Recruit for Diversity - The First Steps

Recruit for Diversity – Part I // The First Steps 

If you have decided that now is the time to take Diversity Recruiting seriously, your next question may be, “Where do I start?”

What we have learned working with clients on diversity hires is that the first steps are defining what diversity means for your company and then making the diversity you seek a primary objective for the position. 

The benefit, of course, about being clear of your hiring goal, is that once you set a goal in place, all following actions will have that end-goal in mind.  From our 20+ years of recruiting experience, we know that when a client chooses diversity as a key factor in a hire this decision results in a much more diverse pool of candidates, and is exponentially more likely to result in a diverse hire. 

Start with your vision:  Like any goal-setting, visualizing your end-goal solidifies the desired outcome.  Visioning a diversity hire is essential and that process starts with individual reflection and engagement with your team to define what diversity represents to you and your company, and what outcomes you hope for through building a more diverse workplace. 

Questions you can ask yourself and your team may include:

1. What does a diverse hire look like for your company? 

We have found that diversity is interpreted differently by the companies we work with.  Because diversity is so broad, we recommend focusing your recruiting efforts on a few diversity groups that would start the change for your company.  Being clear about what diversity means to you is critical to creating a more diverse workplace.   You might be thinking that with current events that it is time to take seriously racial diversity and creating teams with the goal of attracting and hiring BIPOC employees.  In addition to racial diversity we have worked with companies interested in attracting and recruiting other diverse or protected class candidates such as LGBTQIA, a female leader for a male dominated management team, age diversity, religious diversity, country of origin or inclusion of handicapped applicants.  

2. What is your vision for a more diverse workforce? 

How does a more diverse workplace improve your mission and culture?  What is your motivation for a more diverse workforce?  Understanding the reasons and aspirations behind your desire for a more diverse workforce will help solidify your communications internally and externally about the hires you want to make. 

It is important to note, and hopefully goes without saying, that choosing to spend time reaching out to and attracting one or more groups of diverse candidates does not diminish your organization’s obligations to treat all candidates equally.  The purpose of defining an approach to reach out to underrepresented candidates is that this will translate into a strategy that will help you uncover qualified individuals that also meet your desire for a more diverse workplace.

We hope you agree that defining diversity for your organization and clarifying your vision for a more diverse workplace are tasks that are time well spent in planning for your future recruitment plans. 

We hope you stay tuned as we have a multi-part diversity hiring series planned to provide quick and actionable tips for diversity recruiting.  Our next installment will help you with putting your vision in action with solid advice on how to attract diversity candidates to an open position.  We hope this series sparks innovation for your workplace recruiting and hiring efforts.