What Is DEI Hiring — and Why Does It Matter More Than Ever?

Businesses know that in this increasingly diverse and global workforce, talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. That’s where DEI hiring comes in.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) hiring isn’t just another buzzword in the human resources space — it’s a paradigm shift that helps organisations create real-world representative teams that are ultimately more innovative, productive, and future-proof.
So, let’s dig into what DEI hiring actually means, why it’s important, and how companies can make it a priority instead of a box to check.

What Is DEI Hiring?

DEI-focused hiring is a deliberate and methodical approach to attracting, evaluating, and hiring talent from all backgrounds, while dismantling the systemic practices that have excluded historically underrepresented groups. It is based on three core principles:

1. Diversity: Diversity in hiring means actively looking for individuals from a broad spectrum of backgrounds, identities, and experiences. This includes — but is not limited to — differences in race, ethnicity, gender, age, ability, neurodiversity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, education level, and a variety of non-visible differences. It’s about representation, but it’s not just that.

2. Equity: Equity is not equal and fair, because equal and the same are not equal and not fair. While equality treats everyone the same and gives them the same resources, equity ensures that everyone has what they need to thrive, recognising that some candidates come from different positions in life. In employment, this might include providing alternative formats for applications, accessible interviews, or targeted outreach for historically marginalised communities.

3. Inclusion: Inclusion, on the other hand, means that once a person has joined your team, they feel valued, respected, and heard. Inclusive hiring practices are more than jumping through hoops — they set the foundation for the sustained feeling of belonging and success within an organisation.

Why You Need to Hire for DEI

Those organisations that embrace DEI hiring go beyond checking a box: They create better businesses. Here's how:

1. Better Business Outcomes: McKinsey research has shown that firms in the top quartile for ethnic and gender diversity on executive teams are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.

2. Improvement in Innovation and Problem Solving: This is because diverse teams add different life experiences and mentalities to a common goal. This results in greater creativity, enhanced decision-making, and creative solutions.

3. A Wider Talent Pool: By prioritising inclusive hiring, you are no longer confining yourself to candidates with a specific school, background, or demographic—you’re expanding the pool of qualified applicants.

4. Stronger Employer Brand: Today’s job seekers, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, want to work for companies that not only profess to hold values but also embody them. Having a DEI hiring strategy will also enhance your reputation and make you more attractive as an employer.

DEI Hiring Around the ACTUAL World

Make Job Ads Inclusive: Utilise tools such as gender decoder or Textio to avoid gendered language and encourage more diverse candidates to apply.

Blind Recruitment: Names, pictures, and any other identifiers are removed to eliminate any unconscious bias while scanning through resumes.

Structured Interviews: This involves prompting all candidates with the same questions and grading them against a specific rubric to minimise subjectivity.

Diverse Job Boards Partnerships: Leveraging platforms such as DiverseJobsMatter to circulate job listings.

How to Approach DEI Hiring Strategy

Want to walk the talk? Here’s how to incorporate DEI in your hiring strategy:

1. Evaluate your Current Hiring Practices

Conduct industry job and interview, practice, analyse the audit hiring data, and identify candidate demographics. Where are the gaps?

2. Establish Practical, Measurable Objectives

Establish what success looks like for your business. Is it getting representation in leadership positions? Increasing neurodiverse hiring? Start small and scale up.

3. Educate Your Team

Providing training for recruiters and hiring managers in founded interviewing practices, the effects of unconscious bias, and how to cultivate an even candidate experience.

4. Expand Your Talent Sources

But only if you post jobs outside of the usual job boards. Join forces with organisations that champion women in tech, LGBTQ+ professionals, veterans, and beyond.

5. Measure and Iterate

Use tools that can track metrics such as applicant diversity, time to hire, retention, and promotion rates of underrepresented groups. DEI is not a one-off initiative, but rather a long-term journey.”

DEI Recruitment Is Everybody’s Job

HR may lead the charge for DEI, but inclusive hiring is up to anyone who makes decisions in your organisation. From CEO to hiring managers to peer interviewers, the process of hiring is a collective effort, playing a role in shaping a company’s culture and opportunities.

You must embed them if your organisation is serious about diversity and inclusion from the very first step of the employee journey: hiring.

DEI hiring isn’t a lowered bar. It’s about eliminating the barriers that unnecessarily keep talented people out of consideration in the first place. It’s about recognising that talent is multidimensional — and that organisations flourish when their teams mirror the rich biodiversity of the world around them.

By adopting a DEI hiring strategy, you are not only doing the right thing — you are creating a stronger, smarter, more sustainable business for the future.