How To Create a Sustainable Business
Increasing diversity and inclusion in the workplace is not only a business imperative but also an economic necessity. In this blog article, we discuss how to make diversity and inclusion sustainable for your business through these five steps.
Who: All Candidates
Unfortunately, many companies believe that focusing on one diverse group, such as just veterans or just women, will generate the best return on investment. However, these strategies cause discriminatory actions against one group in exchange for increased engagement with another.
Most companies have an idea of who they want to apply to their jobs but the job descriptions are not so clear to the targeted candidates. Being very concise and specific about who you are looking for will dramatically improve the response of candidates.
The Who behind your diversity strategy should be a fair, unbiased approach and process for ALL candidates.
What: The Process
So What should the process be? Allow each candidate to apply to jobs without the recruiter seeing their name, photo, and any other data that contributes to bias. If you do not have technology that can help you, have a junior member of your team redact/hide the contact details, photos and LinkedIn profiles of all applicants and view all candidates using the same process.
Where: Beyond just Job Boards
One way to optimize your candidate diversity is through increased outreach to organizations where ideal candidates are members. Since 2014 we have created a network of diverse organizations that enable sourcing for ThisWay Global and our companies. Share the number and types of jobs and your equitable process with these organizations so you can expand your reach beyond LinkedIn profiles and job boards.
When: Understand Applicant Behaviors
Accepting the fact that candidates also have a schedule and seasonality will improve your diversity outreach. Women tend to apply for jobs more over the weekends and applications by men are more frequent in the evenings, during the middle of the week. Many underrepresented applicants are more likely to apply mid-day during the week and veterans working overseas often need US based relatives to apply on their behalf. Understanding these nuances in applicant behaviors can help you reach diverse talents more effectively.
Why: Because It Fosters a Passionate, Engaging Environment
Remember why this extra DEIB effort matters. Removing bias, as well as increasing your diversity, equality, inclusion, and belonging will create a valuable company culture that will support your current employees as well as help new employees know they are part of an organization that genuinely cares about them, regardless of their gender, ethnicity or other circumstance.
There is one thing that most people can agree upon; we all want to know that we are cared for and appreciated by our employers.
