Today, many organizations realize that there are vast disparities in gender, ethnic and racial diversity among workers and employees at all levels. And although the corporate sector has made significant progress in correcting these inequities, studies show that several companies still struggle to implement diversity recruiting practices that genuinely work.
Now, there is an alternative to looking for an easy way out or a temporary solution. Organizations, especially the ones preferring RPO and with successful diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives prefer to look back at their recruitment practices from time to time. This is to ensure that each process evolves with the rapidly changing needs of the business.
Recruitment, though just a small part of the greater DEI strategy, serves crucial functions and is hence prioritized.
Here is a detailed discussion about diversity recruiting and strategies to implement a diversity recruitment plan in your organization.
Table of Contents
What Is Diversity Recruiting?
Diversity Recruiting is built on the idea that an organization's team should reflect the society's general makeup. The employees should comprise various types of people from diverse backgrounds and experiences.
Diversity can be broadly categorized into two: a) inherent diversity, like demographic factors and b) acquired diversity, developed or earned over time. Inherent diversity has to do with gender, age, race, and other characteristics natural to a person. Acquired diversity refers to factors like education, values, experience, knowledge, and skills — factors that are typically more fluid and can evolve.
Therefore, diversity recruiting is the policy of hiring candidates, including remote onboarding, using a process free from biases for or against an individual or a group of candidates. It continues merit-based recruitment and intends to find the best possible candidate. The highlight is that it emphasizes giving an equal opportunity to all applicants, irrespective of their backgrounds.
Importance of a Diversity Recruiting & Hiring Strategy
Workforce diversity is a rapidly growing trend in the business world, and it is rightfully so. Go to any HR outsourcing company worth their salt, and they'll tell you the same. Diversity recruiting, besides being a good moral choice, promises several tangible benefits for innovation, productivity, and performance.
Some of the most common benefits include:
- A broad range of experience and skills in the team
- An enhanced cultural and language awareness
- A wider and more varied candidate pool
Because of these advantages, it has been proven that a diverse workforce can solve problems efficiently. It can drive increased creativity and innovation at work, resulting in better decisions and results. Diversity in viewpoints also allows team members to evaluate the merits of different methods and arrive at the best possible conclusion.
Here are some of the notable results of diversity recruiting worth looking at:
- Organizations with diverse management teams have 19% higher revenues
- 67% of job seekers believe that diversity is a crucial factor when considering a workplace
- Over 80% of CEOs believe that a diverse workforce improves their bottom lines
Now that we know what diversity recruiting is and its importance for today’s organizations let’s look into diversity recruitment strategies.
Top Diversity Recruitment Strategies
- Increase Talent Searches in the Recruiting Program
- Nurture a Pipeline of Diverse Candidates
- Leverage Specific Job Boards
- Review the Present Interviewing and Evaluation Process
As we have already mentioned, the actions and policies surrounding diversity recruiting must evolve with the inflow of new information. So, once an organization has finalized a strategy on implementing diversity, it is necessary to continue monitoring the progress of the initiatives and make adjustments as and when needed.
The top diversity recruitment strategies discussed below should, therefore, also be expected to change over time to meet the needs of the particular company and its employee base.
Increase Talent Searches in the Recruiting Program
Regarding sourcing candidates, the top talents that represent the various identities and backgrounds can be spotted on any primary recruiting website. However, other employers also compete for these candidates and search on the same platforms. To get ahead, you have to become more creative.
You can look for users belonging to specific diversity-oriented groups or perhaps, are a part of some diverse organizations to maximize your search on the job boards.
Nurture a Pipeline of Diverse Candidates
An efficient hiring practice promoting diversity always has an ongoing nurturing program. A company’s database of job candidates is a pool of potential that it needs to re-engage through the recruiting funnel constantly. You can also level up your recruitment nurture in the following ways:
Segment high potential candidates and target them with communications that highlight advancement opportunities
Reach out to candidates that previously made it to the later stages of interviews with new positions
Make the most of the recruitment marketing channels to promote your employer brand to stay top-of-mind with candidates
Leverage Specific Job Boards
Even though the primary method of sourcing candidates depends on the essentially popular recruitment boards, smaller boards that have become popular over the years for connecting with potential candidates from diverse backgrounds.
Some of these are:
- AbilityLinks is a job board connecting employers to a varied pool of skilled and experienced candidates with disabilities.
- Inroads is an organization working to develop underserved youth, connecting them to leadership development opportunities.
- Out & Equal is another job board that enables employers to build a company profile and employ highly-skilled LGBTQ+ candidates.
Review the Present Interviewing and Evaluation Process
Interviewing is an integral part of the recruiting process, but it can also be highly biased. You may already have a robust, formalized interview process, but it’s critical to revisit this periodically to ensure it’s still effective.
Here are some questions to ask when evaluating your current interview practices:
- Do the interviewers, including PEO employee leasing, represent a range of diverse backgrounds?
- If you are looking forward to recruiting diverse candidates, you should also ensure that your interview panels include team members from diverse backgrounds.
- Are the interviewers aware of different types of biases?
Hosting a workshop for educating your hiring team on possible biases that may come up in the interviewing process is necessary.
Are the interview questions presented in a way that eliminates bias?
Standardizing the interview process so every candidate gets asked the same questions becomes crucial here.
Diversity Recruitment: Best Practices
Diversity recruiting is crucial, but recruiting alone is not enough to stand out among the competing employers for the most diverse talents in the respective industries. So, here are some of the hiring best practices to move beyond just recruiting and attracting various candidates to your company.
Make Diversity a Part of Your Job Description
Once you have labeled your organization as an “equal opportunity employer,” take a step further. Make sure you highlight diversity in your job description. The description can include a statement or two on what your company is about and then discuss your current DEI initiatives briefly.
Provide Equal Benefits and Perks
Almost every organization offers standard benefits to all employees. Consider providing equal opportunities such as parental leave for both mothers and fathers. Also, consider including same-sex couples in the spousal benefits policies.
Offer Accessible Education and Learning Programs
Whether you are one of the PEO companies or not, you can offer the underserved employees a few life-changing access to quality education. You can implement a comprehensive workforce education program within the company.
With this approach, you can let all your employees, regardless of their education or background, leverage the benefits of the programs to earn degrees and certifications. They can become part of educational institutes otherwise out of their reach. They can partake in their individual terms while growing with your organization.
Create an Employer Brand Known for Diversity
You can turn into an employer by making DEI one of the top priorities at your company. When an organization implements a high-impact DEI initiative, it makes it automatically known as a brand to the existing and prospective employees.
Diversity Recruiting Takeaway
It is never too late to re-evaluate how one thinks diversity, inclusion and equity are integral parts of the broader talent acquisition strategy. Organizations going for diversity recruiting will get all the information to re-strategize and solidify the processes that will best serve your DEI objectives.
