Organizations that cultivate diverse teams reap the benefits of enhanced creativity, innovation, and performance. The richness of varying perspectives and backgrounds fosters superior problem-solving and breeds unique ideas.
Recognizing these advantages, many companies are integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) into their workplace policies, including pay equity action plans and diverse recruitment efforts.
What is diversity recruiting?
Diversity in recruitment is more than a trend; it’s a shift towards a more inclusive and equitable work culture. It empowers employees, strengthens relationships, builds trust, and unlocks potential. Companies committed to diversity recruiting seek the best candidates from various backgrounds, socioeconomic statuses, religions, genders, races, and sexual orientations, creating more equitable recruitment and hiring practices.
This practice reduces unconscious bias and expands opportunities, contributing to fair treatment of all candidates and benefiting the hiring organization. For instance, blind recruitment—eliminating identifiers like names or faces from resumes—allows for unbiased candidate evaluation.
Steps to create a diversity recruiting strategy
Creating a diversity recruiting strategy is a natural progression for companies committed to workplace diversity.
Here are four steps to help you craft a compelling strategy:
1. Get leadership buy-in and support
The success of a diversity recruiting strategy relies heavily on leadership and hiring manager support. This buy-in guarantees the investment required for structural changes and action steps, even when facing resistance or allocating significant resources.
Leaders must understand and champion the benefits of workplace diversity, embracing the potential need for an extensive revamp in recruitment, hiring, and promotion processes.
2. Define diversity recruitment goals
Setting realistic and specific diversity recruitment goals is a critical part of your strategy. It requires self-reflection to identify areas for growth and to align these goals with job seekers’ values.
Possible goals include increasing team-wide diversity, promoting diversity in leadership roles, improving employee retention and satisfaction rates, and enhancing organizational performance.
3. Adapt new processes in the hiring cycle
Consider utilizing tools like Payscale’s compensation management software, which provides data-driven insights to ensure fair and competitive compensation across diverse groups. Such tools aid in attracting a diverse talent pool and promoting pay equity in your organization.
Recruitment is just the beginning. Foster a culture that respects and values diversity to ensure your diverse hires feel welcomed and included. This process involves developing inclusive policies, providing diversity and inclusion training, and ensuring fair treatment and opportunities for all employees.
4. Measure and report progress.
As with any strategy, it’s crucial to track progress and make necessary adjustments. Monitoring helps you understand the effectiveness of your diversity recruiting strategy and identify areas for improvement. Regular audits of your hiring process, diversity metrics, and employee feedback provide valuable insights for continual refinement.
Key performance indicators (KPIs), quantifiable measures of performance over time for a set goal, enhance the recruitment process. Recruiters and organizational leaders who identify KPIs before rolling out hiring initiatives often find greater success, constantly evaluating whether their strategy is pushing them in the right direction.
Make sure that your organization’s KPIs are on the right track by comparing them with metrics outside of recruiting and accepting feedback from internal and external voices. One way to keep track of KPIs is by hiring a DEI consultant.
How to promote diversity in recruiting? 6 strategies to consider
Creating a diversity recruiting strategy that genuinely delivers results involves a focus on each stage of the recruitment process, including hiring and promoting. This comprehensive approach is key to cultivating a diverse talent pool.
Here are six strategies to help your organization achieve this goal:
Review your job requirements and descriptions
Job postings often serve as a candidate’s first interaction with your organization. The language used greatly influences a candidate’s decision to apply, impacting your diversity initiatives. A DEI professional review your job descriptions to ensure inclusivity.
It’s also crucial to avoid language specific to gender, race, or abilities and emphasize your commitment to an inclusive work environment.
Re-evaluate screening factors
Human bias, even when unintentional, creeps into the screening phase of the recruitment process. To counteract bias, consider employing technology to help reduce the influence of bias.
An online sourcing program prioritizes underrepresented groups, such as people with disabilities. Also, reconsider screening factors not essential to the job role. For example, instead of focusing on candidates from specific universities, consider all college-educated applicants.
Lever technology and AI to re-focus efforts
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a game-changer in your quest for a diverse workforce. AI helps screen candidates, reducing potential bias. Algorithms filter applications based on objective criteria such as experience, skills, and qualifications, providing an unbiased list of top candidates.
Reduce bias and increase inclusivity with diversity training programs
Implementing diversity training programs is a long-term investment that signals your organization’s commitment to diversity. Providing hands-on training sessions led by a DEI professional creates a safe learning environment.
Encourage your HR and hiring teams to participate, as they play a crucial role in the hiring process.
Commit to equity and ensure the organization’s policies are inclusive
The bedrock of a successful diversity recruitment strategy lies in having inclusive organizational policies. Before investing in AI or DEI training programs, ensure your policies are fair and equitable. Inclusive policies attract a diverse applicant pool, as they reflect your organization’s commitment to diversity.
