by 2015 revenue $0 to $249 million 5% $250 million to $499 million 8% $500 million to $999 million 12% $1 billion to $10 billion 37% More than $10 billion 38% Diversity and Inclusion TEKsystems.com 4
A Shifting Talent Pool A 2015 TEKsystems IT skills gap survey found that 80 percent of IT leaders require more time than anticipated to fill open positions due to a lack of qualified candidates. On average, companies are taking about 52 days to fill open positions and up to 70 to fill executive-level openings. The high demand for IT talent has given IT professionals more leverage when selecting positions, keeping these vacancies open longer than in past years. [IT Leaders ] Q. How difficult is it for you to find IT talent for your open positions? 4% 5% 22% 43% Very difficult Difficult Somewhat difficult Not very difficult Not difficult Don t know [IT Leaders] Q. How satisfied are you with the quality of the candidates you receive for your open IT positions? Very satisfied 17% Somewhat satisfied 52% 16% Dissatisfied Very dissatisfied 2% Diversity and Inclusion TEKsystems.com 5
[IT Leaders] Q. In the course of filling EACH position, how frequently is the need to address diversity goals ACTIVELY discussed as part of the fulfillment process? Always Often Sometimes 35% Rarely 17% Never 30% Organizations who report diversity as a business initiative are 29 percent less likely to have difficulty finding IT talent and 83 percent more likely to say they are very satisfied with the quality of the candidates they receive for their open positions. Less than one-fifth (18 percent) of IT leaders indicate they actively (always/often) reinforce the need to address diversity as part of the ongoing hiring and talent evaluation process. Almost three-quarters (70 percent) of IT leaders find it difficult to fill open roles in their department and only 17 percent indicate high satisfaction with the candidates they receive for those roles. This, coupled with the low emphasis on diversity within IT, indicates that IT departments are struggling to staff their teams with qualified IT professionals and have not effectively begun to leverage diversity programs to recalibrate their talent pool. Differing Perspectives on Diversity Program Effectiveness In comparing IT leader and IT professional opinions on diversity program effectiveness, a pattern emerges where leaders consistently rate these programs as being more effective than IT professionals do. While 45 percent of leaders think their departments have been successful in integrating diversity efforts into normal operations, only 38 percent of professionals share that opinion. The delta regarding their workplaces being inclusive is even larger while approximately two-thirds (65 percent) of leaders believe it is inclusive, only 53 percent of IT professionals share that opinion. Additionally, more professionals (39 percent) think diversity efforts need to be improved than leaders (35 percent). Diversity and Inclusion TEKsystems.com 6
A 2015 retention strategy survey by TEKsystems also revealed an 8 percent difference in the perceived importance of diversity and inclusion programs in retaining IT professionals. These deltas are likely driven by diversity and inclusion initiatives being a fairly recent development for many IT organizations. Given that formal diversity programs are more common in larger organizations and that organizational size can impact the length of time until programs become truly effective, it is logical that leaders, who are closer to strategy, rate their effectiveness higher than IT professionals, who have yet to see the impact. Leadership at my company makes it very clear that diversity and inclusion initiatives are a critical aspect of company strategy. Strongly agree Agree 21% 23% 24% 32% 14% 32% Disagree 18% 18% Strongly disagree 5% IT Leaders IT Pros Diversity and Inclusion TEKsystems.com 7
My IT department has been successful at integrating diversity efforts into regular operations (e.g., celebrates diverse holidays and cultures, supports employee resource groups). Strongly agree Agree 14% 22% 23% 24% 23% 32% Disagree 23% 21% Strongly disagree IT Leaders IT Pros My company creates a highly inclusive workplace. Strongly agree 22% 22% Agree 31% 43% 28% Disagree 12% Strongly disagree 7% IT Leaders IT Pros Diversity and Inclusion TEKsystems.com 8
My company needs to do more from a diversity and inclusion perspective. Strongly agree 22% 1 Agree 20% 30% 30% Disagree 18% 26% Strongly disagree IT Leaders IT Pros Conclusion Overall, the results indicate IT leaders are optimistic about the diversity initiatives they have in place, even though they do not seem to be using them to full advantage. Although IT leaders and professionals don t necessarily see eye to eye on how well diversity programs are represented, as well as their overall effectiveness, more than half of all IT professionals surveyed agree or strongly agree that leadership places importance on diversity in the workplace. A survey by Forbes Insights on global diversity and inclusion found that one of the top four barriers reported by leaders of diversity and inclusion programs was the lack of perceived connection between diversity and business drivers. We want people in the company that have differing ideas, differing experiences, differing opinions, because we need to solve our customers problems. Diversity and inclusion will make us that much more competitive in the marketplace. Denise Ramos CEO, ITT Corporation Diversity and Inclusion TEKsystems.com 9
Organizations are also starting to broaden their view of diversity to move past traditional defining characteristics, such as gender or ethnicity, in order to cultivate inclusiveness and better benefit from the results of these initiatives. For example, thought diversity includes allowing for individuals of different backgrounds, cultures, countries, level of education and so forth, to drive innovation and contribute to thought leadership. Creating an environment where individuals recruited for their diversity feel included and therefore able to express the qualities that make them diverse is where these initiatives begin to show fruit, as the research from McKinsey & Company indicates that diverse groups often outperform experts. But in order to get to that point, organizations have to start at the beginning, in their screening and recruiting processes, and identify ways to diversify their talent pool. They will also need to make themselves more attractive to diverse talent, as the current market allows highly qualified IT workers many options in their choice of employer. About TEKsystems People are at the heart of every successful business initiative. At TEKsystems, we understand people. Every year we deploy over 80,000 IT professionals at 6,000 client sites across North America, Europe and Asia. Our deep insights into IT talent management enable us to help our clients achieve their business goals while optimizing their IT workforce strategies. We provide IT staffing solutions, IT talent management expertise and IT services to help our clients plan, build and run their critical business initiatives. Through our range of quality-focused delivery models, we meet our clients where they are, and take them where they want to go, the way they want to get there. For more information visit TEKsystems.com. Diversity and Inclusion TEKsystems.com 10