Improved IT Performance Correlated With Gender Diversity but Only 25% of IT Jobs Held by Women - Organizations Must Adjust Recruitment Efforts to Compete, Says Info-Tech Research Group

TORONTO, Aug. 24, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Info-Tech Research Group, one of the leading IT research and advisory firms in the world for IT leaders, has launched its latest industry resource, Recruit and Retain More Women in IT. While the number of jobs in IT has increased dramatically, the percentage of women in IT has progressed disproportionately, with only 25% of IT jobs held by women. Without a targeted recruitment strategy for women, organizations are missing out on 50% of the candidate pool in an already tight and competitive labor market. Furthermore, organizations that are continuously losing talent suffer from reduced business satisfaction, with an inability to meet corporate objectives due to lost productivity.

The newly released blueprint includes research that will help IT and organizational leaders enhance their recruitment and retention strategies to drive and support gender diversity in the traditionally male-dominated IT sector. This will lead to improved IT function and performance within the organization.

To stay competitive, Info-Tech's research indicates that IT leaders need to radically change the way they recruit and retain talent, with women in IT representing one of the largest untapped markets. CIOs require a targeted strategy to attract and retain the best, and this requires a shift in how leaders currently manage the talent lifecycle.

The findings show that the challenge is not a lack of talented women with the knowledge and competencies to excel in IT. Rather, organizations often lack an effective strategy to recruit and retain them. Studies reveal that women are leaving IT in significantly higher proportions than men, which is problematic considering that diversity increases the talent pool, organizational innovation opportunities, and return on investment (ROI).

"The majority of organizations take a one-size-fits-all approach to retaining and engaging employees," says Heather Leier-Murray, senior research analyst, People & Leadership Practice at Info-Tech Research Group. "The drivers impacting men's and women's retention are different. In particular, organizations should develop targeted initiatives that focus on organizational culture, employee empowerment, and manager relationships to improve the retention and engagement of women in IT."

According to research, which includes analysis from Info-Tech, McLean & Company, a division of the firm focused on HR research and advisory, and the Bureau of Labour Statistics, the following reasons are why organizations need to focus on the recruitment and retention of women in IT:

1. Women expand the talent pool. Women represent a vast, untapped talent pool that can bolster the technical workforce. Unfortunately, traditional IT recruitment processes are targeted toward a limited IT profile – the key to closing the IT skills gap is to look for agile learners and expand your search criteria to cast a larger net.
2. Diversity increases innovation opportunities. Groups with greater diversity solve complex problems better and faster than homogenous groups, and the presence of women is more likely to increase the problem-solving and creative abilities of the group.
3. Women increase your ROI. Research shows that companies with the highest representation of women in their management teams have a 34% higher return on investment than those with few or no women. Organizations that are unable to retain top women in their organization are at risk of not being able to deliver on SLAs or project expectations and lose the institutional knowledge needed for continuous improvement.

One way that CIOs and IT leaders can increase the number of viable candidates is by leveraging best practices to sell to, search for, and secure top women in IT. Info-Tech Research Group's "Sell-Search-Secure" recruitment model features tactics broken down across three categories to help IT leaders to increase the pool of female talent

1. Sell: Assess the current state and develop your employee value proposition

• Develop an employee value proposition that will attract female candidates. This includes gathering feedback on unique benefits, building key messages, testing your employee value proposition (EVP), and adopting your EVP.
• Understand how job postings may be deterring female candidates by reviewing job postings for gender bias.

2.    Search: Reach more candidates by expanding key search criteria and sourcing strategies

• Identify opportunities to expand your role analysis for job requisitions by customizing a sourcing plan for key roles to guide talent pipeline creation.
• Increase your candidate pool by working with HR or your recruitment partner to expand sourcing pools.

3.    Secure: Reduce bias in your interview process and create positive candidate experiences 

• Identify tactics to improve women's interview experiences by working with HR to discover trends in your selection data and pinpoint where there are differences in the percentages of male and female candidates and where there are significant drop-off rates between steps in the recruitment process.
• Leverage behavioral interview questions based on the competency needs of the role to limit bias in interviews.

The drivers that impact the retention of men and women are different. Using the research and blueprint, IT leaders can take a data-driven approach to improving the retention of women in their organizations by using best practices to measure and improve employee engagement. 

For more in-depth, step-by-step guidance for leaders seeking to diversify their IT teams and increase overall profitability and performance, Recruit and Retain More Women in IT is now available.

To learn more about Info-Tech Research Group and to download the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. 

Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading information technology research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals. The company produces unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For 25 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with IT teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.  

Media professionals can register for unrestricted access to research across IT, HR, and software and over 200 IT and Industry analysts through the ITRG Media Insiders Program. To gain access, contact [email protected].

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group