Why do you need diversity metrics in the recruitment process? Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are not only ethical and social goals, but also strategic and competitive advantages for any organization. Having a diverse and inclusive workforce can help you attract and retain top talent, improve customer satisfaction, foster innovation and creativity, and enhance your reputation and performance.
However, achieving and maintaining DE&I is not an easy task. It requires a clear vision, a strong commitment, and a systematic approach. It also requires a way to measure your progress and evaluate your results. That’s where the diversity metrics come into your hiring process.
Diversity metrics are the quantitative values that help you assess your strategies and actions to achieve a more diverse workforce. They help you track your performance goals, identify gaps and opportunities for improvement, and optimize your resources and efforts.
In this article, we will explore why diversity metrics are important and what metrics you should measure to improve your DE&I efforts.
What are Diversity Metrics in Recruitment?
Diversity metrics in recruitment are the numerical values that help you measure the representation and inclusion of different groups of people in your hiring process and workforce. These groups can be based on various characteristics, such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, and so on.
Diversity metrics in recruitment can help you answer questions such as:
- How diverse is your talent pool?
- How diverse is your hiring team?
- How diverse are your hires?
- How diverse are your employees?
- How diverse are your leaders?
By tracking and analyzing these metrics, you can gain insights into your current state of DE&I, identify areas of improvement, set goals and targets, and evaluate the impact of your actions and initiatives. Moreover, diversity metrics in recruitment can also help you demonstrate your commitment to DE&I, enhance your employer brand, and comply with legal and ethical standards.
The Importance of Diversity Metrics
Organizations are responsible for ensuring that their staff reflects the communities they cater to and create an inclusive culture for them to become successful. Having your diversity and inclusion KPIs allows you to objectively measure your performance to help identify biases, fairness, and justice in the workplace.
Internally, knowing your DE&I metrics can help you pinpoint risks, set DE&I goals, prioritize strategies and evaluate the effects of your DEI programs. Diversity KPIs also show evidence that you are an equal and fair employer, strengthening employee satisfaction, employer branding, and reputation.
Externally, having a diverse workforce can help you reach out to more customers, understand their needs better, and offer them more innovative solutions. Diversity can also enhance your creativity, problem-solving, and decision-making skills as a team. [1]
Key Diversity Metrics
How can you measure diversity and inclusion in your organization? Here are some of the key diversity metrics that you should track:
1. Demographic Diversity
One of the most basic and common recruitment metrics for DE&I is demographic diversity, which refers to the representation of different groups of people in your workforce, such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, and so on.
Demographic diversity can be measured at different stages of the recruitment funnel, such as applicants, candidates, hires, and retention. By comparing the demographic diversity of your talent pool with your target market, industry benchmarks, and internal goals, you can identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.
2. Diversity Sourcing
Another important recruitment metric for DE&I is diversity sourcing, which measures the effectiveness of your outreach and attraction strategies to reach diverse talent. Diversity sourcing can be tracked by analyzing the sources of your applicants and candidates, such as job boards, social media, referrals, events, and so forth.
You can also measure the quality and conversion rate of each source, and the return on investment (ROI) of your diversity sourcing initiatives. Optimizing your diversity sourcing allows you to increase the quantity and quality of your diverse talent pipeline.
3. Diversity Hiring
The next recruitment metric for DE&I is diversity hiring, which measures the impact of your selection and hiring decisions on your diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. Diversity hiring can be tracked by calculating the percentage of diverse hires out of the total hires, and the percentage of diverse hires out of the diverse candidates.
In addition to that, you can compare the diversity hiring rate with the diversity offer rate, and the diversity acceptance rate, to identify any potential biases or barriers in your hiring process. By improving your diversity hiring, you will be enabled to enhance your employer brand, reduce turnover, and foster a more inclusive culture.
4. Diversity Retention
The final recruitment metric for DE&I is diversity retention, which measures the sustainability and success of your diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Diversity retention can be tracked by calculating the percentage of diverse employees who stay in your organization over a period of time.
Also, you can measure the turnover rate of diverse employees compared to the overall turnover rate, and the reasons why they leave or stay. Improving your diversity retention will set you to increase employee engagement, loyalty, and productivity.
5. Diversity Engagement
Another recruitment metric for D&I is diversity engagement, which measures how satisfied and involved your diverse employees are with their work and their colleagues. Diversity engagement can be measured by conducting surveys, interviews, or focus groups to collect feedback from your employees on various aspects of their work experience, such as recognition, development, collaboration, and inclusion.
You can also measure the participation and contribution of diverse employees in various activities, such as training, mentoring, networking, and volunteering. By improving your diversity engagement, you can boost employee morale, performance, and innovation.
6. Diversity Impact
The last recruitment metric for D&I is diversity impact, which measures how your D&I efforts contribute to your organizational goals and outcomes. Diversity impact can be measured by linking your D&I metrics to your business metrics, such as revenue, profit, customer satisfaction, market share, and social responsibility.
Plus, you can also measure the value and return of your D&I investments by calculating the cost-benefit ratio or the return on investment (ROI) of your D&I programs. You can demonstrate the strategic importance and competitive advantage of having a diverse workforce by measuring your diversity impact.

What Diversity Recruiting Metrics Should You Measure
Now that you know some of the key diversity recruiting metrics that you should track, how do you choose which ones are most relevant and useful for your organization?
Here are some factors to consider when selecting your diversity recruiting metrics:
By considering these factors, you can select the most appropriate and meaningful diversity recruiting metrics that match your goal.
Conclusion
Diversity metrics are essential for measuring and improving your DE&I efforts. By tracking the right metrics at each stage of the recruitment funnel, you can assess the effectiveness of your strategies, identify the strengths and weaknesses of your performance, and optimize your actions to achieve your desired outcomes.
Diversity metrics can also help you showcase the value and impact of having a diverse workforce, which can benefit your organization in many ways, such as increasing customer satisfaction, enhancing creativity, boosting productivity, and gaining a competitive edge.
If you are looking for a tool that can help you with your diversity recruiting metrics and strategy, It’s worth checking out **Manatal’**s Applicant Tracking System (ATS). It is a cloud-based AI recruitment solution that helps you source, hire, and retain diverse talent faster and easier.
Some of the features that Manatal offers to help you with your DE&I efforts are:
- Tools that allow you to enrich candidate profiles with data from their LinkedIn and 20+ social platforms, giving you a more comprehensive view of their background, skills, and interests.
- A sourcing feature that helps you reach out to diverse candidates from thousands of job board integrations, a branded career page, a referral program, and more.
- An AI recommendation feature that leverages Manatal’s AI engine, search tools, filters, and candidate scoring to find the best talent in your database, regardless of their demographics.
- A report and analytics feature that allows you to customize your dashboard and access a full reporting and analytics suite to track metrics and KPIs that matter.
With Manatal’s ATS, you can not only measure your DE&I performance but also improve it by optimizing your recruitment process and enhancing your candidate experience. Start a 14-day Free Trial with Manatal now to discover how it can help you achieve your DE&I goals and gain a competitive edge in the market within a few clicks.
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