While the familiar can cause us to feel more comfortable, it is not always the best policy when it comes to hiring employees for your workplace. In fact, 67 percent of job seekers said that diversity is an important factor for them when considering companies and job offers. If a diverse workforce is important to your company, but you are not quite sure how to move in that direction, then continue reading for a guide to some steps you can take. Contact Diversity Employers with your questions and let us help you find the diverse candidates you are seeking.
Blind Résumé Screening
Even when you think you aren’t, you are constantly making snap judgments of the people and things around you. While you may make a concerted effort to filter these judgments from escaping your lips, it is nearly impossible to get our brain to stop forming judgments. Sometimes, something as simple as a candidate’s name can trigger us to make subconscious judgments. In fact, studies have shown that African Americans and Latinos are less likely to be selected for an interview by 40 percent when compared to other qualified candidates, simply because of unconscious bias towards their names. Using hiring software can help reduce this bias by providing a feature that removes a candidate’s name from the equation.
Have a Diverse Talent-Acquisition Team
A diverse talent-acquisition team is established when each member has shown that they are willing to advance applications regardless of the name on the application. The more intentional that you are in creating a diverse recruiting team, the more you will be supporting your overall goal of finding and hiring diverse employees. For example, does your recruiting team constantly forward resumes from people like John Smith, but not Chanté Jackson? If your team is not forwarding as many diverse applications to your hiring manager, then you will have a very difficult time hiring the diverse employees that you are looking for. One factor that you can control is the employees that make up your recruiting team. Look to create a team that is comprised of men and women, juniors and seasoned professionals, as well as people with diverse backgrounds and ethnicities.
Inclusive Job Descriptions
How are your job descriptions worded? If you haven’t taken the time to look at them from a critical perspective, now is a great time to do that. Read them with the intention of seeing if there are words or phrases that communicate that you are looking for certain types of people, but not others. Do you have an overabundance of male pronouns? Are your job descriptions heavily laden with words like “dominate” or “competitive,” which are adjectives often associated with men? Or do you use a lot of words like “supportive,” which are often associated with women? The best thing you can do to counteract this type of job description is to keep things on a higher level, meaning that you should use inclusive language to encourage diverse applicants to contact you. 
Offer Remote Work Opportunities
One of the biggest trends with hiring diverse talent these days is to offer remote work opportunities to your job applicants. Technology has evolved to the point where it can often provide your employees with the tools they need to get the job done outside of an office. The benefit for you is that it vastly broadens the candidate pool. Suddenly, you can accept applications from candidates in other states, not just the town where you are located. There are many employees who need the versatility of working remotely, whether for health issues or family reasons. The more you can expand your search pool, the more diverse your company will become.
Attend Virtual Fairs Targeted Toward Minority Employees
If you don’t look in the right places, you’ll never be able to find the people you need. If you’re looking to expand the diversity of your workplace, then you need to go where people of diverse backgrounds look for work. A great place to start is job fairs, both physical and virtual. The wider you cast your net, the more likely you are to have a very large group of diverse, qualified candidates to choose from. Diversity Employers knows the benefits that your company will reap from creating a diverse workforce. We work with you to find the qualified candidates that you want. Call us today and let us know how we can help you make your workplace more diverse.
