In The Pomegranate Principle: Best Practices in Diversity Recruiting, veteran executive search consultant and DEI expert Rory Verrett writes with clarity and expertise about the best practices in recruiting and retaining diverse talent for your organization. He offers proven, tangible solutions and accessible strategies for making the recruitment and retention of diverse talent the centerpiece of your diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) vision.
Divided into three sections, the book begins with a critical examination of the realities of the 21st-century talent pool, and why, without a detailed strategy, it can be challenging for companies and organizations to recruit diverse talent. The author goes on to explain, in detail, a collection of commonly employed strategies that usually serve to hinder - rather than further - organizations’ DEI efforts. Finally, the book concludes with proven and innovative techniques and tools you can implement immediately to start recruiting diverse talent.
You’ll also find: - A hiring handbook for leaders and hiring managers at companies, startups, professional services firms, nonprofits, and universities - Strategies that anyone can use to advocate for and promote DEI initiatives at their place of work - The benefits of tapping into the productivity, innovation, and creativity of talent from different generations, ethnic groups, genders, and life experiences
An effective and hands-on resource for hiring managers, Chief Human Resources Officers, Chief Diversity Officers, and other executives and business leaders, The Pomegranate Principle belongs on the bookshelves of every leader who aims to position their organization for success going forward.
Table of Contents
Foreword xi
Acknowledgments xv
About the Authors xix
Introduction: Growing Up as a Pomegranate xxi
Who This Book Is For xxvi
Protégé Search: Our Mission and Methodology as a Diversity Recruiting Firm xxix
Part I The Structure of the Talent Market 1
Finding Pomegranates 1
What You Are Up Against in Your Diversity Recruiting Efforts 4
Chapter One The Labor Market 5
The Lure of Entrepreneurship 8
Your Company’s Brand or Reputation 12
First- Generation Big- Time 16
Part II What to Do About It 37
Chapter Two Stop Doing This: Not Recognizing the Phase of DEI Adoption Your Organization Is In 39
Phase One: You Need a DEI Strategy, but Don’t Have Anything in Place 42
Phase Two: You Have a DEI Strategy, but It Is Not Sustainable 44
Phase Three: You Have Some Momentum and Success with DEI, but Risks Remain 48
Phase Four: You Have a Sustainable and Integrated DEI Strategy 50
Chapter Three Stop Doing This: Relying on the Chief Diversity Officer Role to Solve Every DEI Problem 55
The Chief Diversity Officer Role 57
The Evolution of the Chief Diversity Officer Role: 1970s to Today 58
Stop Having the CDO Report to the Head of HR 62
Searching for Your Next Chief Diversity Officer 67
The Future of the Chief Diversity Officer Role 70
Chapter Four Stop Doing This: Having a Static DEI Strategy (or How the Murder of George Floyd Changed DEI Forever) 73
Black Trauma, White Discomfort, and the Civil Rights Case for DEI 76
Chapter Five Stop Doing This: Focusing Too Much on Culture Fit in Recruiting 85
The Culture of the Corporate Tournament 98
Chapter Six Stop Doing This: Allowing the Fake Failed Search to Thwart Your DEI Recruiting Strategy 103
Chapter Seven Stop Doing This: Believing Your Organization Is a True Meritocracy 109
Part III Solutions 117
Pomegranate Principles 117
Chapter Eight Principle 1: Building a Diverse Talent Pipeline in Advance of Hiring Needs 119
Chapter Nine Principle 2: Expanding the Archetype of the Ideal Candidate 131
Chapter Ten Principle 3: Diversifying the Recruiting Process 137
Chapter Eleven Principle 4: Recruiting the Whole Person 155
Chapter Twelve Principle 5: Onboarding Diverse Talent 163
Conclusion: What else Can You Do? 171
Notes 173
Index 175
