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Brightline brings virtual behavioral and mental health care to kids and teens, with a focus on also supporting families. They have no waitlists, provide customized plans, and work with families to track progress together.

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Coder is a remote infrastructure development platform that makes working with code easier than ever. Coder enables everyone from industry rookies to experts to develop code faster than ever before, using templatized starting points and ultra-secure workspaces.

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Cohere

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Deel is payroll for modern business. No matter where you're hiring, Deel helps customers run payroll, supporting 150+ countries with hundreds of worldwide experts. Deel helps their customers know that hiring, paying, and managing stayed compliant and easy in their all-in-one platform.

Deel

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EightSleep is more than a mattress company - it's a suite of products devoted to sleep fitness. Their goal is to make sure that your sleep is as high-performing as you are, helping you meet and exceed the bar for excellence in your waking life. Athletes and scientists alike love their range of highly customizable sleep tech because it helps them live healthier.

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Marqeta is a modern card issuing platform dedicated to empowering innovators to launch their products to the world. They have over a decade of experience as a trusted, high-tech solution for builders who need simple, scalable payment solutions.

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Mastodon

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Monte Carlo is a Series D data observability company helping its customers accelerate the adoption of data to eliminate downtime. 

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Compensation software that offers 5,000+ companies clarity for every pay decision.

OpenComp

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PostHog is an open source analytics platform. Their product is used by product, engineering, and marketing teams to understand user behavior, including product analytics, session recording, user paths, a/b testing, heatmaps, and more. The suite, founded through Y Combinator in 2020, has since been installed by over 10,000 companies.

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VanMoof is a Dutch e-bike company creating stylish, feature-rich city bikes. They're the fastest growing bike company in the world, with an active community in over 50 cities worldwide.

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Halden Pfearsen

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (often abbreviated as “DEI”, though they’re three separate things) are critical to modern hiring. Recruiters and hiring managers have a lot of power to make their companies and industries into better, more inclusive places to work.

Assessing and improving your DEI initiatives starts with effectively tracking demographic information about your candidates. Unfortunately, while you might know that this information is crucial, deciding *how* to track and measure it can be intimidating. Often, teams end up feeling paralyzed and not doing anything at all.


In this post, we'll walk you through your options for beginning to track demographic information, as well as show you how to report on it. With these metrics in place you'll be able to improve your DEI practices in no time.

## A quick history of tracking demographic data in the U.S.

In the United States, demographic data is mostly tracked via [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) questionnaires](https://eeocdata.org/). To be compliant with U.S. government standards, certain private employers need to track EEO-1 data. Other countries have their own versions of this info, but for now we’ll focus on the U.S. While it started as a compliance tool, more and more companies are relying on this data to assess their performance on DEI.


Using EEOC data has a few common limitations:

1. Because the questions are often just embedded in job applications, they may only be completed by applicants going through them - not current employees or applicants from other channels.
2. The survey is voluntary, and concerns of discrimination or discomfort with personal disclosures can prevent applicants from filling it out.
3. The standard questions are very limited, and don’t take into account all of the identities a single person could hold.

While EEOC data can be limiting it’s a good, clear place to start if you’ve never tackled DEI data collection before.


If you’d like to explore more advanced ways of collecting DEI data, there are plenty of ways to approach it.

## The three approaches to collecting demographic data

There are three fundamentally different ways to start when it comes to tracking demographic data: candidate self-identification (“Candidate ID”), recruiter-led identification (“Recruiter ID”), and inference. You may get a different quantity or quality of data from each approach; no one is “better” than another, they’re simply different. We’ll explore each of the options and also touch on why it’s common to mix multiple approaches.

### Candidate Self-Identification (“Candidate ID”)

One way to collect demographic data is by letting candidates volunteer information about themselves in the interview process. EEOC questions are one form of candidate ID.


Because these surveys are usually placed with the original job application form, you can run into a problem with sourced or referred candidates never seeing these questions. Some applicant tracking systems address this by supporting automatic survey requests at different stages and from all candidates, which can increase your completion rate.


