If you want to be seen as a company that values diversity, you need more than just bodies in seats. You must respect diversity and foster a climate that enables new hires to be successful in their roles. One of the first stages in hiring excellent prospects is having fantastic applicant communication. If you’re looking to enhance a certain aspect of your organization, it’s critical to ask yourself the following questions:
- What do I want to achieve?
- What standards do I use to gauge my success?
- How can measures for hiring diversity be measured?
Without stating these two essential criteria in concrete terms, it is difficult to improve your diversity recruitment strategy. Together with your team, decide what you want to achieve. Do you want to see more women working in technological fields? Great! Establish a goal for how many more women you want to hire in those positions by gathering reliable data on the number of women you already employ in those roles.
Now that you are aware of your objectives and standards, let’s look at approaches to enhance your diversity recruitment.
Making sure that the candidates who apply for your jobs are diverse in the first place is one of the greatest methods to guarantee that you’re hiring a diverse set of people. The following tactics will help you increase the diversity of your candidate pool:
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Check your job postings:
One of the best ways to hire a diverse workforce is to do an audit of your prior recruiting advertisements and make adjustments to communicate to a larger range of prospects. Even a few of the languages you use may be tailored to a certain group of people or level of expertise.
If so, consider ways to make your language more encompassing to attract people from other backgrounds. Daniel Foley, Founder of Assertive Media, claims “Write job advertisements with certain demographics in mind to enhance your diversity recruitment approach. Inform your target candidates of your search for them and the reasons they would be a good match for your company.”
Sources to Hit Up Where Diverse Candidates Hang Out
Recruiting applicants from various sources is a great way to make sure that your staff pool is made up of a varied group of people. Holly Cooper, the Content Manager & Planner at LUCAS PRODUCTS & SERVICES advises, “When seeking fresh applicants, don’t rely on the same sources repeatedly. A talent pool of identical candidates and a lack of diversity might result from focusing just on the sources you are most familiar with.
Instead, seek for chances to locate diverse candidates in areas where they like to congregate. For instance, there are several physical and online groups dedicated to women in technology. This may be an excellent approach to meeting and communicating with qualified female applicants instead of waiting for them to find you through networks like Indeed. Your skill pool will become more diverse the more effort you put into finding these outlets.”
Encourage the referral of friends and colleagues by your diverse workforce:
Members of your team probably have networks of people with backgrounds similar to their own. A great way to improve your diversity recruiting strategy and show that your company supports people with different origins and viewpoints is to develop a diverse applicant referral network. Dean Lee, Head of eCommerce at 88Vape advises, “Talk to some of the folks presently on your team that meet that description if you’re trying to employ more of a specific demographic.
Encourage them to tell their connections about your employment openings, and provide them the tools they need to help you promote your company. Both your current team members and new hires will feel appreciated for their contributions and presence, which is fantastic for overall team morale and engagement.”
Provide Internships to Specific Groups:
Numerous companies have started to create internal diversity initiatives that offer possibilities for co-ops and internships to persons from different backgrounds. This is an excellent strategy for recruiting promising newcomers to your team so they may obtain important experience.
Patrick Johnson, Owner of C&H Essentials offers the following advice: “Focus on contacting neighborhood schools and community organizations to see if there are any ways to engage with youngsters. Communities usually offer development initiatives, and working with them is a fantastic way to give back while also getting access to fresh talent.”
Make your company’s brand reflect your diversity:
“Building an employer brand that organically supports individuals and opinions from all walks of life is the best way to enhance diversity in your candidate sourcing” according to Mathew Bowley, Marketing Manager at Solmar Villas. Gain the support of your workers by discussing the benefits and significance of diversity.
Then, embed those values into your company’s culture. You’ll start to establish a reputation as an employer who promotes diversity as you go along. Encourage staff members to talk about this part of your business.
Keep a record of their experiences and promote your employer’s brand by utilizing that component of your business’s personality. Businesses that support such values will attract diverse applicants, and the only way to enjoy the benefits is through organic expansion.
Create a welcoming environment for diverse candidates to thrive to keep them on board:
One of the most important things you can do for your company is to provide a friendly environment for your freshly recruited workers. It is impossible to exaggerate how important retention is, and the last stage of creating a pleasant workplace is sometimes overlooked.
Diverse candidates often make up a small minority in any office. Your new workers could find it difficult to stand up for themselves or voice their ideas, so you must put them at ease and offer them a seat at the table.
