The Dilemma

One of DZConneX’s (DZX) clients, a major multinational digital entertainment conglomerate, was looking to track diversity metrics for the first time. This data was not currently available to them so they reached out to DZX for help. The goal? To track whether or not contingent workers and candidates were diverse and whether or not they were a veteran. From there, DZX would look into the best way to consistently track this data.

The Strategy

DZX immediately got to work and quickly discovered that we had a solution to track contingent worker diversity through the Vendor Management System (VMS). By adding additional fields to our reporting, we would be able to efficiently track this data going forward. The client requested that we add three additional fields to the VMS for their workers - a field asking whether the worker was diverse, whether they were a veteran or not and if so, what their veteran status was (active duty, disabled veteran, protected veteran, etc.) This quickly solved the first request for our client, to track the diversity status for their workers.

When it came to tracking candidate diversity, DZX had to take a more manual approach with OFCCP tracking. This would give us the opportunity to look at candidate diversity for the requisitions that came through but this reporting would not go directly through the VMS. Instead, the PMO has to keep an ongoing spreadsheet to track this data. Tracking candidate diversity can help provide insight into which requisitions are reaching diverse talent. From there, we have the opportunity to expose job postings that might not be reaching diverse talent to diverse communities by utilizing technology - whether it’s by updated employment branding initiatives, search engine optimization, artificial intelligence tools or social media site integration.

Both Contingent workers and candidates are not required to answer any of questions related to their diversity status but the client was hoping that this could still help provide some insight into diversity in their workforce.

The Impact

DZX was able to instantly start tracking contingent worker data automatically by utilizing the VMS. And although the candidate diversity has taken a more manual approach, we were still able to provide the insights that our client was looking for. Our experts created a regular cadence of monthly reporting as well as presenting the results in quarterly business reviews. The client currently does not have any specific goals or KPI’s in place, other than trying to increase diversity, but they are considering setting formal KPI’s and goals in the future with DZX’s assistance. Diversity is one of DZX’s core values; diverse businesses, talent opportunities and DEI-centric solutions are key to achieving success. A DZX customer's workforce strategy isn’t complete without an action plan centered on the attraction, development and retention of employees representing all dimensions of diversity.