In the modern workplace, diversity is a key topic of conversation for HR teams. New age job-seekers expect their employer to provide a culture of diversity to their workforce. So it's of utmost importance to take measures in considering diversity and inclusion from the hiring stage itself.
By selecting candidates with varied profiles, sometimes with atypical experience or non-linear career paths, you are communicating your commitment to offering a diverse and innovative working environment. Apart from its moral value, diversity helps to boost productivity, innovation and customer satisfaction, as well as stimulating your employer brand.
However, implementing an inclusive recruitment program comes with its unique set of challenges. We all are unconsciously or subconsciously influenced by certain biases that can distort our judgment. Similarly, some sectors suffer from a lack of representation of certain categories of people, making it difficult to have people from diverse backgrounds.
Read further to know how to integrate diversity into your recruitment process, what strategy to adopt and some advice on how to get started.
The current state of diversity in the workplace
The rapidly changing world of the workplace has prompted modern day employees to reconsider their values around work. Overall well-being, pay parity, fair representation of minorities and diversity and inclusion are important factors people consider when choosing their future employer.
Most businesses have embraced this trend and many of them are prioritizing diversity. According to a LinkedIn survey, 77% of recruitment and human resources professionals give great importance to diversity within their company. However, only 47% have dedicated programs and a meagre 27% measure and monitor their progress on the subject (Source: LinkedIn data, GTT 2020).
Diversity is a sustaining issue to be managed within companies. Women still suffer from gender discrimination, and pay parity is not achieved in many sectors and positions. They are also under-represented in certain managerial and technical positions, and often still find it difficult to reconcile their family and professional lives due to a lack of appropriate working arrangements.
People with disabilities also face barriers to employment, with many companies still lacking the equipment or facilities or the mindset to enable them to work or access offices with confidence and peace of mind.
Finally, people from ethnic minorities and the LGBTQIA+ community are also under-represented in the world of work, particularly in positions of responsibility and in certain sectors.
Companies can no longer afford to ignore diversity in their teams. It's time to commit to a diversity strategy, to standardize and systematize it in your recruitment process. The benefits to the company are numerous and should not be overlooked.
Defining your diversity strategy
As is often the case in business, in order to put a strategy in place, whether it's a commercial, financial or talent management strategy, it's important to plan ahead and form an effective roadmap. Here are the steps you need to take to develop a diversity strategy for your recruitment.
Carry out a diversity audit of your teams
A diversity audit helps you to understand the demographic profile and culture of your teams. For example, you can look at social data, gender, family, ethnicity, seniority in the company or the training of your talent.
Analyzing the diversity audit data
Analyze the data obtained and identify the main trends, see if a group or category of employees is particularly over- or under-represented in your workforce. Draw up an objective assessment, based on the data, to obtain an objective and impartial overview of the situation.
Define diversity objectives
Every company is different, and depending on the size of your teams, achieving full diversity can be a challenge. That's why you need to focus your efforts on the improvements that you believe are achievable and effective, both commercially and for the well-being and performance of your existing teams. To help you define your objectives, you can use the SMART method. It allows you to standardize your process and achieve your objectives more easily.
Define a diversity plan
Define the actions to be taken to promote diversity. To achieve this, revisit the initial audit and think about the opportunities where diversity efforts would be necessary and relevant.
Set up a dedicated diversity committee made up of various members of your company and ask them to think about a diversity policy based on concrete actions and control points that can be measured using key performance indicators (KPIs). Monitor your progress and fix any discrepancies while continuing to make improvements.
Strategies for diverse recruitment
Write inclusive job descriptions
Change the way you write job descriptions to attract a diverse range of candidates. Use inclusive language and focus on the essential skills and qualifications needed for the job, rather than relying on unnecessary requirements that may unintentionally exclude certain groups.
Don't forget to state your company's commitment to diversity and inclusion in the post to encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply. LinkedIn Recruiter is a recruitment tool that helps you limit recruitment bias by anonymising your candidates' CVs.
Diversify your recruitment sources
Don't just look for your future talent from a single source, and don't limit your search to a single diploma or previous experience. Consider providing an opportunity to candidates with varied profiles. Don't hesitate to look for candidates from abroad, from various recommendation groups, from schools or on professional social networks.
Increase the number of interviews by selecting a variety of candidates. To function well, a team needs diverse talent. Different points of view, different life experiences, different family histories, all add value to the team and the company by enabling a change of mentality and offering a multiple source of truth.
Eliminate recruitment bias
Analyze your KPIs and compare them with other players in your sector to try and avoid the impact of cognitive biases that can influence your recruitment decisions. The hiring manager must prepare and structure their interviews in a neutral and precise manner so as to focus on the elements that are relevant to the post to be filled.
A culture of openness, encouraging critical thinking, also helps to reduce recruitment bias by limiting the "conformism" effect, where people are recruited on the basis of those already working for the company or simply on the recruiter's "gut feeling".
Develop a culture of diversity
Offering in-house training on the subject of diversity and inclusion, such as the ones available on the LinkedIn Learning platform, can help you to raise awareness of diversity issues within your workforce.
The future of diversity in recruitment
Diversity in the workplace is a relatively recent phenomenon, however, during such changing times, the success of your company, both hiring wise and commercially, is heavily dependent on your commitment to investing in a diverse and inclusive work environment.
Today's employees expect diversity from their employer
Diversity is becoming an increasingly important factor for employees in choosing their future company. So, to attract and retain the best talent, it's important to integrate a diversity strategy and imbibe it in your corporate culture. It's also crucial to project your diversity culture into the future and think ahead about the challenges of tomorrow so that you stay ahead of the market and your competitors.
The notion of diversity is broadening
With the workforce becoming increasingly global, mobile and flexible, the definition of diversity is also rapidly evolving to encompass other parameters such as people's location, language, lifestyle or professional preferences.
To ensure diversity, consider integrating the widest possible range of talent, beyond previously established boundaries, and adapt your recruitment and employee retention strategies to their different needs and expectations.
Diversity touches all areas of society
Society, governments and individuals are becoming more and more aware of the profound need for diversity and inclusion. Brands now speak to all their customers and represent them in their advertising. Many sports are open to people with disabilities. Mobility in cities and on public transport are made easier for people with reduced mobility thanks to dedicated facilities.
Legislation is evolving and encouraging companies to commit to diversity. While government bodies are mobilizing to achieve parity between men and women in terms of salaries and professional responsibilities, it is time to go further and offer equal opportunities to all categories that are usually under-represented at professional level.
Conclusion
Diversity is an asset for people and for society. It is also an asset for companies. Gone are the days when all employees in the same company looked the same.
Today, adapting recruitment to embrace corporate diversity is essential, not only to stimulate innovation and profitability, but also to foster an inclusive and attractive culture. Develop your diversity strategy for your recruitment, monitor it and adapt it in line with changing needs to bring out the full potential of your talent.
