Clients often ask for a diverse shortlist but unwittingly narrow their candidate pool and often recruiters do not do enough to highlight this or work hard to provide a diverse shortlist. So we decided to share some tips to help diversify candidate channels for both Hiring Managers and Recruiters.
Choose your words carefully. When it comes to writing job descriptions, avoid using words that feel exclusive or carry gender bias. Words such as ‘fearless’ and ‘outspoken’ have been proven to deter women from applying.
Where possible encourage people who don’t meet all the criteria but see themselves being successful to apply anyway.
Consider if all requirements in the job description are necessary. Stipulating a particular set of universities or courses will dramatically decrease the diversity in your talent pool.
Consider other requirements. Does it really need to be in the office 5 days? Who are you ruling out if this is a stipulation? Could the role be part time or term time?
Consider your interview process. When making hiring decisions resist the urge to make a snapshot decision based on instinct, be patient and take time to get to know each candidate fairly. Make sure you aren’t hiring in your own image. Consider including assessments or psychometrics to give a more impartial view.
Set your recruitment partner up for success. Allow your recruiter the time to prioritise equity over speed. This means not pitching them against multiple other agencies in a race to find candidates, give them time to properly search and assess candidates.
Hiring diversely is only the first step. You need to create an inclusive workplace culture where everyone can thrive and wants to stay. This is fostered not only by large initiatives but also the smaller interactions. Consider, for example, the type of events and incentives you run, the attitudes of individual Managers and the criteria for progression.
There is no hiding from data! Capturing diversity data on potential candidates at the beginning is a great way to critically assess hiring process afterwards and to tweak for the future, if needed. Your recruiter should be able to help with this data.
Real Estate has been making headway in being more inclusive but we are not there yet. Whilst it might not be realistic for every shortlist to be perfectly balanced, every small step can help us on the journey.
