Improving Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) all starts with recruitment.
Evolving your recruitment strategy and processes is the easiest way to champion inclusion and make your workforce more diverse. But as with the issue of performative diversity and inclusion, your hiring process should not be made more diverse solely to look better to the outside world.
There needs to be a DEI support mechanism to assist employees during their onboarding and as they begin to build their new career.
What organisations must not forget is that recruitment is about finding the best person for the job – and not hiring arbitrarily to fulfil quotas. Creating an environment of inclusivity will permeate through your hiring and the type of talent that you will attract. As long as the recruitment company you work with has a matrix that is non-biased, you are doing the right thing.
How prominently is DEI featured in your current hiring process?
How often are you having conversations among the hiring department about how diversity, equity and inclusion can be incorporated into your hiring decisions?
Below are some of the first places to look to make your recruitment strategy more inclusive:
1. Use Inclusive Language in Your Job Descriptions
Audit your previous job descriptions and look at how you can make them more inclusive by changing the language. You might notice that the language you have used in the past was geared towards certain demographics – this can happen when you start the recruitment process with an idea of the ‘type’ of person you want already in mind.
Additionally, don’t be afraid to mention that you welcome candidates from all different backgrounds.
2. Have Managers Complete Unconscious Bias Training
Unconscious bias can derail the recruitment process.
Implement training for everyone involved in your recruitment processes on how to spot and eradicate unconscious bias to create a fairer system.
3. Use ‘Blind’ Recruitment in the Early stages
This means considering employees without being aware of personal details such as name, age, ethnicity, sexuality etc. Scrutinising candidates in this way creates an equal playing field, although it can be difficult to achieve in practice without the right recruitment and CV tools.
Talk to your recruitment provider about blind recruitment and how it could work for you.
Can We Help?
Can we help? We have placed and filled over 100,000 temp and permanent assignments over the last 30 years so have a range of techniques, ideas and platforms which could help you. Why not call us on 0113 367 2880 to have a conversation with one of our team. Alternatively drop us an email here or check out our Testimonials and Case Studies.
