Workplace diversity doesn’t just happen. Companies have to work at it. They must strategize and come up with multiple ways of meeting diversity goals. This is especially true if your company is in a field that traditionally employs a familiar, homogenized profile.
Look around your workplace. Do you see mostly white male faces? Do they all look like they came from the same town? This isn’t your fault. The fact is, when you post to a job board, you can only select from the job candidates that respond.
Time to get a little creative. Think outside of the box. Remember, your goal is to build diversity in the workplace, so you have to try new things. Here are a few ways that the people at LevelUP help our clients explore hiring opportunities that might be more inclusive on the basis of gender, race, and other factors.
Go Beyond Background
When you always use the same tools for finding job candidates, you’ll always find what you’ve always found. Obvious, right? Most hiring managers look for someone with a history of doing the work in the job description. That’s understandable, and even common sense, but you can expand your talent pool considerably by taking a closer look at candidates with smarts instead of direct-line experience.
Look for people with passion, curiosity, potential, and the ability to grow outside of their comfort zone. If you invest a little time and patience, you might find someone on a new and rewarding career path—and those rewards go both ways.
Migrate From the Tried and True Job Boards
Do you find that you end up with pretty much the same job candidates every time you post to your favorite job boards? Maybe the more diverse job candidates aren’t hanging out where you’re looking.
Mix things up a little. Are there certain career sites or university job centers that might attract a more diverse target? You need to strive for diversity for interviews, so if you do the same old thing all the time, you’re always going to get the same old people.
Consider Temp Job Candidates
At LevelUP, we have a strong and diverse pool of temporary workers in most fields of business and at various experience levels. It can often be a winning strategy to hire a temp to test their proficiency and capabilities for the job at hand, and in the process, bring greater diversity to your workplace.
Ask for Diverse Referrals
We’ve all heard about the value of a referral. That might be among your strongest tools in your hiring arsenal. Your pool of workers from more diverse backgrounds might be small now, but if you encourage them to keep their friends and former co-workers in mind when you’re hiring, you can slowly start broadening and enriching your pool.
Creating a workforce that consists of all kinds of people involves a little diversity planning, creativity, and dedication. We’d love to help.
