Consultants as a Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
Highlights
Diversity and inclusion strategies often fail to meet objectives.
Increasing diversity by supplementing your current workforce through the resources of a consultant offers a practical way to support a more diverse workforce today and build a bridge to the future.
As a woman-owned firm with a long-term commitment to diversity, Prime 8 consulting has the people and expertise to help organizations of all kinds meet their diversity and inclusion goals.
Diversity and inclusion strategy is in the hearts and on the minds of company leaders these days, and for good reason. It’s proven that a diverse workplace is more productive, more innovative, and more profitable than those that aren’t. Yet, many companies struggle when it comes to building a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Consultants may be the answer to overcoming this hiring challenge.
For 16 years, Prime 8 has embraced diversity. Starting with our own practices, our approach to hiring helps our client organizations foster a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
Meeting the Diversity and Inclusion Challenge
For most companies, finding the right way to implement and maintain a diversity and inclusion strategy is no easy task — in part because of two seemingly contradictory developments:
Widespread acceptance of the need for more diversity and inclusion. Despite getting caught up in political crosswinds, a majority of U.S. workers (56%) say focusing on diversity and inclusion at work is a good thing, according to the Pew Research Center,
Increasing awareness that current approaches to diversity and inclusion are not working. For example, an analysis of data from 829 firms over three decades showed that instead of improving things, the usual tools — diversity training, hiring tests, performance ratings, grievance systems — lead to a worse situation: a decline in the proportion of women and minorities in management.
These traditional tactics are not just falling short on results; they can lead to backlash. Even people who support a more diverse and inclusive workforce are rebelling against rules they see as restricting their freedom and autonomy.
What’s the solution? What strategies can be implemented to build on the overall acceptance of diversity and inclusion and make it an achievable, everyday reality?
Realistically, as recent history should tell us, there is no simple solution. Despite the support for a more diverse workforce, legacy organizational structures and entrenched managerial attitudes are not easily changed. Also, diversity efforts have proved highly vulnerable to changing market and economic conditions: when things get tight, they often are among the first to take a hit.
While there is no simple, long-term solution to creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce, there is a simple, practical, flexible option that can work across a range of environments and deliver results: add to your diversity by supplementing your workforce with consultants.
Supporting a Diversity and Inclusion Strategy Using Consultants — The Prime 8 Way
At first glance, it may seem like an unorthodox idea, leveraging consultants — a contingent workforce — to meet diversity goals, but we’re seeing it more and more. And to us, as consultants, it makes complete sense.
At Prime 8, we’re engaged by clients for a variety of reasons — to address specific skill gaps, leverage our track record with certain kinds of projects, or provide the people needed to get something done in a short period of time. These are all different motivating factors, but they have one thing in common: Clients have a vision of where they want to go but lack the internal resources to get there.
And that’s essentially where many organizations are right now when it comes to their diversity strategy.
Of course, you can’t do this with just any consultant. A consultant 100% focused on providing a specific kind of tech skill is probably not going to be much help in meeting diversity goals. You want an organization such as Prime 8.
WHY PRIME 8 FOR DIVERSITY
As a woman-owned company, a commitment to a diverse workforce is in our DNA, literally. And it’s not just about our identity. We believe it’s core to what has made us successful as a company.
Established in 2006, our whole focus is helping companies turn ideas into action — implementing organizational change and making effective use of the latest practices and business thinking.
Clients hire us for our innovative thinking and creative problem-solving. You don’t get that in stale work situations where people are just showing up. You get it in a dynamic and inclusive workforce where people feel engaged and trusted and their contributions respected.
That’s why you want to work with Prime 8. We provide access to a pool of diverse talent that a company might not be able to access on its own.
CULTIVATING DIVERSE CONSULTING TALENT
We incorporate a diversity focus into every stage of our consultants’ lifecycle, from recruiting to placing and retaining great talent. This is our secret sauce and the reason why we have a dependable pool of qualified candidates.
RECRUITING DIVERSE TALENT
We have amazing recruiters at Prime 8 who are skilled at leveraging a range of strategies to identify, qualify, and pipeline great candidates in a timely manner. We meet prospective consultants “where they are,” leveraging modern marketing tactics, participating in online special interest groups and attending virtual events.
One of the benefits of being a diverse organization is having a built-in referral network of current and past consultants who connect our recruiters to professionals from different age, race, and ethnic groups.
PLACING DIVERSE TALENT
While we place consultants with clients based on the required skill set, our talent pool uniquely positions us to showcase a range of diverse candidate resumes for clients to choose from.
Currently, 66% of our workforce is female (including 54.5% of our leadership at the director level and above) and 33% of our employees come from racial and ethnic minority groups. Whether you are gearing up for a one-off project or a long-term engagement, we’re ready.
RETAINING DIVERSE TALENT
Creating an organization where people want to be is something we think about a lot. Losing great people is costly. Like many companies, great benefits and skill-building opportunities are a standard part of our strategy, but here’s where I think we stand out for diverse consulting professionals:
A culture of belonging. When people feel welcome and have a place at the table, they are more likely to be engaged, be committed to their work, and want to stick around. Over and over, we hear people say they have found a home with us. Check out our Glassdoor reviews!
A culture of community. We work hard to let our consultants know they’re a valued part of our community. We actively seek out opportunities to recognize consultants company-wide and provide cash rewards for big wins and innovations. We’ve created a platform for engaging and sharing on professional and personal topics, and we host fun projects and virtual community events. Most importantly, we provide transparency into our business, so every Prime 8 consultant feels that they’re part of the family.
High-quality project assignments and job security. Consultants at many of our competitor firms work as independent contractors. This isn’t our model at Prime 8. Here, we want to provide more job security for our people, so every consultant is a W2 employee. Our clients are some of the biggest names in business who need consultants to work on cool, impactful, resume-building assignments.
How to Incorporate Consultants into Your Diversity and Inclusion Strategy
Taking advantage of consultants to reach your diversity goals isn’t a magic wand; it doesn’t absolve organizations of the long-term work that needs to be done to make a diverse and inclusive workforce an everyday reality. It’s really a bridge to the future, and like any bridge, it needs to be carefully planned and well-constructed.
As you consider relying on a consultant such as Prime 8 to help meet your diversity goals, keep the following in mind:
What are the diversity gaps that you want to address within your organization? What are you missing now?
What are realistic diversity and inclusion metrics you will use to measure your success, not just in one project but over a reasonable period of time, say one to three years?
How will diversity and inclusion impact your organization internally and externally? What will be the impact on internal collaboration? How will it affect external outcomes, such as new products or services?
What strategies will you use to support open dialogue so your employees and those of your consultant can discuss issues related to diversity and inclusion?
What are your plans for recognizing individuals or teams who make significant contributions to diversity and inclusion?
Consultants can be a useful asset in shaping your diversity and inclusion efforts, but they are not a substitute for a committed, long-term strategy. Keep your objectives clear and measurable throughout the collaborative process.
Consultants as a Diversity and Inclusion Strategy? Yes!
Creating a more diverse workforce doesn’t happen overnight; it’s a journey. Your needs and challenges will evolve, and your diversity and inclusion strategy has to adapt accordingly. That’s why we believe making use of a consultant to address immediate needs makes good sense. It’s a way to get started and build the momentum needed to sustain you over the long haul.
To learn how our talented pool of consultants can help your company solve your business challenges and create a diversity and inclusion strategy that works for you, contact Prime 8 today.
