Corporate Diversity Advertising Misses The Mark.

A study released by LatPro, an employment website for Hispanic professionals, reveals that most corporate Diversity advertising campaigns reach few minority job-seekers. The study shows corporate advertising being channeled to media that attract few minority readers, where costs run as high as $5 per minority reader, an average 33 times more costly than ads that target specific minority groups for recruiting purposes (Hispanics, Asians, Gays and Lesbians).

Eric Shannon, LatPro CEO, commented, “It appears the intent of most diversity advertising is to project an image of cultural sensitivity to the general business community rather than to actually find and hire the best minority candidates. Companies engaging in insubstantial diversity recruiting strategies will ultimately lose touch with their consumers and may even have their inefficient efforts painfully redirected by the courts.”

Shawn Mood, the author of the study, states, Spending patterns show that major employers are advertising to business community decision makers instead of targeting job-seeking minorities. Diversity coordinators tend to buy advertising in national business publications or on all-inclusive diversity websites with flashy graphics that are mostly frequented by
HR managers. In fact, some diversity portals with significant corporate sponsorship have less than 10,000 visitors per month, a very small number by Internet standards.

This preference for perception advertising may account for some of the poor headway corporate America has made with its largest minority group: Hispanics. While Hispanics account for 12.5% of the total US population, diversity programs have traditionally focused on African Americans.

* Only 0.4% of America’s senior executives in the largest 1,500 firms are Hispanic

* Only 4.8 % of Hispanic professionals hold managerial positions, compared to 9.1% of African Americans

* 88 % of the Fortune 1000 corporations do not have any Hispanics on their boards

* Latinos represent only 6.6 % of the federal workforce, although they are 12.5% of the total population

Diversity and recruiting budgets are tighter in this slowing economy, so it s especially important for companies to maximize the effectiveness of their diversity efforts, said Mood. LatPro’s study makes the following recommendations:

1) Ask websites for verifiable, audited site traffic statistics. What percentage is from minorities, and from which minorities?

2) Ask for a mission statement. Beware of sites whose main purpose is promoting diversity . Stick with targeted sites whose sole purpose is finding your company great minority candidates.

3) Ask who owns the recruiting site. Many diversity sites are simply flashy front ends of generic job boards developed by opportunistic companies well aware of the explosion of interest in diversity. These companies are not dedicated to or specialized in diversity recruiting.