If your company is lacking in diversity, it could signal a need for a diversity initiative. After all, you do not want to violate (or appear to violate) anti-discrimination statutes.
The ACLU notes that the law allows you to set inclusion goals as long as you are careful to keep these in compliance with the law.
Raising the numbers
A number is low if you have a significant imbalance between how many members of a protected group work in your company versus how many work in the labor pool for that particular job outside your company. Your goal is to identify the barriers that have kept the number low in your company and eliminate those through tailored measures.
Setting numerical goals
You cannot set a specific quota or set a certain number of jobs aside for the protected class. For example, you cannot reserve the next six positions for a specific protected class. However, you can set short-term goals such as achieving a measurable statistical improvement each year until you have reached the percentage that meets the larger goal.
Choosing qualified applicants
If you choose not to hire people outside that demographic even though they are more qualified, or fire them to free up a certain number of jobs so you can fill them with the protected class, this causes undue harm. You can only fill relevant positions with people from the protected class who have the qualifications necessary to perform the job.
Identifying solutions
You may need to hire more people, but perhaps part of the problem is the lack of training within the company or biases in the promotion process. You may need to hire a professional from outside the company to assess these factors and help you to identify barriers and solutions.
