How To Ensure An Inclusive Recruitment Process In 7 Easy Steps

Paving The Way For Inclusive Recruitment In The Business World

In recent years, leaders have come to realize how significant diversity is for a business. Having a workforce made up of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences can be an asset for any organization, bringing in a wealth of knowledge, aiding problem solving, and promoting innovation. Building an inclusive recruitment process must be a top priority for businesses that want to gain access to such a workforce and help their businesses become future-ready. In this article, we will explore 7 steps that will help you design a recruitment process that will make your business accessible to all.

7 Steps For An Inclusive Recruitment Process

1. Define Your DEI Policy And Set Goals

Starting out, it is important to examine your organization's existing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policy. This will lay the groundwork for effective communication and an open work environment that will welcome diverse people. Therefore, start by identifying the positive practices you are already implementing and those that are missing to genuinely transform your corporate culture. These practices can then be integrated into the recruitment process and allow you to achieve your diversity goals. Speaking of goals, what type of employees are you looking to attract? Do you want to hire more women, people with disabilities, or international candidates? Your decision will significantly affect your future hiring choices.

2. Provide Training

This step depends on the results of the internal assessment we suggested above. However, even if DEI is already a priority in your organization, there's always something new to learn. Therefore, make sure to conduct annual diversity training sessions to remind older employees and educate new ones about bias awareness. Many of us may have unconscious biases that affect the way we perceive our colleagues and make our hiring decisions. However, through diversity training, we can learn to recognize and overcome them, ensuring that all candidates get equal opportunities regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, and so on.

3. Compile Inclusive Job Ads

Once you have completed the first two steps, you are ready to get into the details of your recruitment process, starting with the job description. Although many businesses don't realize it, this is the point where they make the most mistakes in terms of inclusivity. Your job ad will shape a candidate's first impression of your business, making the use of inclusive language imperative so that you don't prevent a qualified candidate from applying. For example, you must avoid using gender-specific words such as "businessman" or "salesman." At times, even words such as "fierce," "aggressive," or "competitive" may deter women from applying as they portray features historically associated with masculinity.

4. Make Your Ads Accessible

Apart from writing inclusive job descriptions, you must also ensure that people can see them. Are they only on your organization's website, or have you also posted them on well-known recruitment websites such as LinkedIn? Consider posting your job openings on social media and networking sites or organizing open events. Your perfect candidate could be anywhere, so if you want to achieve an inclusive recruitment process, you will have to think outside the box. Finally, make sure all your platforms comply with accessibility guidelines so that you don't exclude people with disabilities. This is not only good practice, but it is also great for your brand's reputation.

5. Make The Selection Process Fair

At this point, if everything has gone according to plan, you must have received a plethora of applications from a diverse pool of talent. But how do you make sure that the shortlisting process continues to align with your DEI policy? One common technique businesses use during this stage is anonymizing applications. Removing personally identifiable information (PII), such as name, age, or university attended, allows you to focus on the candidate's skills and prevent unconscious favoritism. Additionally, having more than one person review the applications guarantees that any assumptions made by one party will be challenged by the other.

6. Prepare Inclusive Interviews

The interview is a crucial part of an inclusive recruitment process, as it is the first opportunity for applicants to meet your representatives in person. Therefore, it's essential to adequately prepare to make potential candidates feel comfortable and give them a fair chance to claim the position. First, choose a diverse hiring panel to minimize unconscious bias. Offer flexible scheduling options, allowing people with budgetary or geographic constraints to participate through virtual interviews. Moreover, develop a set of questions that all applicants will have to answer and create a scoring system for each question. This way, you will be able to base your decision on comparable data rather than personal impressions.

7. Review And Improve

A truly successful and inclusive hiring process is one that keeps up with society and industry trends. Regardless of whether your DEI policy currently checks all the boxes, that doesn't mean this will be the case forever. Make sure to keep in touch with your HR department and DEI team to receive updates and adjust your recruitment, onboarding, or any other internal processes accordingly. This approach will underline that diversity and inclusion are not just buzzwords to you but rather pillars on which you base your corporate culture, ultimately contributing to the happiness and engagement of your diverse workforce.

Conclusion

An accessible and inclusive recruitment process is a necessity for businesses that want to take advantage of the expanding global talent pool. Nowadays, qualified candidates can be found anywhere, and an inclusive approach will help you ensure that no one is being overlooked on account of their location, gender, disability, or ethnicity. By following the tips we explored in this article, you will be able to significantly expand your talent pool and drive innovation thanks to the unique knowledge and perspectives they will bring.