Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: Essential Diversity Recruitment Strategies for Modern Businesses
Commitment to gender and BIPOC diversity has proven to be effective. Yet, pragmatic action in the area of diversity recruitment has been slow. A long-term commitment to the cause and concrete goals are some potential ways through which this exclusion can be rectified.
Marketing your company for inclusivity is also important because branding empowers the public to recognize your company as a place that is gender/racially inclusive.
Changes in the recruiting process are a great way to diversify the workforce. Recruiting fresh staff is one such step, as formerly experienced board members have normatively been white, male, and without disabilities. Partnering with entrepreneurship companies can also help find a pool of diverse people.
Preparing existing candidates who work as executives—and belong to gender or racial minorities—for board roles by training them in governance would maintain an inclusive pipeline; thus, creating leaders from diverse backgrounds in the future.
One way to assess if gender/racial inclusion is being realized in the office is to be “context-specific” by evaluating if a particular department is being gender/racially inclusive or not. The author concludes the article by stressing how constructive efforts in Increasing diversity can result in better financial outcomes and long-term “values creation”.
Why It’s Important to Have a Diversity Recruitment Strategy
A diverse workforce has become an important factor in choosing the ideal work environment. due to the pressing need for an inclusive/diverse workforce, companies are using diversity recruitment strategies.
A diverse recruitment strategy is important in eliminating biases around gender, age, color, and other characteristics. An inclusive workplace is likely to attract the best candidates, increase company innovation and also result in generating greater revenue, as reported in some studies.
The first step in working towards the creation of a diverse workforce is to identify what factors are impeding diversity recruitment and how to effectively plan and take action to remove these roadblocks. Creating job descriptions that are more gender-neutral and open to results rather than former experience is one such strategy. Diversity training can also help filter biases.
Collective diversity and inclusivity efforts must be held accountable. This can be done by setting clear goals and diversity training. Another important step is hiring a DEI officer. Dedicating resources by hiring a DEI officer will not only diversify the workforce but will also help show potential employees and companies how your office is trying to be more diverse and inclusive.
Diversity-oriented recruitment strategies will help your business grow and contribute to attracting new talent. It will also add to company innovation.
Cowen Partners Executive Search Shares the Top Diversity Recruiting Strategies for 2022
The President of Cowen Partners identifies the importance of having a diverse team in the business that reflects the community that the business serves. He lists down 6 steps that are sure to help any organization create a diverse yet qualified team.
Diversity, when it comes to gender, race, religion, etc., can help companies improve business performance, increase productivity and innovation. The presence of a variety of people from various backgrounds would help broaden the perspective and bring in varied point-of-views.
The first effective diversity recruiting and inclusion strategy is to review previous job ads and assess if they have been diverse enough to reach a wide range of people. It is also important to expand your research to avoid being exclusive in your pursuit. A referral program that involves diverse candidates can also help in promoting the company as inclusive.
It is not just planning but also the action that is important in promoting your company as inclusive and diverse. Creating a safe space for candidates where they can share their ideas without fearing discrimination is important. Using artificial intelligence for the candidate screening process can effectively minimize biases around age, gender, race, etc. A skill-based process that involves shortlisting blinded resumes can help build a diverse pool of employees.
Track your progress when it comes to diversity recruitment by measuring and reporting your progress periodically. Modernizing your recruiting strategies can help create a diverse/inclusive workforce.
Your Company Should Reflect the Community You Serve
Diversity is not just a matter of visibility nowadays; rather, most talented employees consider diversity and inclusivity as one of the primary deciding factors when considering new companies. Diversity has other practical benefits, too, as it can bring innovation and creativity.
If a company doesn’t represent a particular community, it might make them feel alienated. You can promote diversity by making your diversity-inclusive values clear while hiring. Additionally, recruiting strategies should be free of any kind of discrimination. It is important to make sure that your company is not rejecting candidates based on biases around gender, race or religion, etc. Computer-based screeners or AI can be effectively used to eliminate such biases, which will allow you to filter individuals based on their competitiveness.
Communicating your work ethics regarding diversity is another way to promote diversity at your company. It is important to empower people from diverse backgrounds by giving them a safe space and by providing them with diversified benefits that suit their needs.
Finally, if you want to promote diversity, then it must be made one of the most significant elements of your company’s policies, as it is important to represent the communities that a company serves.
Remember Your ABCs: Moving from Theory to Practice in Executive Diversity Recruiting
Creating a diverse workforce is one of the most burning questions in the business world today. Worldwide movements such as the BLM and recent legislations have (partly) been responsible for initiating a conversation around diversity.
Companies must draw practical and effective plans to be inclusive when it comes to recruitment strategies. Some of the problems that impede the recruitment of executives from diverse backgrounds are: the inability to find appropriately-qualified candidates, smaller businesses may not be having enough resources to diversify their firms, and finally, the presence of passivity in most companies that refuse to invest enough time and effort to diversify their companies.
According to Allison Handy, partner with the corporate practice of Perkins Coie, diversity must be made a priority—especially in the executive ranks. Moreover, identifying a diverse skill set that the team needs will increase your chances of survival in the corporate industry.
Stewart Landefeld, another partner at Perkins Coie, identifies the ABCs of creating recruiting strategies that can diversify a company. ‘A’ stands for all aspects that must be considered while intending to diversify the board, B stands for building a diverse board knowing that it’s a long process and takes time, and finally, C stands for connections that must be built to realize such goals.
Colleen Brown, CEO of public companies that specialize in finding diverse executives and board members, suggests broadening one’s search to recruit qualified yet diverse talent. She suggests to look for talents that you may be ignoring. Devising an effective strategy can help you set your diversity efforts on the right path.
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