Diversity and Inclusion: Hiring for the Next Generation

Employees have made it known that they want to work for an organization that emphasizes diversity and inclusion. With the numbers showing that diverse teams are more productive and profitable, employers need to find ways to implement DE+I into their processes. One thing to remember is that strong diversity hiring practices extend beyond the everyday culture of your workplace. Without recruiting strategies that embrace diversity, your employer brand and workplace culture will suffer. The good news for recruiters is that implementing diversity initiatives into your candidate sourcing strategies is easier than ever with a rise in remote work. Below we discuss what you can do to increase your diversity efforts when it comes to sourcing candidates.

A Focus On Diversity & Inclusion

Over the last year, diversity and inclusion were at the forefront of corporate initiatives. Employers wanted to showcase their commitment to providing a workplace that embraces all, and employees wanted transparent and visible initiatives that demonstrated real change. As time continued, the demand for diversity at work has only increased. Today, 67% of job seekers say that a company’s commitment to diversity directly influences their decision to accept an offer or not. Put simply, your continued commitment to diversity directly impacts your ability to hire and retain top talent.

There are many ways that recruiters can embrace more diversity in their candidate sourcing strategies. By evaluating their current recruitment practices, they can identify gaps in their strategy and develop a plan for strengthening their candidate sourcing pipeline.

How To Recruit Diverse Candidates

Expand your talent pool lines. Traditionally, employers focused their recruiting and sourcing efforts on their immediate vicinity. With on-site jobs, this helps to ensure reduced time to hire and helps expedite the onboarding process. However, employers today don’t need to restrict their candidate sourcing. With many roles offering flexible workplace solutions and the rise in remote work offerings, employers can expand their talent pool and reach into previously untapped markets. This expands the number of candidates you can recruit, leading to a more diverse and inclusive candidate pool.

Rethink your listed qualifications. Did you know that the qualifications you list on job postings are harming your diversity efforts? Often, recruiters will ask an applicant to have far more years of experience than necessary or ask for training and knowledge of tools that aren’t needed to perform the job well. This discourages potential candidates from applying for your role because they believe themselves to be unqualified. Additionally, the qualifications you list can unintentionally discourage female applicants. Historically, male job seekers apply for roles where they match at least half of the qualifications; on the other hand, female candidates will only apply if they match all qualifications. When you reduce unnecessary or restrictive qualifications, you open the door to new applicants you’ve previously been excluding.

Avoid gender terms. Your words matter. When you use gender-coded terms in your recruiting efforts, you might be discouraging certain candidate populations from applying. For example, men are much more likely than women to apply for roles that use terms such as “ambitious, strong, and independent.” Eliminating the use of all gendered terms is not possible, but recruiters need to be mindful of the phrasing they use to create a balance that encourages applicants of all kinds.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion remain at the top of the candidate’s list for most desired qualities in an employer. To stay ahead of the curve and attract the best candidates, you need to find and capitalize on opportunities to weave a diverse mindset into your recruiting efforts. IQTalent Partners can help you to source a diverse pool of qualified candidates with assistance from our team of expert sourcers. Bringing expert industry knowledge to the table, we align with your sourcing strategies by deciding precisely what the ideal candidate looks like. For more information about how IQTalent Partners can supercharge your candidate sourcing strategies, reach out to our team and schedule a free consultation now.