An increasingly common alternative to using EEOC questions is creating a custom demographic survey where you choose the questions and answers yourself instead of relying on the government mandated form. This option is more available to companies who aren’t required to stick to and report on the base EEOC questionnaire.

### Recruiter-Led Identification (“Recruiter ID”)

The second way to collect demographic data is recruiter ID, where a recruiter manually tags candidates with their demographic information. This is the most accurate and comprehensive approach, because your hiring team will personally ensure that each candidate is represented fully and accurately.


However, the manual nature of this approach can make it very time consuming. When a recruiting team is already on a time crunch or stretched thin, this relying on recruiter ID data can add to the workload. At Ashby, we often see customers use this approach for later stage candidates (e.g. only Offers/Hires) where they want the most details on someones demographics.

### Inference

The third way to collect demographic data is using inference, where your hiring tool estimates the demographic information of the candidates who did not otherwise supply it. This data comes from census information and uses applicants’ names to try and fill in their gender and ethnicity.


The downside to this is that it isn’t perfect (Ashby's version is about ~80% accurate). The upside is that it can be applied to all candidates (including all of your historical data!) Because of that, for most teams, this is a very valuable data source to add in addition to Candidate or Recruiter ID.

### Selecting your starting point

So which starting point is right for you? That depends on your needs and your team - one is not always better than another. If you have time to devote to it and need high accuracy, recruiter ID is your best bet (as mentioned above, we often see this focused on later stage candidates.) If you want a high degree of coverage and would like to review your historical performance, algorithmic inference will help a lot.


Don’t be afraid to hybridize! You can start with inference data and add candidate or recruiter ID later. Hybrid approaches tend to be the most effective, as one method can cover gaps left by another.

## The most impactful DEI metrics

Now that you’ve started gathering data, you can dig into your performance. As we go forward, keep in mind that it’s not realistic to get all you need to know at once. Data improves and develops as it grows in volume over time. Furthermore, this information is a diagnostic tool. It’s all *quantitative*, or number-based data. To completely understand your DEI initiatives, you’ll need *qualitative* data, which will give you more specifics on how real people feel about your hiring process.


All this is to remind you not to grow discouraged if you start on DEI reporting and don’t see high volumes of perfect data in one week. Give it time, keep working on it. This is one of several tools, and you’re already off to a great start by having it set up.


With that out of the way, let’s look at the DEI metrics we recommend tracking.

### Percent of hires from underrepresented groups

The first metric we’ll look at is percent of hires from underrepresented groups. To have an inclusive frame of mind, approach this metric as “more of X” rather than “less of Y,” i.e. you want to hire *more* women and nonbinary applicants, not *fewer* men. Track this metric both overall and by department to get a more comprehensive look at your company’s diversity standing.


When setting hiring goals, reference the distribution of the current market. If 24% of engineers are women, aiming for your engineering department to be a 50/50 gender split is going to be challenging, but aiming for 30% female hires is more attainable. Aim to set ambitious but realistic goals and do it with intention.

![statistics of percent of hires](/images/percent-hires.png)


You need to track hiring percentages not only to see who you’re hiring, but to help you make sense of our next metric...

### Conversion rates sliced by demographic data

Look at conversion rates from stage to stage. You want this to remain fairly consistent from one stage to the next across different underrepresented groups. This is an extremely important metric, as it’s a good way to spot problem areas in your hiring process. You may find that you begin with a more diverse range of candidate than you end up hiring, and that’s worth examining closer.


If you notice a big drop off in any of the groups you’re tracking from one stage to the next, that’s a sign that something exclusionary might be happening at that stage. Take time to investigate that stage and the source of the drop. Just like we mentioned at the start of this section, conversion between stages is an area where metrics can tell you that a problem exists, but only qualitative data can tell you *why*.

![passthrough rates by gender in Ashby](/images/passthough-gender.png)

### Percent of initial screens with diverse candidates

We recommend tracking the breakdown of your pipeline at the initial screen stage. This metric can be tracked nicely over time, making it a good indicator of success in creating a more diverse pool of candidates at the top of your funnel.

![bar graph of gender at screening in Ashby](/images/gender-screen.png)

As with your final hiring metrics, look into industry numbers to get an idea of what goals you should set. Industry distributions are always a good place to start.

