While visions of Halloween candy dance in our heads, we’d like to point out one sweet way to attract and retain more talent in your organization—make diversity hiring a top priority. It’s more important than ever with 67% of both active and passive job seekers saying that when they evaluate companies and job offers, it’s important that the company has a diverse workforce.
Here’s a look at 5 helpful tricks to use to build a diverse, inclusive team.
1. Establish your company’s diversity brand. It’s important to showcase your company’s commitment to diversity on your career page.
Alaant Pro Tip: Include a Diversity Vision Statement or letter from your CEO outlining your company’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion. Feature diversity images of your work culture and environment. Testimonials or videos from diverse employees at all levels across the organization are a great way to highlight that you’re not just “talking the talk.”
2. Partner with multicultural professional associations and student groups. This will help to cast a broad net and ensure you’re attracting a diverse group of potential candidates.
Alaant Pro Tip: Build your brand in these communities through strategic sponsorships (team up at an area job fair), thought leadership (author a guest blog) and by hosting events (lunch n’ learn or a coffee chat).
3. Enhance your employee referral program. The best recruiting comes from word of mouth so be sure your employees are up to speed on how you’re messaging your company’s commitment to a diverse workforce. Everyone values a sense of community and people from different backgrounds will happily share positive experiences with other members of their diverse community.
Alaant Pro Tip: Bolster your employee referral program by offering an incentive. For example, it could be monetary or you could offer extra vacation days for qualified referrals that go onto to be hired at the company.
4. Use Social Media to market your brand and source talent. Use tools such as LinkedIn to connect with diverse candidate pools. Highlight your team’s accomplishments and participate in featuring diverse employees aligned with national and international days of recognition. For example, why not feature a different female leader every day/week during the month of March in honor of International Women’s Day.
Alaant Pro Tip: Join female professional groups, Latino groups and military and veteran service organizations on LinkedIn.
5. Engage in philanthropic activities that support your company’s diversity efforts. Align your corporate responsibility initiatives with community groups and organizations that represent the various causes, backgrounds and ethnicities your culture includes. Poll your employees to assure you are focused on what matters most to them.
Alaant Pro Tip: If you’re a tech company, sponsoring an event focused on women in STEM could lead to connections with talent as well as supporting women on your team with networking and mentorship opportunities.
This Halloween, consider being a superhero and make diversity and inclusion a focus in your organization. Our guest blog: An Organization’s Superpower: Diverse and Inclusive Hiring takes a look at how powerful it can be to hire with diversity always top of mind.
We have the expertise to help you recruit for diversity. Let’s connect.
About the Author
Michelle Conn, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager
Michelle is passionate about women succeeding in the workplace. She loves baseball, running and baking. She’s a dedicated non-profit board-member and volunteer. She calls the beach her happy place and is the mother of 3 boys.