Many companies strive to make diversity a priority when it comes to talent acquisition. Improving diversity through recruitment efforts takes a careful plan with strategies to help attract top talent that can both meet diversity goals while also maximizing productivity within the workforce. Diversity recruiting is a specialized method of talent acquisition that may meet both of these goals.

 

What Is Diversity Recruiting?

To achieve greater diversity in the workplace, companies must carefully match needs with compliance. More companies are striving to do this for multiple reasons. Companies that effectively recruit and manage a workforce that’s diverse, typically have a clear advantage over those organizations that do not do this.

In diversity recruiting, the hiring process focuses on merit but also incorporates special care to ensure there are reduced biases in the candidate’s race, gender, religion, age, or sexual orientation. It is the removal of other personal characteristics that are unrelated to a person’s ability to do their job.

Getting diversity recruiting right is a challenge. Many organizations seek to implement a more diverse recruitment process, but they set unrealistic goals, and consequently, fail. Companies want to do better by hiring a more diverse workforce. They may even realize the benefits that may come with it. Yet, they struggle to pull the pieces together to achieve the best outcome.

 

Why Do You Need to Diversify Your Hiring Process?

Another way to define workplace diversity is that it is the process of understanding and then accepting and placing value on the differences between people. This applies to disabilities, religion, age, ethnicities, races, and many other factors. Considering this definition, it may be clear why there is so much value in diversification.

Some of the benefits that come from a diversified workplace may include:

  • It spurs innovation and business growth. Evidence shows that diversity within the workforce of a company may propel the business forward faster.
  • It may help create new markets and enhance product development. By incorporating a larger range of views and ideas, there’s more opportunity to reach a larger group with new products and services, often in untapped markets.
  • It may lead to higher earnings and a bigger return on equity. In some instances, the investment in diversity provides a clear benefit in profit, especially when there is a more diverse executive board and leadership team in place.
  • Diverse groups typically outperform those that are less diverse. One clear area for this is in problem solving. Diversity may increase the range of solutions available when problems exist.
  • It boosts creativity in the company. A diverse workforce and leadership team may mean more creativity within the company, which may influence growth.

 

How Do You Diversify Recruiting?

Recruitment and talent acquisition focused on diversity comes from a carefully designed strategy. Working to improve this strategy is typically necessary on an ongoing and consistent basis. Consider these strategies to help build on and amplify diversity within the workplace.

  1. Write job postings that attract a diverse candidate pool. The language used within any job posting should appeal to a broader range of candidates. For example, carefully select words that will attract a larger group of people. Try to keep language gender-neutral and focus on capabilities required in the candidates.
  2. Add more diverse candidates to the pipeline. Create a final candidate pool that includes more minority candidates or a more diverse range of applicants. That doesn’t mean just one applicant but at least two, which has been shown to increase diversity in the workplace.
  3. Encourage employees to refer connections. Encourage diverse employees to recommend the position to friends that have the qualifications necessary. Sharing job ads and listings in networks – both personal and professional – may attract more candidates looking for a diverse workplace.
  4. Use personality assessments in the applicant screening process. While some recruiting methods, such as using educational backgrounds, previous companies they’ve worked at, or even networks exclude many diverse applicants, personality assessment lets people shine. It provides a better measure of a person’s personality traits, skills, and motivations.
  5. Implement internships for diverse groups. Turn to community groups and schools to educate and support internships within the company. Many communities have programs in place to encourage diversity recruiting. By offering internships and co-op positions to diverse groups, it may open the door for long-term employment opportunities.
  6. Be sure applicants are attracted to listings based on workplace policies. See that the workplace policies provided in job listings are all-inclusive. This may mean creating policies that boost work/life balance, something the Millennial generation values. Some people value flexible scheduling, while others may not apply to positions because of long commutes located far from their diverse neighbourhoods.
  7. Check to see that applicant sources also encourage diversity. Companies that are placing job listings on websites that don’t work to attract a diverse pool of job seekers may be missing key opportunities.

One factor that can make diversity recruiting is the human subconscious. Even when taking as many variables out of the picture as possible, many people still make decisions based on opinions or belief systems. That is why many organizations are working to improve diversity recruiting by investing in technology. Add these tools as a way to further improve workplace diversity.

  • Artificial Intelligence. Instead of relying on human decision-making, utilize AI technology. This can automate many of the tasks involved, including creating a shortlist of candidates that meet all diversity goals.
  • Use blind interviews and resumes. The goal here is to conduct blind interviews and even blind observations of resumes. That means this is done without allowing the candidate’s ethnic or other personal traits to come through. Use tools to anonymize a voice over the phone to eliminate any insights into their background.

 

Conclusion

All types of companies can benefit from putting in place a diversity recruiting strategy. Bringing together different backgrounds and perspectives can lead to a wide range of ideas, knowledge, and ways of doing business. A diverse team will bring more flexibility to an organization while strengthening its ability to respond to changing environments and demands.
As accounting and finance recruiters in Montreal, Exceleris can help you improve your diversity recruitment efforts. Contact us for more information on how we can help you.