### Percent of candidates sourced from different demographics

Finally, take yourself all the way to the top of the funnel to examine the percentage of candidates sourced from different demographics. You may find that a lopsided hiring system begins further back than you think, which is a sign that you need to change where and how you advertise your job postings and source your candidates. Revisit your job posting language to spot hidden biases, and try new job boards to expand your reach to populations that are underrepresented at your company.


A great way to further improve this metric is by tracking your job marketing campaigns. If you notice a spike in the types of candidates you’re looking for, check what campaign you were running at the time to see what worked.


Be especially aware of sourcing and internal recommendations. If you repeatedly dip into the same pool of people, your applicant diversity will stagnate very quickly.


A lot of our customers intentionally focus their sourcing outreach on candidates in underrepresented groups. That’s generally a very effective way to increase the diversity of your overall talent pool.

![image of a pie chart of various candidate racial and ethnic backgrounds](/images/percent-sourced.png)

## More to keep in mind as you implement

Of course, numbers don’t tell the whole story. You could write a book about making your hiring better and more inclusive ([and many people have](https://teambuilding.com/blog/diversity-inclusion-books)!) You’ll need to be on the look out for several other things in order for your investment in your DEI metrics to pay off for everyone.


Making these improvements is going to take time. You shouldn’t expect results overnight, and even setting up the analytics is going to take some time to do right. That means that you truly need buy-in from everyone involved. The executives at your company need to be as invested and as patient as your recruiting team. Get out ahead of any issues by presenting DEI metric tracking as a worthy time investment from the start, so that everyone is on the same page before you find yourself caught up in the process.


Focusing on improving your DEI metrics will come with tradeoffs. You may find that, when you dial in on metrics like improving stage to stage conversion rates for certain demographics or increase the percentage of underrepresented groups you hire, other metrics, like “time to fill” might go up. Remember that this is part of improving your overall hiring system for the long term. Because of these tradeoffs, buy-in from all levels is once again vital.


If your company has been around for a while, you may be using unofficial metrics to track diversity and inclusiveness. Now is a good time to revisit those. If your guidelines are particularly outdated this is the perfect time to toss them out and start fresh. The datapoints we’ve outlined above are going to be more fair, accurate, and definite than vague rules of thumb.

## Ready to begin?

There’s no need to fear the numbers. Too many great companies hold themselves back from tracking DEI metrics because they’re nervous about not doing it right. Success is going to look different to different companies, and there are multiple types of diversity to consider in hiring. Don’t let that overwhelm you! Instead, let it empower you: everyone needs to start somewhere, and right now is the best time to do it.


Tracking your DEI metrics is the first step in a much larger process of making your business a more diverse, inclusive, equitable, and welcoming place to work. We hope that this guide will help you take on the challenge!


If you found this article helpful, bookmark it, then [subscribe to our blog](https://www.ashbyhq.com/blog/all#newsletter-form) for future recruiting insights, stories, and how-to’s.

You know it's vital to always work towards improving your company's diversity, equity, and inclusion - but do you know the best way to start tracking it?

How to Track and Improve Your DEI Hiring Metrics

Shannon Ogborn

A job description often calls for years of experience in a particular role. But, frequently, I’ve found that those role titles don’t have as much to do with the skills needed for the job as they sound. This often bars excellent candidates from the pipeline. Luckily, it’s a problem with a fix.

When you calibrate with hiring managers, focus on the true minimum requirements. What does a role actually entail? What “requirements” are really just nice to have? What are the competencies required to do the job well? Looking for the same minimum requirements across the board helps keep the whole process more equitable, and it gives sourcers more freedom. 

Of course, you won’t move a profile forward if they don't meet the minimum requirements. But when you’ve thought critically about the true minimum requirements, you can find someone who’s met those bars in non-traditional ways. 

If you want someone with a year of software engineering experience, maybe that could be updated to say “or technical experience or coding.” This will broaden the requirement to include folks from less traditional backgrounds. They could nail the interview, they could be the best performer on the team, but unless you think critically about what the requirements are, you are counting that person out before they can even be considered.

