How to incorporate Diversity and Inclusion into your recruitment process
Why is Diversity and Inclusion important during the recruitment process?
McKinsey & Company ‘Diversity Matters’ Report, revealed a statistically significant connection between diversity and financial performance.
Better Decision Making - Workplace diversity gives access to a variety of different perspectives
Increased Creativity - When you put together people who see the same thing in different ways, you are more likely to get fresh, new ideas
Innovation - According to Josh Bersin research, inclusive companies are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders in their market
Faster Problem Solving - Harvard Business Review found diverse teams are able to solve problems faster than cognitively similar people
Higher Employee Engagement - Diversity and inclusion in the workplace causes all employees to feel accepted and valued. They are more likely to see role models in more senior roles demonstrating equal opportunities.
How can you better incorporate Diversity and Inclusion into the recruitment process?
Measure and report gender pay-gap across your employees
Ensure employees at all levels complete regular training to recognise and manage bias'.
When working with Hewett Recruitment, our specialist team of Consultants offer additional support to ensure our Clients adopt diversity and inclusion into their processes. This can include:
Job Descriptions – We review job descriptions to ensure that all language used is gender-neutral and reflective of the inclusive culture. Having a JD helps to avoid bias as you start the search with a set of skills and competencies in mind rather than the profile of an individual.
Blind Recruitment – We can remove names, gender, age and other types of information such as education and hobbies. This enables a focus on skills and prevents biased decisions whether unconscious or conscious.
Job Advertising - Using gender-neutral language in our job advertising; highlighting flexible/accessible working opportunities will increase the breadth of applicants attracted to apply.
So, what advice can we give you to help make your recruitment processes more inclusive?
Consistency - You should ensure all candidates experience the same type and number of interviews, no matter how they came into the process. This will promote a fair and unbiased outcome.
Diverse Interview Panels - A great way to show you value diversity is by essential 'practising what you preach'. To ensure you are able to hire with diversity and inclusion in mind, ensure those on the interview panel reflect this. It also helps address unconscious bias by including broader perspectives. Interviews should be structured and candidates should be asked the same types of questions using an evidence/competency-driven approach.
Culture Fit - Interviewing against culture fit can inadvertently turn into an “are you like us” meeting. We can reframe our thinking into how someone can add to our culture rather than fit into it.
Attracting Neurodivergent Talent - Ensure interview questions are clear and unambiguous. Try to make the interview as practical as possible.
Balanced Short-lists - Studies suggest that we can use bias in favour of the status quo to actually change the status quo. By having a balanced shortlist, we greatly enhance our chances of hiring from a more diverse candidate pool.
Blind Salary Hiring - Basing your offer on the Candidates current salary can inadvertently promote wage inequality. Agree a fair offer based on existing salary bandings.
Decision Making - Focus on the competencies of each candidate avoiding any decisions based on pure gut feel.
Are you seeking further advice regarding your Diversity & Inclusion policies during the recruitment process? Get in touch for a confidential discussion.
