A year after the 2020 summer of protest against systemic racism and companies outlining their commitment for greater representation, nearly 20% of organizations are not tracking any diversity metrics in their recruitment or hiring practices.

The State of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace report, developed by talent cloud company iCIMS and Talent Board, a nonprofit candidate experience benchmark research organization, was issued to better understand how the changing conversation around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) has actually manifested itself within talent acquisition over the past year. Among the findings, the study revealed that technology implementation is the common tactic in deliberate efforts to remove unconscious bias in hiring.

The study found that 47% of organizations have implemented technology to help reduce unconscious bias in their recruiting and hiring. Although 53% have not implemented such technology, one-third of that figure plans to do so in the future.

And while 60% of organizations have instituted diverse slate policies or diversity-focused hiring goals, only 34% embed these targets at the recruiter or hiring manager level. Taken together, the study suggests that well-intentioned C-suites are struggling to channel the widespread desire for a more diverse, representative and bias-free environment into standard hiring practices.

Part of the challenge is that bias is impossible to completely eliminate at the human level – that’s where technology shines. Before interviews, for example, hiring managers can run resumes through an artificial intelligence system to remove anything that could lead to bias on the part of the interviewer – name, address/location, college, GPA, etc. This allows the interviewer to focus on the aspects that matter – skills, experience, potential and results.

Read the full report from iCIMIS and TalentBoard.