Building a diverse workforce is high on the agenda of many organisations worldwide. Diversity is no longer seen as a box ticking exercise, it’s proven to have a positive impact on your business.
With 78% of companies prioritising diversity to improve culture and 62% doing so to boost financial performance, according to LinkedIn, developing inclusive hiring practices has never been more important for talent leaders.
But how do you start to make your hiring process more inclusive? Read our five top tips to help you get started on the road to truly inclusive recruiting:
1. Start with your job adverts
Your job advert will likely form the first impression a candidate has of your organisation, which is why it’s so important to ensure you make a positive impact.
Always use welcoming language within your job advert where you aim to include rather than exclude. For example, rather than stating ‘We’re not looking for people with B2C sales experience’, state what you are looking for – ‘We’re looking for B2B sales professionals’.
Be careful when using gendered language; words such as ‘ambitious, assertive and determined’ are heavily male gendered and words such as ‘committed, interpersonal and responsible’ are female gendered. Try and make your adverts as balanced as possible so ensure they’re not written for purely a male or female-focused audience. If you need assistance with this, you can try running your advert through a gender de-coder (we love this one by Kat Matfield – http://gender-decoder.katmatfield.com/)
Read: How to Reduce Gender Bias Within Your Recruitment Advertising
Be mindful of other language you use in your job adverts; words such as ‘energetic’ and ‘dynamic’ can be discriminatory towards those with chronic illnesses and physical disabilities.
Additionally, to show that your organisation is serious about diversity and inclusion, you might consider advertising on a diversity-focused job board (for example, Diversifying) to promote yourself as a diverse employer of choice.
2. Make sure your careers site and application process are accessible for all
If you have a careers site, make sure that you provide users with clear instructions detailing how they can apply for a role with your business. Consider any adjustments you can make for people who have a hearing or visual impairment, as well as those with any physical or cognitive disabilities.
Remember that not everyone has access to a laptop or desktop computer to apply for jobs; many candidates will apply on their smartphone or an alternative device so take this into account when constructing your online application form. Don’t overload applicants with questions and ensure your application process is easy to complete on a mobile device.
3. Anonymise PII data within application forms
Many organisations choose to hide candidates’ personally identifiable information from hiring managers as it ensures a fair, unbiased approach when assessing applications.
If you’re using an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), such as Webrecruit ATS, this functionality can be turned on/off by HR Users and will obscure candidates’ names from their application forms to help instil blind, inclusive hiring practices within your team and eliminate the risk of unconscious bias.
4. Regularly report on your diversity efforts
If you’re seriously focusing on your equality, diversity and inclusion efforts moving forwards, being able to report on your progress is vital.
To do this, many organisations choose to ask non-mandatory ‘equal opportunities’ questions as part of their online application form. Most ATSs allow you to report on the results of these questions so organisations can see, at a glance, what percentage of their hires are of a certain age group, background, race, gender or religion.
Webrecruit ATS allows you to monitor diversity initiatives by job, department, hiring manager, time period and overall so you can easily keep track of the progress you have made and set yourself goals moving forwards.
5. Promote collaborative hiring via technology
Hiring should be a collaborative activity; asking multiple members of your team to get involved in the recruitment process is a great idea and can help to reduce bias.
Use technology to make collaboration easier. Assign jobs to multiple members of your team so candidate details are visible to all relevant parties and encourage notes to be left on applications so everyone is up-to-date and on the same page.
Try and involve as many underrepresented groups as you can during the hiring process to show that you’re serious about diversity and inclusion in every area of your business.
Equality, diversity and inclusion is a long-term cultural shift
Achieving true diversity and inclusiveness isn’t a short-term task; it’s something that you need to slowly embed in your company culture. Setting rules in place that hiring managers need to adhere to will ensure that they follow these processes moving forwards.
Inclusiveness isn’t just something to shout about; you need to show it in all actions your organisation takes.
Looking for tips on how you can improve your EDI efforts within your recruitment advertising? Find out more about our online recruitment advertising solutions.
