Attract Diverse Talent in a Changing Market
Recent struggles with a labor shortage and a new, highly transmissible COVID variant have exacerbated some of the same issues employers and job hunters felt in the last year. Still, in the wake of uncertainty, job search is changing, possibly for good.
As of December, unemployment is falling. That being said, according to the New York Times, there is a big split in this trend “along racial lines” with white employment on the rise and Black and Hispanic employment falling. There are a number of systemic reasons accounting for this divergence, including, but not limited to: biases in hiring, disproportionately felt impacts of COVID-19, and the legacy of incarceration rates.
With a labor and skill shortages showing no signs of letting up, employers are on the hunt, and easy adjustments can be made in hiring techniques that prove to attract quality talent. Keep reading for a few tips that can be worked into your job search to promote inclusivity, and how Gobu Associates can help you find the top talent for the job!
- Words are powerful
Rewriting your job description to include language that is more thoughtful and sensitive is a must. Many job ads unintentionally use aggressive, gender specific language that turns off qualified candidates. Avoid using gender-coded words, and keep the job requirements list to the absolute necessities.
Instead, focus on performance objectives rather than skills, degrees, and levels of seniority that aren’t necessary for the role will create an atmosphere of exclusion. Add diversity imperatives to your company mission statement. Highlight possible career trajectories and any employee resource groups in the company.
- Consider flexibility
Offering work from home options and flexible hours help you attract more diverse candidates. Flexible schedules are a huge draw for women and millennial candidates who value work/life balance. Additionally, one of the main reason employees quit is due to long commutes. More diverse neighborhoods are often farther away from downtown office locations, so allowing hybrid models can sustain morale and prevent expensive employee turnover.
- Let personalities shine
A personality assessment, like the MBTI test, if answered honestly, can accurately reflect candidates’ personality traits, motivations, and soft skills. Additionally, test results do not differ for minority group members. So, unlike the usual recruiting criteria (company history, educational background, who they know), personality tests will not decrease the diversity in the candidate pipeline. Plus, according to Ideal, a talent screening software, a study of 150 companies found that those using personality assessments in hiring had more racially diverse workforces.
- Rethink referrals
People generally associate with others who have similar traits. If you want to see talent you’re not used to seeing, you may have to look outside of your inner circle.
In a recent study by McKinsey, men and women were asked about their professional networks. For men, 63% of them state it’s comprised of “more or all men” compared to 38% of women who state the same. According to LinkedIn data, women are less likely to rely on their network and more likely to use job boards and third-party websites in their search. So, if you want to see more female candidates, try taking advantage of third party websites.
- Adapt
The generational shift, as baby boomers retire and Gen Z starts up in the workforce, suggests that the years ahead will favor workers over employers. Employers who are attentive to the needs of their workforce and adaptive to the current climate will have the upper hand in attracting diverse talent.
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Do you need assistance in job description rewrites, hiring, and attracting diverse candidates? We can help! Gobu Associates can work with clients to best represent their needs in executive search. Contact us for more info.