Across the country, the workforce is shifting, and inclusivity is more important than ever. Companies committed to diversity are more likely to beat their competitors and improve their bottom line. To stay competitive, your company needs a diverse recruitment strategy.

Essential DEI Recruiting Strategies

Set SMART goals. For best results, your diversity recruiting goals should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Setting a broad goal of “hiring a more diverse workforce” won’t help you develop strategies that stick.

Ensure every brand interaction is inclusive. Evaluate your talent brand and make sure it’s speaking to whom you want to attract. Candidates are reading reviews on Glassdoor and Handshake, doing social listening on Twitter, and noting the companies that miss the mark with DEI.

Be an ally for underrepresented groups. Encouraging and holding folks from all levels of your organization accountable for lifting others, you’re demonstrating your investment in DEI from the grass tops to the grassroots. 

Attract more diverse applicants. Include a variety of people on your recruiting team. People of different ages, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations, and genders should vet potential candidates to avoid unconscious bias. Additionally, write more inclusive job descriptions by removing words that communicate gender bias.

Reduce unconscious bias. Regardless of how objective and impartial you try to be, everyone runs the risk of unconscious bias. There are steps you can take to remove this from your recruitment practices. Start by creating a diverse hiring panel. Make sure your hiring managers represent all ages, genders, ethnicities, abilities, etc.

Showing your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion will help enhance your company culture and attract top talent in your industry. Use the steps above to evaluate your current hiring practices and refine them to attract more clients. Employ AI-based recruitment tools to standardize interview questions and remove gender-specific terminology from your job descriptions.

Interview your current workforce and examine how you can improve your internal commitment to DEI. Once you’ve set goals and put procedures in place to reach them, analyze your results. Set and measure your key performance indicators and use what you’ve learned to optimize your recruitment and hiring process.

It is essential to review your hiring process and understand where you are potentially excluding people. Even if you don’t have the capacity to overhaul your whole hiring process at once, start with implementing small changes and work your way toward more inclusive hiring at your organization. Investing this time and making inclusivity a part of your culture is worth the effort. If you want to learn more about diversity and inclusion and how to improve your hiring process, email us today!