This type of calibration includes more people, invites more diversity of backgrounds, and helps you create a team capable of true innovation.


Are you relying on years of experience, or something deeper?

What Are Your True Minimum Requirements?

An excellent outreach strategy requires a screen-in mindset.

A screen-out mindset is where you look at a candidate profile with the framing: *“What about this person does not meet my criteria?”*

A screen-in mindset is where you look at a candidate profile with the framing: *“What about this person would match or add value to the gaps that we have right now?”*

Instead of trying to eliminate people who fall short of the ideal profile, I'm trying to find reasons people would qualify. Screening-in helps a lot with diversity and really increases that diversity pipeline. Part of why I do that is because I’m never looking for the “perfect” candidate.

> I once hired an engineer who had been an analyst for several years. He had no formal software engineering background. But I noticed that he’d done engineering coursework in college, along with a few other traits that really fit the role.
> 
> He performed the best on the interviews of any candidate I ever put through. Had I been looking for the perfect person, I would've missed out on the best fit.

Screening-in helps recruiters challenge our own biases without lowering the bar for excellence. It gets rid of arbitrary barriers, like specific role titles, or only hiring for specific companies, while focusing on the skills needed to actually do the job.

Starting from a place of screening-in can change your entire outreach mindset. If you want a better top-of-funnel, start there.


An excellent outreach strategy requires a screen-in mindset.

Screen-In vs Screen-Out Mindsets – There Is A Right Answer

Laura Li

Looking to break out of the LinkedIn bubble? Ashby’s consulting team has put together this list of sourcing locations you might not have thought of.

1.  Skill-relevant Slack communities

2.  MeetUp communities
    
3.  Github, Dribble, and other coding websites
> **Break-In Talent** If you’re open to hobbyists, you come across gems of talent that aren’t full-time engineers, but would like to be.

4.  School websites
 
5.  “First 50” groups
> **Kicking Off With a Team** If you’re hiring for an early-stage startup, there are many people who want to get in on the ground floor - first 50 groups will help you find them.
    

6.  Programs for under-represented populations
> **Great Groups** Identity-specific schools, clubs, bootcamps, and classes are a great way to source great talent from specific populations.

7.  Hackathons
    
8.  Quora
    
9.  Gyms and fitness studios
> **Go Where The Talent Is** If you have a role that requires heavy physical work an ad at a gym might do some “heavy lifting.”

10.  eSports tournaments
    
11.  Relevant subreddits
    
12.  “Jams”
> **Coding and More** While “code jams” were once the purview of just engineers, “jams” have expanded into all kinds of roles and areas of expertise.

13.  Message boards and interest groups for role-related certifications
    
14.  ResearchGate
> **True Experts** Need to hire for a scientific or research-focused role? ResearchGate is often called “Facebook for academics.”

15.  Skill, job, or interest-related Facebook groups
    
16.  College cafes for new grad roles
> **More Than Career Fairs** You’ll find students about to enter the job market in many campus-adjacent areas. An old fashioned posting on a coffee shop tackboard is a great start. So is checking to see if the campus has a career center that shares open job listings.

17.  Facebook career pages in the local market
    
18.  Specific interest meetups
> **Think Beyond Role-Focused Meetups** What does your ideal candidate do for fun? You might find excellent engineers at a robotics club or great content marketers at a writing workshop.

19.  Industry or skill-related panels and speaking events
    
20.  Running an ad in an interest-specific newsletter

We've put together this list of sourcing locations you might not have thought of - and we're updating it regularly!

Ashby’s “Less Obvious” Sourcing List

Recruiting

How to Track and Improve Your DEI Hiring Metrics

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What Are Your True Minimum Requirements?

Screen-In vs Screen-Out Mindsets – There Is A Right Answer

Ashby’s “Less Obvious” Sourcing List

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Recruiting

How to Track and Improve Your DEI Hiring Metrics

Snippets

What Are Your True Minimum Requirements?

Screen-In vs Screen-Out Mindsets – There Is A Right Answer

Ashby’s “Less Obvious” Sourcing List

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