Hiring diverse employees has many benefits to your company. Diverse employees can bring a variety of perspectives and talents that can help your company grow and overcome challenges. Beyond that, having diversity in your company can make your company more attractive to clients and new hires. But how can you make your company an appealing place to work for those in different demographics than yourself? Here are some ways to attract diverse employees to your company:
Create Inclusive Policies
Often business leaders don’t realize how exclusive their policies and practices are simply out of ignorance for others’ situations. Do you only offer time off for the holidays you celebrate? Do you only offer compressed schedules or breaks for the times that would be convenient for you? Doing these things means that you are being exclusive to certain groups. Collect employee feedback about what holidays they want/need off and what times for breaks or flexible schedules would be most helpful. Once you have made adjustments, publicize in job postings and on the career page on your website to show potential hires that their needs will be accommodated at your company. Be sure to ask employees what they need as your team changes. If you have experienced a lot of turnover, it may be time to ask again.
Hire Early
When you hire on a tight deadline it can be easy to fall back on unconscious bias. If you default to your ingrained biases you might not hire the best option for your company and will drive away diverse candidates. To avoid this, try to keep a group of potential candidates in mind for future needs and anticipate turnover or vulnerable positions. You won’t be able to do this all of the time, but decreasing the number of hired made out of desperation will help you end up with a more diverse workforce.
Put Effort into Hiring
A lax approach to hiring allows room for unconscious bias. Avoiding this requires having a thorough hiring process with multiple interviews, interviewers, and checks in place. Though it may be difficult to put that much effort into hiring, it will be worth it in the amount of capable and diverse employees you will add to your workforce. Additionally, your current employees will share your dedication to diversity with others, bringing more diverse candidates to your company.
Having a diverse workforce in your company brings a slew of benefits. Use this advice to better attract diverse job candidates.