Attract
We want to attract new, diverse talent by recruiting new employees who reflect our commitment to diversity, as well as showcase SoftwareOne’s existing diverse talent pool. Our initiatives are focused on making sure that our talent acquisition process is inclusive in its language and unbiased in its selection process.
Talent acquisition plan
Job descriptions using inclusive language
To ensure we are doing everything to attract candidates for suitable positions, we use online bias-checking tools to scan the language of our job adverts. These tools provide guidance on the use of inclusive language.
Hiring selection process
To ensure our hiring leaders make fair and unbiased hiring decisions at SoftwareOne, we employ three tools:
- Inclusive interview panels: we ensure every job hiring process has an inclusive interview panel to guarantee a balanced view and eliminate bias.
- Hiring manager interview training: we have released a new Global Interview Training programme. This includes best practices for managers and specific guidance on how to learn and avoid unconscious bias in interviews. All leaders will be required to attend this training going forward and attain a ‘Licence to Interview’ accreditation.
- Assessment tools: all our hiring processes involve market leading assessments such as Pymetrics and Criteria. Through a rigorous validation process, these tools ensure that their tests are non-discriminatory and that any subgroup differences are minimised, while maintaining the accuracy of the assessment. This is done by reviewing all test content for cultural sensitivity and differential item functioning to ensure that each test is free of content bias across cultural and gender groups.
Talent acquisition data
There is no denying that the software service sector is predominately male-dominated, and attracting and retaining female talent in this sector can be challenging. We receive three times more male applicants than female, which highlights an area of improvement for us as a company; ensuring that women see and feel that SoftwareOne is a great place to work.
By analysing the data from our recruitment platforms, we identify the stages in our process where we may see a higher dropout rate of certain groups. We found that, in some cases, the pass-through rate of female talent is slightly higher than for male talent. For example, female candidates who receive a first interview have a 48% likelihood of receiving an offer compared to 45% for males.
This tells us that our pass-through rate of both male and female candidates is a fair process. However, our attraction rate is 30% female versus 70% male, and although it is above the 25:75% industry benchmark, we have identified key focus areas for improvements at SoftwareOne, such as services (22:78%) and sales (15:85%).
The Academy’s mission is to recruit, train, and support young and career-changing individuals from local communities worldwide, starting from grassroots level. It offers a career in technology to individuals from both traditional and non-traditional educational backgrounds. The learning provided is tailored to meet the specific needs of service lines, roles, functions, and geographic requirements. The curriculum covers technical, business, language, consulting and soft skills to enable associates to succeed in our global professional services organisation.
Now in its third year, the SoftwareOne Academy is in 17 countries delivering over 10 curricula across Sales, Services, Business IT (BIT) and Global Services Delivery (GSDC) Operations. 51 cohorts have run in 26 cities and over 400 associates have transitioned from the Academy to full-time employees at SoftwareOne, representing a 91% transition rate to business.
We have put in place business metrics which include reductions on cost of recruitment, time to competency, attrition rates, and time to billability. Some of the highlights of our outcomes is an increase in productivity with a 350% increase as compared to those hired with one year experience; and a reduction in attrition, from 38% in key regions to near zero (India, Brazil).
SoftwareOne Academy was a 2022 finalist at the prestigious Global Learning Awards for Global Learning Impact and our lead, Serena Gonsalves-Fersch was a finalist for the Learning Leader of the Year award. It continues to be recognised by the EU Pact for Skills and the EU’s European Alliance for Apprenticeships.
We have a new partnership with AWS Re:start in their ITSkills4U programme. Through this, the Academy offers learning and job opportunities to Ukrainian tech refugees who have fled their country due to the conflict. This year, associates from this programme transitioned into the DACH practice, and this is just the beginning.
In 2023, the Academy will continue to expand its reach to achieve 30% sourcing of recruitment in services. It continues to enhance its presence in all regions and functions across SoftwareOne, and acts as the bridge between education and employment, to reinforce our future talent pipeline.
