Some companies work so hard at trying to get their diversity hiring strategy right that analysis paralysis sets in. And as a result, no meaningful DEI action gets taken.

In an episode of the HRMorning podcast “Voices of HR,” Anna Lenhardt, the former chief people officer of Tomorrow Health, shared her insights on overcoming common diversity hiring strategy challenges and building a more inclusive workplace as your company grows.

She said that DEI analysis paralysis happens because companies get overwhelmed and become afraid to make a mistake. It’s more important to get started and make progress than to wait for everything to be perfect, she said.

“There’s so much information and data and research that has been done on how … diversity drives productivity, which drives business results, which drives that next raise and a better valuation,” said Lenhardt.

Data-driven decision making

But before bringing DEI awareness to your leadership team, you should start by collecting and analyzing data on your current workforce demographics. That way, you can identify specific areas where the organization could use improvement. After forming a working draft of a diversity hiring strategy, this data can be used to set goals, track progress and measure the impact.

“Where are we benchmarking against benchmarks nationally? How does that align to what we are as an organization? And how does that tie in to the values of what we believe is … the type of company that we want to build?” she said.

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