Diverse teams are more likely to perform at a higher level than their competitors, make better decisions, and drive more revenue on average.
The competitive advantages of fostering a diverse workplace of genders, races, ethnicities, sexual identities, and more are impossible to ignore. It’s critical that hiring managers and business leaders take the time and effort to promote diversity on their teams.
The best way to increase diversity in the workplace is through your hiring process. There are a few key steps you’ll need to take in order to ensure you are finding the best possible candidates with diverse backgrounds and identities.
Audit Your Existing Job Descriptions
It’s important to examine your past recruitment ads and make any necessary changes to speak to a broad range of candidates. The language in your old job postings may be geared toward a specific demographic of experience level. Change that going forward to be more inclusive of less experienced candidates.
Target Specific Sources
Source your candidates from a variety of different places. Don’t rely on the same sources over and over again when seeking out new candidates—you’ll continue to attract the same kind of applicants. Instead, seek out local colleges, social media, community centers, and diversity job sites such as BlackCareers.org or VeteranJobs.net. You can view a more complete list here.
You can also target these sources to hire interns for your business to further promote diversity and learning.
Encourage Your Diverse Employees to Refer Connections
It’s a good idea to ask existing employees or external partners to recommend their own contacts for job openings as they become available. You may find that offering an incentive in return will help drive more connections.
Analyze Your Current Diversity Efforts
Spend time checking out employee review sites like Glassdoor to see what your team is saying about your business and its diversity efforts. You should also request feedback from candidates after interviews and send anonymous surveys to your employees.
Consider how this feedback and your company’s inclusivity are affecting your recruitment efforts. You may need to talk to your leadership team to drive necessary changes based on this feedback.
Explain Why Diversity and Inclusion Are Important
Bring your entire organization together to explain why your diversity and inclusion efforts are important to your business and its values. Show what you’ve already done to increase diversity, what you’re currently doing, and what you plan on in the future. Lay out concrete plans with clear timetables.
Use Real Photos Instead of Stock
Ditch the stock photos and instead use real pictures of your team on your website. It’s a great idea to also Include employee testimonials that explain why your business is a good place to work and how you’re working towards being a more inclusive workspace.
Enact Company Policies That Appeal to Diverse Candidates
Create and implement company-wide policies that appeal to more diverse candidates. This could include changing your paid time off policies to include more religious holidays, community events, and more. If possible, encourage flexible work hours that allow employees to stay involved with their communities.
Create a Diverse Hiring Team
Make sure your hiring managers and interview panels include diverse viewpoints and people. This balance of interviewers will foster more unique discussions during the interview process and help candidates feel more comfortable.
Implement Video Interviewing
Video interviews help businesses reach and work with candidates from all over the world. Not only that, but they also lessen the expenses of travel for in-person interviews. You can more easily and inexpensively find the best talent for your team from different states, regions, or countries.
Use Blind Hiring/Interviewing Practices
Omit names and genders from resumes to avoid bias during the hiring process. There are a few other best practices for running blind interviews that are outlined in this free offer.
