How HR Can Harness AI to Advance DE&I

October 23, 2023 – In today’s rapidly evolving corporate landscape, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) have emerged as crucial imperatives. Corporations worldwide are recognizing the inherent value of fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce, not only as a matter of ethics but also as a strategic advantage. Darryl Miller and Sunil Gandhi of The Taplow Group says in a new report that CHROs across the landscape seek to find tools to advance their organization’s progress in the utilization of best practices to continue progress. “Artificial intelligence (AI), with its transformative capabilities, is poised to play a pivotal role in advancing DEI initiatives within corporations,” they said.

The Taplow Group report seeks to explore how AI can facilitate the enhancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion in corporate settings.

Talent Acquisition and Recruitment 

One of the most critical aspects of DEI in corporations is talent acquisition, according to The Taplow Group report. “AI can revolutionize recruitment processes by eliminating human biases. AI-driven recruitment tools can screen resumes, conduct initial interviews, and assess candidate suitability without regard to gender, ethnicity, or other personal characteristics,” the report said. “This not only has the potential to produce results in more equitable hiring but also broadens the talent pool by identifying exceptional candidates who may have been overlooked in traditional processes.”

Inclusive Language and Content

The Taplow Group report also explains that this broadens the perspective of corporations to foster an inclusive environment through its natural language processing (NLP) capabilities. “It can be programmed to identify and rectify biased or discriminatory language in corporate communications, thereby ensuring that internal and external content is inclusive and respectful,” The Taplow Group said. “This contributes to the creation of an inclusive corporate culture.”

Enhanced Employee Training and Development

Ideally, when aligned with personalized learning platforms AI can cater to the individual needs of employees, The Taplow Group report explains. “These platforms can identify knowledge gaps and recommend training programs based on the employee’s career aspirations and strengths, ensuring equitable access to growth opportunities,” said the study. “Moreover, this can provide accessibility features for differently abled employees, such as generating transcriptions for video content or suggesting alternative learning methods.”

Related: Why Finding Diverse Talent Remains a Challenge

Predictive Analytics for Retention

The Taplow Group report notes that one of the most significant potential outcomes is found in being a valuable tool in predicting factors that lead to employee turnover. “By analyzing historical data, patterns can be identified that are indicative of dissatisfaction or discrimination,” the search consortium said. “HR departments can use this insight to proactively address issues and create more productive onboarding systems that lead to a more inclusive workplace. Furthermore, AI-driven surveys and sentiment analysis tools can help in collecting anonymous feedback, giving employees a safe space to voice their concerns.”

Using Analytics for Executive Search
As the competition for highly skilled talent intensifies, companies are turning to big data and analytics to gain a competitive edge. With the help of these tools, businesses can now identify top candidates with precision and speed, reducing the time and resources required to fill executive-level positions. By measuring data on the success of previous hires, companies can improve the quality of future hires by identifying key attributes and characteristics that have led to success in the past. Predictive analytics is also becoming increasingly popular in executive recruitment. By analyzing data on past hiring trends, companies are building predictive models that can identify potential future trends and help them make more informed decisions about recruitment strategies. These models can provide valuable insights into the types of candidates that are most likely to succeed in particular roles and within certain industries.

But big data and analytics are not just about improving outcomes – they can also play a crucial role in improving company culture and promoting diverse hiring decisions. By analyzing data on employee engagement and retention, companies can identify areas where they may need to make changes to improve the overall employee experience. Additionally, by analyzing data on past hiring practices, companies can identify areas where they may be falling short in terms of diversity and inclusion, and take steps to improve their hiring processes.

Pay Equity and Compensation

In corporations that are already collecting and analyzing compensation data, AI Tools can be used to cost effectively analyze the data and identify disparities based on gender, race, or other factors, according to The Taplow Group. The report says that by flagging such disparities, corporations can implement corrective actions to overtime rectify them, ensuring that all employees are compensated fairly for their work, thereby promoting equity.

Bias Mitigation

The most optimistic outcome would be when designed and trained carefully, AI can aid in reducing biases in decision-making processes. For example, The Taplow Group says that AI algorithms, when universally accepted as a performance evaluation tool, be used to mitigate bias in performance evaluations by focusing solely on objective, data-driven criteria. “This ensures that promotion and rewards are granted fairly, without any implicit prejudice,” the report said.

Challenges and Considerations

While AI has the potential to be a considerable to for CHRO’s across the globe in advancing DEI initiatives, the report notes that there are also challenges to consider as the following only represents some of these challenges to AI being the silver bullet to solving the myriad of DEI obstacles:

Data Bias. Like all data driven tools AI systems are only as good as the data they are trained on. If the training data is biased, the AI system can perpetuate or even exacerbate existing biases.

Ethical Concerns. The use of AI in HR and DEI initiatives raises ethical questions about employee privacy and consent. It’s crucial to ensure that AI is used in ways that respect these concerns.

Human Oversight. AI should complement human decision-making, not replace it entirely. There should always be a human in the loop to oversee AI-driven processes. As such each of our individual biases will always factor into the decision and implementation process for good and bad.

“Artificial Intelligence is a potent tool for advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in corporations but just a tool in the larger CHRO’s toolbox,” The Taplow Group report said. “The potent tool will require a greater understanding of its potential impact on advancing DEI across the corporate landscape. By addressing inherent human biases and automating processes that can be made more equitable, AI can help create a more inclusive workplace.”

“However, it’s important to be mindful of potential landmines and ensure that AI is implemented with transparency, ethics, and a commitment to the overarching goal of fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in corporate environments,” the report said. “With the right approach, AI can become a powerful force for positive change in the corporate world, benefiting both employees and the bottom line.”

Established in 2002, The Taplow Group has locations across six continents in 21 countries. Its partner firms offer executive search, human capital, board advisory, and executive interim services across multiple industry sectors. The Taplow Group is present in Europe, America, Africa, Oceania, and Asia-Pacific, with 45 offices. Countries covered include: Australia, Brazil, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, India, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the U.K., and the U.S.

Mr. Miller has over 30 years of business growth, executive search, HR executive leadership and management consulting experience across several industries including consumer package goods, financial services, non-profit, media & entertainment, life sciences and management consulting. His search have included general management, HR, legal and professional services, marketing, sales and business development, product management, and business development.

Mr. Gandhi over 20 years of executive search, HR consulting, and management experience across the technology sector. He has a track record recruiting senior leadership in areas such as cyber/information security, digital transformation, IoT, cloud, virtualization, AI and machine learning, infrastructure and analytics for a variety of industries including, but not limited to, banking & financial services, insurance, manufacturing, high tech, healthcare, consumer goods, and travel & logistics.

Related: How to Use AI to Stand Out to Executive Search Consultants

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; and Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media