Paving the Way for Inclusive Recruiting in the Business World
In recent years, leaders have realized how important business diversity is. Having a workforce made up of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences can be beneficial to any organization, bringing a wealth of knowledge, helping to solve problems, and encouraging innovation. Creating an inclusive hiring process must be a priority for businesses that want to access such employees and help their businesses prepare for the future. In this article, we will explore 7 steps that will help you design a hiring process that will make your business accessible to all.
7 Steps to an Engaging Hiring Process
1. Define Your DEI Policy and Set Goals
To begin, it is important to review your organization’s existing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy. This will lay the foundation for effective communication and an open workplace that will welcome diverse people. So, start by identifying the good practices you already have in place and the ones that aren’t in order to truly transform your business culture. These processes can then be integrated into the recruitment process and allow you to achieve your diversity goals. Speaking of goals, what kind of employees are you looking to attract? Are you looking to hire more women, people with disabilities, or international candidates? Your decision will greatly affect your future hiring choices.
2. Provide Training
This step depends on the results of the internal evaluation we suggested above. However, even if DEI is already important to your organization, there is always something new to learn. Therefore, be sure to conduct annual diversity training sessions to remind older employees and teach new ones about bias awareness. Many of us may have unconscious biases that affect how we perceive our colleagues and make our hiring decisions. However, through diverse training, we can learn to recognize and overcome them, ensuring that all candidates receive equal opportunities regardless of their gender, nationality, religion, disability, etc.
3. Put together Affiliate Job Ads
Once you’ve completed the first two steps, you’re ready to dive into the details of your hiring process, starting with the job description. Although many businesses don’t realize it, this is the point where they make the most mistakes about inclusion. Your job ad will shape the candidate’s first impression of your business, making the use of engaging language essential so you don’t deter a qualified candidate from applying. For example, you should avoid using gender-specific terms such as “entrepreneur” or “salesperson.” Sometimes, even words like “aggressive,” “aggressive,” or “competitive” may discourage women from using them as they reflect characteristics historically associated with masculinity.
4. Make Your Ads Accessible
Besides writing job descriptions that are inclusive for everyone, you have to make sure people see them. Are they only on your organization’s website, or have you posted them on popular recruiting websites like LinkedIn? Consider posting your job opportunities on social media and networking sites or organizing open events. Your perfect candidate can be anywhere, so if you want to achieve an engaging hiring process, you’ll need to think outside the box. Finally, make sure all your platforms adhere to accessibility guidelines so you don’t leave out people with disabilities. This is not only good practice, but also good for your brand reputation.
5. Make the Selection Process Right
At this point, if all goes according to plan, you should have received many requests from various talent. But how do you ensure that the shortlisting process continues to comply with your DEI policy? Another common method that businesses use in this category is to anonymize applications. Removing personally identifiable information (PII), such as name, age, or university, allows you to focus on an individual’s potential and prevent bias. Additionally, having more than one person review applications ensures that any assumptions made by one group will be challenged by another.
6. Prepare Engaging Conversations
The interview is an important part of the inclusive hiring process, as it is the first opportunity for applicants to meet your representative in person. Therefore, it is important to prepare adequately to make potential candidates feel comfortable and give them a fair chance to seek office. First, select a diverse recruitment panel to reduce ignorance bias. Offer flexible scheduling options, allowing people with budget or space constraints to participate in virtual meetings. In addition, develop a set of questions that all applicants must answer and create a scoring system for each question. This way, you will be able to base your decision on comparable data rather than personal opinions.
7. Review and Improve
A truly effective and inclusive hiring process aligns with social and industry trends. Even if your DEI policy currently checks all the boxes, that doesn’t mean this will be the case forever. Be sure to communicate with your HR department and DEI team for updates and adjust your hiring, onboarding, and any other internal processes accordingly. This approach will emphasize that diversity and inclusion are not just buzzwords for you but pillars on which you support your corporate culture, ultimately contributing to the happiness and engagement of your diverse workforce.
The conclusion
An accessible and inclusive hiring process is a must for businesses looking to take advantage of the growing global talent pool. These days, qualified people can be found anywhere, and an inclusive approach will help ensure that no one is overlooked because of location, gender, disability, or race. By following the tips we have reviewed in this article, you will be able to significantly expand your talent pool and drive innovation because of the unique knowledge and ideas they will bring.