More and more businesses are seeking to diversify their employee base – and for good reason. The more diverse an organization, the more prepared it will be to handle any problems or challenges that it may face. This module will cover how a firm can recruit diverse employees in a way that will also optimize the performance of its business.
What is employee diversity, and how can it benefit a business?
The premise of employee diversity is pretty straightforward. Today, as a result of the internet and the information age, businesses today can reach virtually any demographic – as long as they target it correctly. Given this reality, being able to focus on and connect with multiple cultures creatively is essential for modern businesses. Creating an employee base of individuals from varying cultures and backgrounds allows companies to innovate and reach out to consumers worldwide and locally in the most effective way possible.
Employee diversity also has several benefits for businesses in terms of culture. In fact, 57% of employees say they would prefer a more diverse workplace. For example, experts indicate that diverse workplaces are less likely to suffer from harassment problems. Additionally, millennials now make up the most significant portion of the U.S. workforce. This reality is important because 67% of millennials weigh employee diversity when choosing where to work. Additionally, 83% of millennial employees are more engaged in their work when they are part of a diverse workforce. The engagement percentage drops to 60% for employees who operate in less varied workplaces.
To put it bluntly, employee diversity is a clear win on multiple levels.
How you can achieve more diversity in recruiting
Building a diverse workforce can be challenging. Here are some best practices:
- Cover the names on resumes. No matter how hard a person tries to suppress it, everyone has internal biases. By covering the names, a person ensures that she’s prioritizing a candidate’s skillsets.
- Target diverse applicant pools. A great way for a business to attract a diverse applicant roster is to advertise at major universities and on community college campuses.
- Avoid hiring candidates solely based on referrals. Businesses often hire friends of friends or friends of employees to shorten the hiring process. Unfortunately, this also eliminates potential top talent from the employee pool.
- Encourage critical thinking from applicants. A company could add a question to its application process that requires critical thinking. Although it may make the applicant screening process take longer, it will also allow the company to understand the applicants that it chooses to interview more fully. Inventive applicant screening methods are essential for identifying creative talent that can truly help a business succeed.
- Make employee diversity a focus of the recruitment process. A company should inform Let candidates that it values diverse backgrounds and experiences.
- Most importantly, build employee diversity from the top down. Unless a company has diverse leaders, who understand how to listen to a diverse employee base, it’ll go nowhere fast. Ensuring that the leadership team is onboard with a diverse hiring initiative is also vital.
Here at STC, we firmly believe that diverse workforces are the best workforces. For example, our partnerships with HBCU colleges and universities have allowed us to find remarkably skilled individuals from a variety of cultures and backgrounds. To learn more about how our approach is linking businesses with diverse applicant pools that are filled with top talent, visit our website.
