For organizations looking to re-energize with more inclusive policies, often the first process examined is the recruitment process. This makes sense: new people bring fresh perspective and a momentum for real change.
But it is not enough to hire for diversity alone, and short-term solutions that exacerbate high turnover can quickly turn sour when faced with biased viewpoints and low retention. Diversity and inclusion recruitment requires forethought and flexibility in your strategies.
Here are 5 questions to ask yourself when crafting your inclusive recruitment strategy:
1. What has your personal experience been with hiring and interviewing, both positive and negative?
A good place to begin is to think about bias you have witnessed, observed in yourself or been subject to in the hiring process. Perhaps while interviewing you experienced a comment or question that sounded like ageism, racism, or sexism. Perhaps on the recruiting side, you noticed that you tend to be hiring people with very similar traits and backgrounds. Perhaps in your own interviewing, you experienced demonstrations of psychological safety that gave a positive impression of the hiring manager, team function or organization.
2. What are some hiring practices or processes currently in place that might impact your ability to hire inclusively?
It’s important to expose blind spots by reviewing the process with a variety of perspectives, roles, experience level, and backgrounds. Discuss how long candidates waiting to be seen, and how many times candidates are required to return for further interviews, either in-person or online. Are your sources for talent localized, and is there an opportunity to further partner with the local community or local organizations to find qualified candidates that may not be using traditional outlets? Review the hierarchy involved in the decision-making, and be sure to communicate with all involved parties the expectations for their roles in a more inclusive hiring process.
3. What inclusive benefits and policies do you currently have on offer, and how much flexibility are we willing to offer now?
Taking stock of your corporate offerings that put inclusion and belonging at the forefront can be a reality check for some, since candidates are looking for concrete, actionable and relatable benefits and policies that demonstrate a culture of inclusion and belonging. Depending on the country of operation, there may be legal barriers or limitations that may impact the benefits you may have offered in the past, therefore revisiting these now can save you time and resources for enticing qualified candidates that are on the job market today.
4. What is the language you are using, whether it is the job description, your company culture, your inclusive benefits, or even your fellow employees?
Consider the language that may compel or dissuade candidates from applying. Are your expectations realistic for the job being offered? Leverage diverse perspectives of your job descriptions to minimize the presence of unconscious bias. In our Inclusive Hiring Course, we have an exercise where you can practice spotting the bias within a job description and strategize ways the language can be adjusted to be more inclusive to all types of candidates. Coach hiring managers to interview with a consistent message about the culture and inclusivity goals of your organization, in addition to training bias awareness in the interview process.
5. Finally, what comes after the recruitment process?
Where are we going as an organization when it comes to diversity, inclusion, and belonging? Not only does having a clear direction make it easier to write job descriptions, speak to candidates about your culture of inclusivity, and provide opportunities to diversify your talent pool in the future, but it is also a pathway towards continuing a pattern of inclusivity and belonging in the workplace.
Inclusive hiring requires an honest audit from all sides of the process, as well as from the perspectives of all roles that experience it. The ways we reach for diversity, inclusion, and belonging are ever-evolving, while the words themselves are constantly being redefined. A thoughtful and flexible approach to inclusive recruitment strategies keeps this in mind so that we may open our workplace to unlimited possibilities.
Ready to improve your recruitment strategy? Talk to our experts.
