Candidates Want Diversity in the Workplace
Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEI&B) efforts are increasingly important for finding and retaining talent. Eighty percent of job seekers want to work for a company that values DEI&B as part of its company culture. Seventy-six percent say diversity is an important consideration for them when looking for jobs.
This is especially true of younger workers. Eighty-three percent of Gen Z candidates consider a company’s commitment to DEI&B when choosing an employer. This level of commitment can be a deal-breaker for them. Fifty-three percent would not apply to a job or internship if they believed the company wasn’t diverse enough.
It’s not just a matter of recruitment, though. Bringing diversity into the workplace can also impact your bottom line. A study of venture capitalist firms from Harvard Business Review found that the more similar a group of investment partners were, the lower their investments performed. Partners who attended the same college had an 11.5% lower success rate than partners who came from different educational backgrounds. Partners who shared the same ethnicity reduced their investments’ success rate by 26.4% to 32.2%.
DEI&B efforts are critical for ensuring your company is showcasing inclusive leadership, obtaining top talent and performing to the best of its ability. For these efforts to be successful, though, they must be incorporated into every aspect of the business, starting with the recruitment and hiring process.
However, before your company can increase its DEI&B efforts, you’ll need to tackle internal unconscious bias.
Unconscious Bias Is a Barrier to Inclusive Staffing
Unconscious bias is when we make judgments or decisions without consciously being aware of our reasoning. It’s often rooted in our backgrounds, experiences and exposure to societal stereotypes.
Everyone experiences some level of unconscious bias. However, it can be a major barrier to creating a more diverse work environment. When left unchecked during the recruitment and hiring process, it can influence decision-making. Unconscious bias may make hiring managers give priority to candidates with backgrounds similar to their own. Incorporating DEI&B into recruitment and hiring can help combat unconscious bias and build a more inclusive company.
Steps to Incorporating DEI&B Into Recruitment and Hiring
To build a more diverse company, it may be necessary to change or overhaul your current recruiting and hiring strategies. There are many ways to incorporate DEI&B into your staffing process.
Perform a DEI&B Analysis
The first step in creating a more inclusive recruitment and hiring process is to understand where your company has room for improvement. This can mean looking at your company’s policies, recruitment strategies and demographics to see where change needs to be made. Once those pain points have been recognized, your company can create DEI&B recruitment goals and begin crafting strategies to put these goals into action.
Create More Inclusive Job Descriptions
On its surface, a job description may seem neutral. However, your job descriptions may be discouraging some people from applying to your company.
Start by considering the language used throughout the job description. Using gender-inclusive language, like the singular “they,” can appeal to a wider range of candidates. Certain words, however, may have subtle gender or race implications. Terms like “rock star,” “ninja” or “genius” may seem playful, but they can often stop women, people of color and even older candidates from applying to positions.
When considering your job descriptions, it’s also important to separate the job requirements from the “nice-to-haves.” Including too many unrealistic skills can be a big deterrent for some candidates. Women in particular are more likely to not apply to a position if they don’t feel they meet every requirement listed.
Finally, consider highlighting inclusive workplace policies that may appeal to a diverse audience. This could include medical and mental health benefits, along with family leave. You can also consider including an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) statement to further promote your company’s commitment to DEI&B.
Organize Diverse Interview Panels
Ensuring there’s diversity on your interview panels is an effective way to cut down on unconscious bias in hiring. Including employees with different backgrounds and perspectives can help make sure all candidates get fair consideration and can help promote more diverse hiring decisions.
Diverse hiring panels have benefits for candidates as well. They show potential employees that your company is committed to DEI&B and give them a better sense of company culture and demographics.
Consider Remote and Hybrid Work Opportunities
Remote and hybrid positions are in demand. But offering them, along with remote interviews, can have unexpected benefits to creating a more inclusive company culture. Remote and hybrid positions are more attractive to people of color, women and people with disabilities. One survey found that over 80% of Black, Asian and Hispanic/Latinx knowledge workers in the U.S. preferred hybrid or remote work arrangements. Fifty percent of working mothers wanted to work remotely. This isn’t surprising, considering remote work has been credited with helping to bring women, especially mothers of young children, back into the workforce.
Remote work allows people with disabilities to work more easily. From April 2020 to September 2022, two million more disabled people participated in the workforce (from 3.7 million to 5.7 million). Disability advocates point to the rise in remote work following the pandemic, which allowed these workers to maintain a job without the added challenges that came with commuting or being in an office.
Work With a DEI&B-focused Staffing Partner
Working with a staffing partner like Aston Carter that is committed to DEI&B can help you access a more diverse workforce. Aston Carter can work with you to understand your diverse hiring needs and tap into our deep talent pool to find candidates who match. Contact us to discuss your staffing, talent and project needs.
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