The majority of employers across Asia capture the workforce diversity data of those they select and hire, and the majority of employees across Asia believe that the usage of workforce feedback for understanding demographic engagement is a positive thing. However, only half of them are confident that such data is being effectively used to inform their candidate attraction strategy, reveals the latest Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) report by leading recruitment experts Hays.

The findings of the 2019/2020 version of this annual report are based on survey responses from close to 2000 working professionals based in China, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. The survey covered personal experiences of the respondents with D&I in their workplaces, as well as their perceptions of its practice within and impact on their organisations.

Data driven talent attraction on the rise; but more participation from employers needed

Employers across Asia are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of applying D&I practices to their talent attraction strategies, with 64 per cent of respondents agreeing their organisation was proactive in its efforts to source diverse candidates.

In fact, the use of data is becoming an important tool in Asia’s battle against D&I related problems. 67 per cent of employers capture the workforce diversity data of those they select and hire, and 74 per cent of employees believe that the usage of workforce feedback for understanding demographic engagement is a positive thing. However, only 50 per cent are confident that such data is being effectively used to inform their candidate attraction strategy.

Applying D&I practices to talent attraction at a high but targets still need improvement

Although the use of data is on the rise, setting D&I targets is an area that could still use improvement. 71 per cent of employees believe that the setting of diversity recruitment targets for senior managers and line managers has a positive impact on the attraction of new and more diverse talent; yet only 57 per cent of companies have targets at all, with just 48 per cent setting them specifically for management.

In Hong Kong SAR: Diversity targets increase

2019 has seen an increase in diversity recruitment targets for Hong Kong businesses. A total of 56 per cent said that their companies have such targets, up from 38 per cent in 2018.

Another step being taken to further D&I practices is in the promotion of company imagery and branding as a diverse working space. 78 per cent of employees considered the language their organisation used to describe vacancies, organisation and culture as being unbiased, and 65 per cent felt that their website and careers site accurately represented their working experience. Respondents felt both these practices had a positive impact on the attraction of diverse talent (76 and 71 per cent respectively).

Jack Leung, Regional Director at Hays Hong Kong commented, “Companies have taken impressive steps over the last year to mitigate concerns over their D&I levels. While there is still some way to go in terms of implementation and proactiveness, if employers can continue such improvements then concerns over biases should fall further. The rising use of data to identify the right channels and methodology to attract a diverse mix of applicants, for example, will also contribute to improvements in the year to come.”
 

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Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

Hays is located in Hong Kong at 6604-06, 66/F, ICC, 1 Austin Road West, West Kowloon, Hong Kong.

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About Hays

Hays plc (the "Group") is a leading global professional recruiting group. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK and Asia Pacific and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe and Latin America. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As at 30 June 2019 the Group employed 11,500 staff operating from 265 offices in 34 markets across 20 specialisms. For the year ended 30 June 2019:

– the Group reported net fees of £1,129.7 billion and operating profit (pre-exceptional items) of £248.8 million;
– the Group placed around 81,000 candidates into permanent jobs and around 254,000 people into temporary assignments;
– 18% of Group net fees were generated in Australia & New Zealand, 27% in Germany, 23% in United Kingdom & Ireland and 32% in Rest of World (RoW);
– the temporary placement business represented 57% of net fees and the permanent placement business represented 43% of net fees;
– Hays operates in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Chile, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE, the UK and the USA