Ethnic Diversity Ratio

Description

Ethnic Diversity Ratio displays information about the organisation’s ethnic composition.  Ethnic Diversity is commonly calculated at an aggregate level (White vs. Minority) and a detail level (% White, % Asian, % Hispanic) for each department, division and location.

Business Case

Ethnic Diversity Ratio helps HR Professionals understand workforce composition in various business units and across multiple locations and job types.  Ethnic Diversity calculation is used to monitor hiring practices and is critical in validating that hiring, compensation and promotions are blind with respect to ethnicity.

Some jurisdictions in the United States and many foreign countries require minimum representation for certain minorities – the Ethnic Diversity Ratio can help your organisation comply with these rules.  The Ethnic Diversity Ratio can be also be used to compare your organisation to industry peers.

Required Data

Ethnicity  
Example: White, Asian, Black, Hispanic

Samples

Implementation Considerations

There are many considerations that can be taken into account when defining the ethnic diversity calculation.  In fact, multiple ethnic diversity metrics may be desirable.  Some metrics are listed below.  Your HumanConcepts Professional Services Consultant can work with you to define calculations that take into account the available data and your business needs.

Division, Department

Example: Automotive, Marketing
Most organisations calculate the Ethnicity Diversity Ratio separately for each department, division and location. Separate calculations facilitate cross-department comparisons and make it easier to spot developing trends.

Location

Example: Store #2659, Boston Office
Location information is usually included in Ethnic Diversity Ratio reporting. Demographics often differ depending on the location, especially internationally, and it may only be useful to compare the Ethnic Diversity Ratio for departments and divisions that operate in similar environments.  Large organisations in similar lines of business operating in the same area should have similar Ethnic Diversity Ratios.

Job Type

Example: Engineering Manager, Customer Service Associate
Most organisations include Job Type (or Job Code) information in their Ethnic Diversity Ratio reporting.  Comparing Ethnic Diversity Ratios for similar positions in similar functions at different divisions or business units should yield similar proportion of whites to minorities. Absent a compelling reason, significant differences in the ratio of whites to minorities among different business units could indicate systemic problems that should be remedied.

Promotion Rate

Example: Promoted from Accountant to Sr. Accountant
HR Professionals should compare promotion rates for employees with different ethnic backgrounds. Holding all other factors that affect promotions constant, promotion rates should be blind with respect to ethnicity.