Goldman Sachs is an investment bank headquartered in New York that serves clients worldwide. It helps companies obtain financing and carry out mergers and acquisitions, works with governments to arrange financing, buys and sells financial instruments, and advises on financial matters. The firm, which was founded more than 150 years ago, is a well-known institution with a profitable history.
Finding well-qualified people for such an organization might seem easy, especially given the number of hires relative to job applicants: around 15 to 20 hired for every 1,000 who apply. But the firm is not satisfied just to get qualified people; it wants the best. Further upping the stakes, it increasingly relies on advanced analytics and information technology, so it is competing in the same labor market as the top high-tech firms.
Goldman tasked Dane Holmes, formerly the head of Human Resources for the company, to create a new recruiting process. Where the “old” method of recruiting at a few top colleges, the new method sought to broaden the pool of candidates. With a team of human behavior and data scientists, Holmes identified critical competency areas for candidates and revamped the screening process. They recorded screening questions and had candidates record their responses. As a result, recruiters were able to evaluate a much larger pool of candidates.
Early results revealed that the new hiring process delivered more diverse hires. The company is also focusing on finding the best match between people and the kind of work where they will be most engaged and valuable.
Another sign of Goldman’s embracing diversity was their announcement that they would only consider companies with at least one “diverse” board member for IPO consultation. The diverse member was defined as being female, a person of color or LGBTQ. In support of this decision, Goldman pointed out that IPOs of companies with at least one female director outperformed those with all male boards.

Questions

1. What managerial role(s) did the head of HR fill in managing diversity when he redesigned the hiring process for Goldman Sachs? What other roles would be important for ensuring this change succeeds in managing diversity?

2. Comparing the hiring processes used at Goldman Sachs before and after the changes implemented under Dane Holmes, which process better met the standards of distributive justice? Why?

3. Do you think Goldman’s policy requiring a “diverse” person on the board of a company preparing an IPO uses a broad enough view of diversity? Why or why not?