One of 2023’s most exciting HR buzzwords has been diversity. Business leaders across the globe have embraced inclusive hiring, and have been eager to compete for the brightest and most diverse talent.
As great as it’s been to discover the benefits of inclusive hiring, the HR community has realized that the concept isn’t a trend—it’s the future of recruitment in 2024 and beyond. In this post, we’ll explore why that is and how your organization can tap into inclusive hiring and see what the buzz is about!
Why Is Inclusive Hiring So Important For Organizations?
The concept of inclusive hiring is a perfect example of the principles of conscious capitalism at play. Focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion is not only the right choice to make for the communities in which your business operates, it’s also proven to be great for companies’ bottom lines.
The ROI of Inclusive Hiring
According to research by global consultancy McKinsey & Co., particularly diverse companies see higher profits than their less diverse counterparts. Analysis from the firm shows that “companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25 percent more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the fourth quartile.” Ethnic diversity was just as important: McKinsey researchers concluded that “top-quartile companies” in ethnic diversity scores “outperformed those in the fourth one by 36 percent in profitability.”
Inclusive Hiring and Talent Acquisition
Creating a diverse and inclusive workforce helps organizations attract and retain the best talent. Tapping into under-searched talent markets is not only likely to uncover gems, it’s also instrumental in supporting your organization’s strong reputation. Data shows that employees are happier—and more likely to stick around—at companies who prioritize inclusivity in their HR strategies.
Inclusive Hiring and Corporate Social Responsibility
Your company’s ability to attract and retain diverse talent is essential to your reputation as a socially responsible organization in 2024 and beyond. As a diverse company, you’ll be well-positioned to interact with a larger base of customers whose diverse identities also reflect the global modern business landscape.
Steps to Building an Inclusive Hiring Process
Want to build an inclusive hiring process but are unsure of how to get started? Expanding your recruitment horizons is a process that can take on different shapes depending on your industry, organizational structure, and even location. But here is a basic outline of steps to follow to get your initiative off the ground:
1. Know How To Identify Gaps and Issues In The Hiring Process
Take a look at your current talent makeup. The first step to building an inclusive hiring process is to examine the demographics of your current team members. How do you score in gender, racial, ethnic, age, religious, and disability diversity? Are entry level positions diverse, but management makeup seems stagnant? Knowing where gaps exist can help you determine the root causes of faltering diversity efforts. Keep in mind that while hiring diverse employees is a great first step to building a robust workforce, the tenure and trajectories of these employees matter just as much.
2. Examine Your Hiring Managers’ Unconscious Biases
Once you’ve determined where gaps exist, it’s important to consider why certain shortcomings have evolved and why they continue to stick around. The concept of “unconscious bias” may help to explain diversity gaps. According to the University of California San Francisco, unconscious biases are “social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside [on an individual’s] own conscious awareness.” UCSF also reports that “everyone holds unconscious beliefs about various social and identity groups, and these biases stem from one’s tendency to organize social worlds by categorizing.”
3. Train Your Hiring Managers On Your Values
A good plan is only as valuable as the opportunity to implement it. In order to kickstart your culture of inclusive hiring, you’ll need to train your hiring managers on the benefits of diversity in the workplace and what they can do to reduce unconscious biases in their decision-making.
4. Evaluate Your Interview Processes
The interview is the first face-to-face (or voice-to-voice) impression a candidate has of your organization. Make sure you establish an interview environment that is appealing to diverse candidates. Promote diverse interview panels and ensure that interviews are conducted in an accessible way. During the interview, take a moment to promote aspects of your working culture that may be most attractive to employees from different backgrounds, such as flexible work options, great benefits, and more.
5. Maintain Your Culture of Inclusive Hiring Beyond 2024
To keep the momentum going on your new culture of inclusive hiring, establish a set of diversity and inclusion recruitment best practices that your stakeholders can refer to later down the line. These best practices should be a list of items hiring managers should adhere to. Ideas for diversity and inclusion recruitment best practices include:
- Reviewing job descriptions for biased language
- Prioritizing diverse hiring panels
- Emphasizing attendance at inclusive networking opportunities
- Using accessible recruitment platforms
- Conducting interview processes in a transparent way
- Promoting continuous employee feedback on inclusion at work
- Supporting flexible work arrangements
Ready to Kickstart Your Culture of Inclusive Hiring? Meet Cornerstone Search Group
When you seek out methods of inclusive talent acquisition, you’re rewarded with great team members and even better ROI. Ready to jumpstart your culture of diverse hiring? An executive search firm skilled in diverse hiring can help you hit the ground running.
We don’t just know the best places to look for talent, we also bring our life sciences industry knowledge, full talent network, and negotiation skills to the table to work for you. Make a strategic investment in your business’ future: contact us today to connect with one of our partners.
