Leadership
Talent Segmentation
Robert Rodriguez , 09-13-2009
Our next great challenge in diversity is to demonstrate that talent management might require segmentation to serve the needs of diverse employee populations.
I recently attended a marketing conference and was amazed by how sophisticated sales and marketing professionals are in segmenting their consumer base. By dividing their market into segments, marketers are able to better meet the distinct needs, wants and behaviors of those with similar characteristics, which ultimately influences their buying preferences.
I was particularly interested in a workshop on Latino consumer segmentation. One segment, the “New Latino,” is comprised of relatively young consumers who are mostly foreign born and have lived in the United States most of their lives. This segment tends to live in large metro areas and is responsive to Spanish media.
The “Latino Traditional” segment tends to be older, and a great way to sell to them is to play on their sense of nostalgia by offering products that remind them of past times.
As I walked around, it occurred to me just how far ahead our colleagues in marketing are compared to us in diversity and inclusion.
Some organizations realize they may need to modify talent management approaches based on different employee segments. But we are not as rigorous and disciplined around talent segmentation as marketing executives are about consumer segmentation.
We may be able to demonstrate to our organizations the value of respecting employee group differences, but we have not been able to segment employee groups sufficiently.
I speak quite often to corporations regarding the Latino community. After my sessions, most organizations understand the importance of modifying some talent management initiatives so they are more inclusive of Latino ethnicity and culture. However, many still make the mistake of treating all Latinos the same way. Talent management programs might require more segmentation to effectively serve the needs of diverse employee populations.
Consider recruiting. Many companies have diversity recruiting departments that identify ways they can more effectively reach diverse talent pools. But once they identify those pools, they no longer segment the group.
I recall attending a Latino job fair and speaking to a recruiter representing a well-respected organization. I asked if she was finding top Latino talent. Her response was, “Yes, we are finding wonderful Mexican professionals.” This poor woman seemingly had no idea the U.S. Latino community is made up of more than just Mexicans. Shame on her, but also shame on her employer for not educating its recruiters on Latino diversity.
Before you laugh this off as one naive recruiter, does your recruiting department know the difference between Hispanic and Latino, and when to use each term appropriately? What does Chicano mean, and how are these people different from Boricuas or Nuyoricans?
Provide your organization with a more textured understanding of, and appreciation for, diverse employee populations. When we have accomplished this — when our recruiters are conscious that Latino and Anglo job candidates may interview differently, when corporations take a different mentoring or career path approach to a New Latino professional versus one with Latino Traditional characteristics — we will have arrived.
Several corporations conduct Latino leadership development programs for their high-potential Latino and Latina employees, but not all Latinos have the same development needs.
Further, corporations could benefit by not treating all women the same or all African-Americans the same and so on. I’ve seen some of this work already with the different generations in the workplace. For example, we understand that how you motivate and manage a baby boomer is different from how you motivate and manage a millennial. We need to continue this sort of segmentation in order to truly maximize the diverse talent that exists in our employee populations.
In my humble opinion, the field of diversity and inclusion is a good six to eight years away from having the level of sophistication and rigor in segmenting employee groups as our marketing colleagues do in segmenting consumer groups. I personally cannot wait for the day that I attend a conference and find a workshop on employee talent segmentation. «
Dr. Robert Rodriguez is the director of the Kaplan Center for Corporate Learning at Kaplan University and the author of Latino Talent: Effective Strategies to Recruit, Retain and Develop Hispanic Professionals. He can be reached at editor@diversity-executive.com.
