Hiring for Diversity in Corporate Finance

Hiring for Diversity in Corporate Finance

by David Sprinkle

Assembling a team can be a complex process. While it’s easy to set out with the goal of bringing together a group of people that will be collaborative, efficient, and mesh well together, it’s a lot easier said than done and there are a lot of strategies for hiring a great team. One factor remains constant throughout; diversity brings added value to any organization. In fact, companies that rate near the top for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to achieve above-average financial returns for their industry.

Creating a diverse workplace strengthens:

  • Employee engagement
  • Problem-solving
  • Creativity
  • Employee turnover
  • Company reputation

Diversity stretches over a wide swath of characteristics. From age, education, gender, cultural backgrounds, and geographic location all these attributes lead to a healthy, proactive environment.

In the world of corporate finance, diversification has been a challenge in the past, but this is slowly changing. As new generations enter the workforce, diversity expectations are higher than before. Three-quarters of female millennials working in the financial services sector believe their organizations are talking about diversity, but believe opportunities are not equal for all.

How do we change this?

Company Branding

When starting your company, months are spent agonizing over things such as company logo, color palette, and the best website to introduce your company to the world. One of the ways to determine a company voice is to research into buyer personas. Your buyer persona will tell you everything you need to know about your target audience.

One question to ask yourself from a company standpoint is, “Does our workforce reflect the world today?” As Kim Abreu of Glassdoor puts it, “Recruiting and retaining a diverse, inclusive group of employees lets your company reflect the world around you and makes your team better able to develop fresh ideas that will meet the needs of the whole marketplace.”

Keep this in mind when building your company brand. Instilling a diverse culture early on will pay dividends in the future.

Winning Within the Team Environment

Everyone’s looking for the silver bullet to energizing their workplace environment to stimulate ideas and spark innovation. Companies now understand the important role diversity plays in collaboration. Those companies that embrace and recruit diverse talent have a clear competitive advantage.

Different perspectives contribute more to creativity and diversity creates a melting pot of ideas that bring new and fresh ideas to the table. Different viewpoints allow team members to seek out the truth and work together creating a tight-knit workplace.

Company Engagement

Technology has made the world a smaller place. People all over the world now learn about other cultures instantly. The same is true about your office space. A diverse environment leads to employees engaging with one another to learn more about each other. When employees begin sharing personal stories, trust builds, and stronger work relationships are made.

On top of employee engagement, diversity also leads to other advantages such as low employee turnover. Companies that embrace diversity see a wider talent pool to choose from making it easier to choose the best of the best from that industry. Also, supporting a culture of diversity also displays inclusion which ultimately creates a more inviting environment.

Matching the best corporate finance talent with the right company is what Veritas Recruiting Group excels at. We’re always looking for ways to help others.

If you’re looking to fill your corporate finance positions, or if you’re a financial professional looking for a new opportunity, contact Veritas Recruiting Group today.