5 Ways to Improve Your DEI Recruitment Strategy

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is about increasing the representation of protected classes and groups that have historically been disadvantaged. This ranges widely to include minorities, individuals with disabilities, women, veterans, the LGBTQ community, different economic backgrounds, education, and more. Every organization should prioritize the initiative to integrate DEI into their workplace, but simply having DEI goals isn’t enough to fully create change.

DEI initiatives should be comprehensive and require an integrated approach permeating the entire organization. DEI isn’t a one-time project or a quick fix. Employees value a diverse workplace, and in turn, diverse organizations are more profitable. According to Gartner, inclusive companies are 120% more likely to hit their financial goals. So, how do you truly incorporate an effective DEI strategy organization wide? Here are five ways to improve your DEI strategy for better results.

One of the best ways to ensure your talent pool is full of diverse candidates is to source from various places and diverse job boards. Focusing on only one avenue can result in finding and hiring very similar candidates and a lack of diversity. There are some job boards, such as the Employment Service Delivery System (ESDS) job bank, which provides labor exchange services including employment, training, and placement. This allows recruiters to get open positions in front of thousands of job seekers, select match features that have your postings reviewed against resumes in the system, and identify potential candidates based on your qualification requirements. This adds a large and diverse range of job seekers to your talent pool.

AI-powered recruitment is the next big step toward removing bias from the hiring process end to end. Not only can it help identify more qualified candidates quickly, but it allows you to recruit authentically, remove job description bias, and amplify your recruiting outreach. With AI diversity sourcing, candidates are ranked based on how well their skills match your job requirements, and job descriptions are reviewed to remove potential biases before posting. This includes blind candidate screening with ethnicity, gender, age, gender, education, and other factors redacted. 

Having diversity in your recruitment and hiring teams is just as important as your candidates and employees. At each stage, it’s important to identify and diversify who is making the selection decision and what criteria is being applied. Diverse hiring teams and interview panels brings in multiple perspectives and the chance to provide a more fair, equitable interview and selection process. Simply put, diversity attracts diversity, and candidates are increasingly prioritizing positions with companies where they feel represented and understood. 

Creating an employer brand helps job seekers and potential candidates understand what your company stands for, why diversity is a priority, and how you exemplify those values. To show diversity in your brand, you can highlight diverse voices on your team within your marketing or on your company website. You can also feature your DEI efforts on your website and demonstrate how they are put into practice. 

To create a company culture that embraces diversity, you can’t just talk the talk — you have to walk the walk. One great way to do this is to ensure you are aware of any and all holidays or observances your employees celebrate and be sure to honor them. Celebrating diverse holidays in support of inclusion helps create a work environment that makes all employees feel recognized and supported. When this is the case, it boosts morale, productivity, and encourages employee feedback and contribution. 
 

Katie Coleman is Product Marketing Manager at Circa.