May 4th 2021

How to recruit for a more diverse workplace

Workplace diversity has become a hot topic and a top priority for recruitment departments. Greater diversity in the workplace is the right thing to do both morally and for the success of the business. A recent survey found that 57% of recruiters have talent acquisition strategies that are designed to attract diverse candidates. 

It is no coincidence that the rise in diversity and inclusive workplace culture is directly related to increasingly collaborative and innovative companies. The evidence is clear that recruiting diverse candidates has a great competitive advantage. 

So how do you effectively attract and recruit for a more diverse workplace? We have some tips below that can help you improve diversity and inclusion in your business. 

Top 4 ways to recruit for a more diverse workforce

Audit your current hiring process

It’s important to take a deep dive into your current hiring process to assess and identify any weak areas.  

Here are two ways you can assess and improve your current process: 

1. Analyse your diversity hiring data to get an accurate picture of the hiring process. You will then be able to understand where your weaknesses are and look to improve them.  
2. Hire recruiters who focus on diversity. Recruiters that specialise in specific types of hiring will be your secret weapon as you strive to become a more diverse company, bringing skills and expertise that you might not have. 

Use online tools to reduce bias 

We receive 11 million bits of information every second. We can only consciously process 40 bits, and so more than 99.99% of information is processed at the unconscious level. Unconscious bias therefore plays a huge role in hiring and is a problem that all businesses face. 

One way to help prevent this is through the use of online hiring tools that use artificial intelligence. AI enables people to make better hiring decisions by reducing the human bias that impacts how we evaluate candidates. It does this in these three ways: 

• Sourcing candidates through online platforms 
• Nurturing diverse candidates right at the beginning of the hiring process
• Screening candidates based on objective criteria

At Tempo, we use artificial intelligence to match employers to the most relevant candidates, regardless of their background. This reduces the time-to-hire but also increases your access to more diverse candidates by removing the unconscious bias from the hiring process. Hit the button below to see for yourself.

Expand your pool with video interviewing

Focusing on factors such as years of experience, whether they went to university and gaps in their employment will lead to a narrow pool of talent. You should look to focus on their skills, both soft and technical instead. You can do this through video interviews with set questions. 

How does this work?

• Candidates record and submit answers to a set of questions at a time that suits them
• Hiring managers can then screen through all the responses at their convenience

Why is this a good thing? 

• You have a wider pool of candidates since all qualified candidates can send in their videos
• All candidates are answering the same questions, ensuring objectivity and consistency in your hiring decision
• Still allows you to get a feel of the candidate’s personality and whether they would be the right cultural fit for the role 

Sign up here to try Tempo’s Video Q&A feature where we allow you to do all this, all within the platform, making it hassle-free to hire more diverse candidates. 

Create inclusive job descriptions 

Your job descriptions are essential as they are usually the only connection you have with a candidate before they apply for your job. Creating inclusive job descriptions is so easy to execute but often overlooked as many companies keep using old job postings. Biased wording will leave a negative undertone to candidates and influence them to not apply. 

Here are 5 pointers to keep in mind: 

• Use gender neutral language
• Don’t use overcomplicated language
• Consider what appeals to all demographics when writing benefits 
• Look to use flexible requirements over must-have qualifications
• Use inclusive language  

A diverse workplace is vital for the success of your business and the engagement of your employees. It starts right at the point of hiring and continues right through to how you manage and retain your workforce. You might not get it completely correct from the get-go, but by applying strategies like the above, overtime you will build the diverse workplace you need to give you that competitive edge over other companies.

At Tempo, our fundamental belief is that everyone deserves to realise their full potential and we want to be a force for good and do what we think is right in using our position to open doors that may otherwise have been closed. Check out our dedicated page to diversity and inclusion to discover interesting reads and useful resources on diversity and inclusion in the world of work.