When organizations come to us asking how they can increase diversity, we often start by training their hiring teams on three specific areas of accountability:
- recruiters are responsible for building a diverse pool of candidates,
- interview teams are responsible for conducting fair, bias-aware interviews, and
- hiring managers are responsible for making equitable final decisions.
When these roles are aligned, hiring the most competitive candidate—who also reflects the diversity of the broader talent landscape—becomes more achievable.
But here’s the truth: increasing diversity isn’t just the job of the hiring team. That’s where it often begins, but it can’t end there.
The legal landscape is shifting. Public opinion is evolving, and while some organizations are pulling back out of fear, while others are leaning in—recognizing that effective diversity recruiting, paired with real workplace inclusion, fuels long-term business success.
Recruiting and retention directly impact one another. You can have the best recruiters in the world, but if your organization isn’t built to support and retain the talent they bring in, progress stalls.
That’s why we challenge our clients to stop thinking of increasing diversity as only a hiring initiative—and start treating it as a shared, ongoing responsibility.
So let’s reframe the question: Who’s really responsible for increasing workplace diversity?
Answer: Everyone. Every employee. Every leader.
If your company is struggling to mobilize all employees around increasing diversity and retention, you’re not alone. More than just lack of desire, the biggest fear is lack of accountability. Employees don’t engage because they don’t see where they fit in or how their actions contribute. When people don’t feel ownership, they give in to inner resistance, and that inner resistance leads to inaction.
I’ve worked with countless organizations, and the same pattern emerges: When increasing diversity and retention is seen as “the recruiter’s job,” there’s little progress. But when every department, from leadership to frontline employees, understands their role in building an inclusive workplace, diversity increases.
So, how do you create accountability in 2025’s DEI climate? You give people clear, structured ways to contribute. Here are some you can start with.
The 4 P’s of Modern Diversity Recruiting and Retention: What’s Working in 2025
Recruiting and retaining talent from historically underrepresented groups doesn’t work when it’s siloed. It works when it’s built into how companies recruit, interview, hire, promote, and measure success. But how do we achieve this?
These four P’s can create structure, accountability, and engagement across the organization.
Make It a Priority
In 2025, many companies, including Walmart, Meta, and Target, have stepped back from efforts to increase diversity or ensure better employee retention. Meanwhile, companies such as Apple, Costco, and Microsoft have either held the line or invested more deeply.
Plenty of organizations have deprioritized recruiting and retention efforts tied to diversity. But that doesn’t mean it has lost its inherent value. Companies that remain committed to increasing representation and treat it as a business priority reap the benefits of stronger teams and higher retention.
Think about how companies prioritize financial targets. No one debates whether hitting revenue goals is “too political” or “wasteful.” Increasing diversity and retention should be treated the same way: as a business necessity, not a feel-good extra. If new methods are needed to increase diversity, so be it.
How to Make Diversity Recruiting a Priority: Tie your recruiting outcomes to core business goals (revenue growth, market expansion, risk management). Make sure positive recruiting outcomes include a well-represented workplace.
Build a Sustainable Recruiting or Retention Program
Projects solve specific challenges, but to increase diversity and create a lasting impact, companies must transition successful initiatives into structured, long-term programs that shape how they hire, develop, and promote talent. The most successful diversity programs are built into a company’s operations.
With some companies quietly backing away from DEI, those committed to it are making their programs integral to leadership development, hiring, and promotion criteria.
How to Build a Diversity Program That Lasts: Integrate workplace diversity into leadership training. Not separate but part of standard management education.
Establish Clear Hiring and Promotion Policies
In 2025, companies must ensure that their diversity policies are fair, measurable, and legally sound.
Companies that frame policies around talent and opportunity rather than vague policies or preferences are better positioned to withstand legal scrutiny.
How to Design an Effective Diversity Recruitment Policy: Require objective hiring and promotion criteria to ensure fairness and embed it in your hiring process guide.
Track Performance with Metrics
You might have heard the adage, “What gets measured gets managed.” And what doesn’t? Probably lives rent-free in the bias zone.
Recruiting success is better measured with data. Companies that excel in increasing diversity and retention don’t just “talk” about it—they track hiring rates, promotion data, drop rates, retention by demographics, and employee engagement.
With the rise of AI and workforce analytics, leaders now have better tools to measure DEI outcomes, but how do we use them effectively?
How to Use Performance Metrics Effectively: Track turnover and retention of historically underrepresented employees. If historically underrepresented employees leave quickly, more than likely the problem isn’t recruiting—it’s the environment.
Final Thoughts
The rules for workplace diversity have changed. Some companies are treating increasing diversity and retention like a political minefield and backing away. But the companies that thrive in 2025 are the ones that stay committed, adapt, and integrate diversity into their core business strategies.
So, if your company is serious about increasing diversity and retention, it’s time to ensure structure, accountability, and engagement across the whole organization so that everyone and every leader understands that they are responsible for increasing diversity and retention.