One of the things most companies are looking for is employees that can bring something new to the game. In our day and time, diversity in the workplace goes beyond the need to hire employees from all over the world. Diverse employees can use their experience to attend to different customers. This can create better selling opportunities for a business.
When building any recruitment strategy, you need to keep certain things in mind. Building teams composed of different people is challenging. At the same time, it is rewarding for anyone involved. Here are some of the best tips to help you transform your diversity recruitment strategy.
What Exactly is Diversity Recruitment?
To better understand this term, you can take a look at the society around you. Large groups of people that have so many differences make up our society. Different ethnicities and different experiences in life give people their unique identities.
Diversity in both our societies and the workplace splits into two main categories. The first one relates to a person’s age, race, gender, and many other characteristics. These tend to develop over the years. This category is inherent and develops from the moment a person is born. The background and life experiences of a person influence these characteristics.
The skills, values, and education a person receives during their lifetime are important. These particular skills can help a person become better in all kinds of different ways. This category is the acquired one as it takes years to develop. It also has very little to do with a person’s background or gender.
These differences make our society a lot more fun and productive. People with different sets of skills are ready to tackle different fields and jobs. In the workplace, you are looking for that exact same intellectual diversity. This will help you maximize the potential and creativity of any team.
Workplace diversity relies on looking for employees without having certain criteria in mind. Giving every applicant the same opportunities depends on ridding yourself of certain biases. These might interest some recruiters but can create problems in the diversity of a team.
As a result, you will be able to create a team with much more diversity. This can affect the way your members think and act and help you come up with much better strategies and results.
Why is Diversity in a Team so Important?
Having people of all backgrounds in a team is important for many reasons. Understanding these reasons will help you pay more attention to diversity. This will help you build a better and more effective team.
First of all, it will allow your team to consist of people with greater experience and a bigger range of skills. The more similar the people you hire are, the more likely they are to know how to do the same things.
By applying a diversity recruitment strategy, you completely end that possibility. Your different employees will have different fields of expertise. Through that, they will be able to bring new and different ideas within the same field of work.
Besides this, a more diverse team will be able to cater to the different needs of your audience. Everywhere around the world, there are people of all backgrounds. This is something that creates an even bigger need for diverse teams. What this means is that you won’t only need a diverse team if you wish to expand your business abroad. Your customer base is going to be diverse, even within one single country. This requires you to be able to keep up with the growing diversity.
This matter is also important because it can help you hire very skilled employees. By dropping certain standards, you will be able to look past the outer shell of a person. In return, you will be able to focus on their qualifications and ideas. This way, you will have a larger candidate pool with greater qualifications.
All these reasons are very important and will help you build a team that will be diverse in every way possible. This will allow them to work in a more effective way and be able to tackle every task you offer them.
5 Ways to Help You Transform Your Diversity Recruitment Strategy
Transforming your diversity recruitment strategy relies on learning more about diversity. After understanding some basic reasons why it is important, here are some ways to achieve it:
1. Revise your past recruitment ads
The very first step you need to take to improve a situation is to look at how you were dealing with it in the past. Your past recruitment ads are the perfect place to start in this instance. Some of the things you need to look at are the way you explained the job position and the qualifications needed. If you never mentioned the need for a diverse team, this is the perfect time to start.
Besides this, you can use certain writing and editing tools to edit your ads. Grammarly and other thesis writing help tools can work to your advantage. These will allow you to have a second opinion on the way you write your ads and how people perceive them. By helping you choose the right words for an ad, you will be able to cater to a more diverse pool of potential employees.
2. Work on your company’s image and encourage diversity
Another very important thing you need to work on is the way you present your company to the public. The best way to do that is by showing there is room for people of all backgrounds. This is the best way to ensure more diverse people will show interest in applying for your ads. As a result, the diversity of your teams will increase in a short amount of time.
The best way to do this is through social media. The experiences of your current employees in your company are very valuable. Using your social media accounts to share these experiences is the best idea.
The more you show the values your company holds, the easier it will be to create an accepting environment. Respecting specific holidays and other practices of your diverse employees is essential. By starting to work from the inside out, diversity will find you along the way.
3. Advertise on places where diverse candidates gather
There are websites on the internet which can help with finding employees from all over the world. Limiting your company to local employees will not help you in your search for diversity. Running a team with remote employees might sound difficult. The truth is that it is not that different from running a regular team. It’s challenging, but with the right tools and strategies, you’ll be able to manage your remote team successfully.
It is a good idea to start looking for platforms where international employees naturally gravitate to. Social media platforms and online job boards can be a great place to start. Email campaigns centered on promotion of your job openings can also attract a sizable candidate pool. Live online events in the form of seminars and Q&A sessions on platforms such as LinkedIn can also be good for your brand awareness and candidate attraction. The benefit of using these channels is the ability to connect with your audience more directly.
4. Ask for the referrals of other employees
Asking your current employees for contacts is also a great strategy. Even if you have a few diverse employees in your company, they are bound to know others looking for a job. This way, you will be able to hire more trustworthy people that are of different backgrounds. The more people you find through others, the easier and faster you will enhance your teams.
Along with these, recruiting through referrals is a lot easier and less time-consuming. You will be able to focus more on their skills and knowledge. This way, you won’t have to worry about trying to find time to interview everyone. Thus, this is a great strategy to follow. In the end, it can help you find a trustworthy employee in a very short amount of time.
5. Conduct video interviews
Last but not least, it is very important to plan out the way you look at resumes and conduct interviews. Establishing a positive professional relation with your potential candidates early on is pivotal for your company’s appeal as a potential workplace in the candidate’s eyes. Once your job opening is set up, you should consider using video interview software to make the recruitment process more personal.
Conducting video interviews is a great way to let your candidates introduce themselves but also for them to make the first impression of your staff. This can work in favor of your diversity recruitment strategy since it will paint a proactive and collaborative corporate image of your company with candidates.
Building a Team Based on Skills, Not Appearances
Diverse employees bring in new sets of skills and new ideas. These can help your teams and employees grow in a positive manner. By restricting the way you recruit, you might be missing out on talented employees. This is a mistake that can cost your company a lot of time and finances. The tips mentioned above can help you turn this situation around.
If you’re looking to encourage workplace diversity in your company, hiring remote employees is the best way to do so. And at DistantJob, as remote recruitment experts, we have helped companies find the exact IT talent they are looking for – all these in just two weeks. Contact us and let us help you diversify your team.