Inclusion often means flexibility. For instance, prospective employees who are expectant parents will find your organization more appealing if they are assured of support regarding parental leave. Similarly, flexible work arrangements resonate well with millennials.
Consider diversity in your policy-making process. This process often involves creating an inclusive work calendar that accommodates religious holidays or updating recruitment policies to ensure underrepresented candidates are considered fairly.
By adopting strategies that recognize and celebrate diverse groups, such as LGBTQ+ employees, your organization reinforces its commitment to diversity.
Reflect diversity at all stages of the hiring process
Every stage of the hiring process offers a glimpse into your organization’s culture and values. Therefore, it’s crucial to prioritize diversity from the onset.
Candidates from diverse backgrounds will feel more at ease and likely perform better during the hiring process if they see diversity reflected in your hiring team, existing workforce, and the pool of applicants. Moreover, using tools like Payscale helps ensure that your compensation packages are fair and competitive, further attracting a diverse pool of candidates.
Remember, fostering diversity is not a one-off task but a continuous process that is embedded in every facet of your organization. By doing so, you create an inclusive environment that values every individual and leverages their unique perspectives.
5 Tips to improve your diversity recruiting strategy
Companies committed to equity recognize that the journey to cultivating a diverse organization requires adaptability and growth. The DEI paradigm is perpetually evolving, and successful diversity initiatives demand a willingness to embrace change and maintain transparency about your organization’s learning curve.
Diversity recruitment practices need continuous review and refinement to stay effective. This process will not only help your organization source the finest talent but also boost staff retention.
Here are five strategies to bolster your diversity recruitment efforts:
1. Use blind resumes and interviews
Blind resumes and interviews are potent tools for enhancing diversity outreach. Your hiring team uses technology to anonymize resumes and online interviews, removing identifiers like names or photos.
Consider taking this further by omitting details linked to candidates’ privileges, such as their alma mater or place of residence. Technology assists here with software collecting responses to screening questions via text messages, for instance.
Blind interviews are conducted through anonymous text conversations or via specialized recruitment platforms. Even if your organization ultimately conducts face-to-face interviews, beginning with blind ones is effective. To ensure fairness, standardize the interview process by using the same set of questions for all candidates.
2. Use ATS screening tools to automate your shortlists
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) aid in shortlisting applicants by focusing solely on job-related information, thereby eliminating personal bias from your hiring team.
Concentrating the screening process on qualifications rather than other information naturally reduces bias, underscoring the importance of screening in the hiring process.
3. Create and showcase a diversity-focused employer brand
Branding is fundamentally about communication. The language used in your organization’s job descriptions, marketing material, and interviews shapes the image potential candidates and current employees perceive.
When your branding showcases a commitment to diversity, it becomes palpable to candidates and employees, making them feel more accepted and celebrated. To achieve inclusive branding, craft messaging that emphasizes why your organization values individuals from all backgrounds.
Encourage your staff to participate in these discussions, creating a cohesive and inclusive narrative.
4. Offer internships and positions targeted to specific candidates’ backgrounds
Initiating internal diversity programs and cooperative positions provide unique job opportunities for a diverse range of applicants. Your organization forges connections with local educational institutions and community groups, particularly their minority empowerment initiatives, to convey your interest in their students and members.
Additionally, it’s crucial to offer paid internships and flexible scheduling, making these opportunities accessible to candidates from all walks of life.
5. Create a diverse candidate referral program
Leverage your team’s networks to broaden your organization’s applicant reach. If your team is diverse, they’re likely connected to individuals with similar backgrounds and experiences, potentially leading to a more diverse applicant pool.
If your organization is keen to bring in more individuals from a specific background, a useful initial step is to solicit referrals from current employees who share that background. A bonus of this approach is that your employees will feel valued by their participation in the referral program and their influence on the recruitment of qualified candidates.
The importance of diversity in the workplace
Diversity recruitment strategies offer multifaceted benefits to the hiring process, workplace inclusivity, and overall workforce performance. They pave the way for a more dynamic, diverse team, promote better collaboration and mutual respect among team members, and attract interest from a wider range of backgrounds.
Team diversity correlates with enhanced productivity and improved organizational performance. Companies with diverse leadership are more likely to yield high profits, and diverse companies are generally more innovative and perform better financially. Crucially, a majority of employees prefer to work for a diverse organization, and those who do tend to report higher job satisfaction.
Fostering diversity in your organization is a strategic approach that boosts creativity, innovation, and overall performance. Implementing these five tips will enhance your diversity recruitment strategy significantly.
To ensure the effective implementation of these strategies, explore Payscale’s Compensation Management Software. This tool ensures fair and equitable pay, a critical component of any diversity initiative. Together, let’s cultivate a workplace that celebrates diversity and inclusivity.
