Be ready to toss your current plan out the window.

Recruiting is a full-time job. As a result, many recruiters believe that while expanding their applicant pool is vital, they do not have time to reach out to specific prospects under-represented groups or troubleshoot what is going wrong in their process to reach out to more diverse pools.

Over a third of HR professionals claim they do not have time to interact with prospects.

There is, however, no simple solution to improve diversity.

More diversified recruiting necessitates some time and effort, especially if you have not done so previously. However, you will be able to "just fix it" by adding something substantive to your current recruitment strategy. So prepare to put in the effort – and perhaps even develop something entirely new.

Obtain leadership support.

It is critical to include leaders in the broader diversity and inclusion plan. They must be committed to establishing a more diverse staff and recognizing its importance for their business and culture.

You will not be able to achieve workforce diversity unless you change the way you employ and, as a result, the way you pick internal hires and promotions. Changing the way you acquire and retain people will almost certainly require a significant investment of time and resources, and it may even elicit resistance from your current employees. It will be easier to handle these changes if senior executives are on board.

It is just as critical — if not more so — for your new hires to feel encouraged and welcomed by the leadership team.

When people see representation at all levels of an organization, they are more likely to stay.

The only way to ensure both time and money resources is to have leadership backing, which sets your new plan up for long-term success. In addition, this buy-in allows your team to take potentially more risky steps, such as modifying how you recruit, the applicant pool you typically use or hiring DEIB professionals to join your HR team.

Decide how you will evaluate your progress.

You will not tell if your diversity recruiting initiatives are successful until you track them. To accomplish so, you must first establish clear objectives and devise a strategy for achieving them. Next, make a list of your key performance indicators (KPIs) and keep track of them regularly. Then, cross-reference them with metrics unrelated to recruiting to gain more insight. For example, you might discover that hiring a diverse workforce boosts employee engagement.

Make an effort to be completely honest with yourself and your employees.

If you are not doing well in this area, you are probably not disguising it very well. (Look at your executive board if you are not sure if your company is diverse.) Continue reading if you can not tell them apart).

Request candid feedback from your employees. This can be done without revealing your identity. Hire a DEIB consultant to explain what other organizations are doing to promote diversity recruiting, as well as how you may modify your company's culture to be more inviting. 

Getting a second opinion is critical because an objective third party may be willing to speak about issues that no one else is willing to express. People looking for work or who rely on you for a wage are prone to sugarcoat the issue. You might be able to find (brutally) honest reviews about what it is like to interview and work for your organization on Glassdoor and LinkedIn.

Work on your inner persona

At any point during the hiring process, bias can become president. Companies that provide training to raise awareness of cultural differences, microaggressions, and implicit biases have more diverse workforces.

The work of improving diversity recruiting relates to many different aspects of diversity. Whether your team is attempting to increase the representation of underrepresented racial or ethnic groups, female candidates, be more inclusive of various sexual orientations or broaden the range of socioeconomic backgrounds, the same effort to understand explicit and implicit biases and barriers will be fruitful.

Having your hiring team trained to recognize their own biases will help to reduce the impact of unconscious prejudices on finding candidates and making hiring decisions. In addition, providing venues for employees to work on this when they are not working with candidates, such as unconscious bias training and one-on-one coaching, is an essential component of integrating diversity into the DNA of any developing firm.

Finally, some thoughts

Most businesses only consider diversity in one or two ways. However, this type of performative diversity is not beneficial to your organization and might make people uneasy.

Avoid falling into this pitfall by developing a solid diversity recruiting plan. When it comes to diversity and inclusion, keep in mind that there is no "race to the finish line." Instead, the firm you create must be more concerned with people and creating an environment in which everyone feels welcome and empowered to do their best job — not just one that appears to be doing so.

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About Jim Woods

Overview

Jim Woods is the President and CEO of Woods Kovalova Group's Denver, London, and Kyiv offices and head of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Practice. He works exclusively in the banking sector with senior executives and leadership teams to create a significant and sustainable impact in DE&I to create the kind of inclusive environment that allows companies to attract, retain, and get the best out of their employees and serve their communities. Better.

Experience

Jim has more than two decades of experience driving change in the banking industry around performance, growth, and innovation. He's designed and led complex transformation initiatives in companies linked to globalization, demographic changes, sustainability, shifting business models, and new technologies.

Earlier in his career, Jim served in the United States Navy, taught fifth-grade math and science, including university human resources and leadership. Also, Jim has taught at Villanova University. He has authored six business books on DE&I, and leadership.

Education

Capella University, MS in Organizational Development and Human Resources