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Diversity – A Vital Hiring Strategy

In the past, a few employers focused their efforts on putting together a team that has individuals with similar mindsets, skills, demographic and educational backgrounds. As a result, most companies ended up looking unpleasantly alike. In today’s modern world, this kind of homogeneity can be perilous to the company and society around it.

The products and services those kind of a business provide end up catering only to people who are like them, leaving out a large portion of the community. Many people suffer, when diversity is left to be an afterthought.

Before we get into the need and benefits of diversity in an organisation, let us understand what it looks like. Yes, on the face of it, it is essential to have a broad representation of different ages, genders, and races. But true diversity exists beyond this facade. It means diversity in educational, religious backgrounds, and socio-economic levels.

Before you decide to employ a diverse hiring strategy, conduct a diversity audit in your current hiring process. This will help you identify any biases or bottlenecks.

Next, pick one metric for diversity hiring. For example, a metric you could focus on could be increasing the number of female employees by 10% in sales roles in the next 6 months.

A diverse team has more merits than we realise.

With a diverse team come varying, unique perspectives, and a range of skill sets that result in high performance, organisational growth, and an overall inclusive brand image. These merits surely make including diversity initiatives part of your hiring strategy worthwhile.

You can tweak your talent acquisition strategies in the following ways to do so:

  1. Post on niche job boards which diverse candidates frequent
  2. Participate in on-campus career fairs.
  3. Collaborate with a university or educational organisation to get a larger reach
  4. Focus on incentives such as healthcare, moving expenses, and loan repayment to attract professionals
  5. Make international hiring part of your strategy.

If your organisation’s structure allows it, focus on flexible schedules for employees. Over 20% of labour costs are reduced by hiring flexible employees. More candidates are likely to apply when they know an organisation offers remote work or offsite work at least once a week. Additionally, a flexible schedule also allows for a very important work-life balance that leads to higher job satisfaction and ultimately employee retention.

Another way to minimise bias is called ‘Blind Hiring.’ This technique makes personal information about candidates anonymous to the hiring management, which automatically reduces subconscious biases about applicants.

For many companies, having a diverse workplace is among the top goals for HR in 2021. Diverse teams offer strong ideas, a spectrum of perspectives, and varying skill sets. EWS supports this!

Incorporating diversity in your hiring strategy can be a sure step towards business success and community welfare.

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