Giving Compass' Take:

• The author discusses that lack of diversity in the international development industry and how it is weakening companies that are working to find solutions to global issues. As the CEO of Palladium, he (the author) vows to change the hiring practices and widen the pool of applicants to do his part in bringing more diversity to the field. 

• How can human resources departments do more to strengthen diversity and inclusion initiatives? 

• Read about the expectations of nonprofit organizations when dealing with barriers related to diversity and inclusion. 

There’s an ongoing problem in traditional development and aid. We’ve set up significant barriers to enter this industry, from requiring post-graduate degrees to prioritizing volunteer experience for entry-level positions.

We limit our workforce out of the gate to those who can afford to pay for education and work for free. We are weakened by the lack of diversity that comes from a range of voices, in particular, those from disadvantaged groups which ironically, are often the ones with the most contextual understanding and empathy for the problems the industry tries to solve.

Meanwhile, the need for diversity is being felt in other industries as well. We’re currently seeing a trending push to correct the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley in the United States, where just this year Google still reports that “women make up 30.9% of [their] global workforce, and…2.5% is black”. This lack of diversity has been called the tech industry’s “Achilles’ Heel” and I believe we in the development sector have the same weakness.

As the incoming CEO of Palladium, a global impact firm with 2,500 people in over 90 countries, I want to use my new position to change our recruiting practices, and lead others in the industry to do the same.

Our assessments should be competency-based rather than focusing on years of experience or education attained, and we need to widen our applicant pool by leveraging non-traditional sources, including job boards and referrals that go beyond the usual suspects.

Read the full article about diversity by Chris Hirst at Thomson Reuters Foundation