Over the past few years, the recruiting sector has been challenged by a new wave of recruiting engineering. We are happily bidding farewell to the endless trawling through sites such as REED and INDEED, the tedious candidate searches and recruiter screening. It’s been said that somewhere amid backlogging candidate CVs, the human element of recruiting has been left behind. Well not anymore, as this new era of recruiting focuses on the human element, strategy and experience over simply box-ticking.
In 2018, 9,000 talent leaders and hiring managers across the globe took part in a LinkedIn’ survey. The number one global recruiting trend that came out on top was diversity – followed by inclusion. According to the report “Diversity used to be a box that companies checked. But today, diversity is directly tied to company culture and financial performance. Our data shows that 78% of companies prioritize diversity to improve culture and 62% do so to boost financial performance.” Diversity and inclusion is not a passing trend, and many companies are seeing the benefits of hiring a more diverse workforce. By creating a more inclusive space, companies are also seeing a higher retainment in staff turnover. Employees feel wanted, needed, safe and valued.
According to Linkedin’s report, companies are seeing the benefits of diversifying their workforce – making it harder for other companies not to adapt to the new recruiting climate. The main hurdle that is stopping this type of recruitment being adopted by the mainstream is the argument that there isn’t enough diverse talent out there. The counter-argument to this is that these recruiters are not looking in the right places. Many have also documented that the interview process is floored and that recruiters will rely on their bias when in an interview – whether it’s consciously done or not.
There are a number of diversity-in-tech communities and jobs boards that we love working with at Hustle Crew e.g:
Diversify Tech
This is by no means an exhaustive list! Keep your eyes peeled for new platforms popping up everyday.
Activities to try with your team
- In your next team meeting or all hands. Challenge hiring managers to create a diverse pipeline of candidates for open roles. Work with recruiters to ensure diversity jobs boards are an essential part of the recruitment process.
- Re-framing constructive feedback through the lens of bias. Think about the last time you were part of an interview panel – who made up the panel? Was it gender and culturally diverse? Did you notice any judgements about candidates that weren’t evidence based? Did people use the term “culture fit” to mask their affinity bias?
- Think about your last 1:1. Did you feel your manager listened to your concerns if any were voiced? Did you feel your concerns were met with hesitation or acceptance? What efforts has the company made to create greater diversity in the team and how can you hold them accountable?
New habits to make a difference
- When advertising a new role, advertise the job through diverse channels. Make sure you are paying for job ads not simply asking people from diverse backgrounds to share the role for you. Place your job ad on additional websites like hustlecrew.co and forums visited by underrepresented groups.
- Offer internships and job opportunities to people from underrepresented groups. Actively reach out to communities representing these groups for consultation to find out what the main barriers are for people applying for job vacancies.
- Introduce a more diverse interview panel – this will create a safer space when conducting interviews. Notify the candidate before hand that the panel will be more diverse as this will be encouraging for the candidate.