Recruiting the right talent is one of the most important decisions any leader will make in their career. You need to be sure the candidate is the right fit for the team, suited to the role and motivated to extend their career within the company.
You need to be wary of deferring talented candidates who are the perfect fit for your roles. Causes may be due to being subjective or biased, even if you don’t realise it at the time. You could also be missing opportunities to find brilliant talent through the language you’re using, locations you are posting job adverts and even due to the application process itself.
So, let’s dive into some of the ways you can make recruitment more inclusive.
Advertising the role
When you describe candidate requirements, ensure you are being clear and specific. Include all the skills and behaviours you’re searching for. Avoid any biased language, for example, mentioning a requirement for a ‘Cultural Fit’. This is a broad term that could prevent candidates from applying. Think about all these little details when finding the right person for your company.
The next step to take is to offer flexible working. This is an incredibly important factor for many candidates, including more marginalised groups. It’s important to let potential candidates know what they get in return for their hard work. Another key aspect to include in the job description should be the benefits and policies that are available within your company. This will help increase interest in the role resulting in more candidates applying.
A hugely important and often overlooked part of the recruitment process is the salary. We can’t stress this enough: Include the salary in your job description. Many potential candidates are put off by job roles that don’t list the salary due to the pressure of having to guess one that will be taken ‘seriously’. This can be extremely difficult for a candidate to navigate.
Attract diverse candidates
Include the estimated timelines for the recruitment process, along with response rates. It’s important to be transparent and clear with your expectations, so the candidates can plan effectively. This creates a fair recruitment process inclusive of marginalised groups, as you can adjust time frames to help the candidate if necessary. Ensure you place adverts that will be easily accessed by marginalised groups too. Think strategically about where you will be placing them. You can also use word-of-mouth referrals to help you reach more diverse groups.
During the interview process
When you have established candidates that are suitable for the role, ensure you have shortlisted marginalised candidates. Meeting people face to face can always help fill in any gaps that were missed during the application process. Remember to make it easy for candidates to reschedule interviews. Ensure the interviews are structured clearly and you make the candidate aware of anything they need to prepare in advance.
Finalising the recruitment process
When you have shortlisted candidates, always provide feedback whether they got the job or not. It can be difficult for candidates to understand the reasoning behind a decision. But with feedback, they will be appreciative after having some words of encouragement and wisdom to help them further their search.
It can be difficult to navigate inclusive recruitment, even if you think you are doing everything right as a leader. Sometimes it takes an extra pair of eyes to help you see the talent pool that you may be missing out on.
If you need any help with finding more inclusive talent, please reach out to us. We offer mentoring in groups or even 1:1 sessions, aimed at helping leaders become more successful and confident.
Hiring a team is a daunting task, but we can help provide ways to make things easier and find the diverse talent you are looking for.