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3 Ways to Bring Diverse Candidates Into Your Talent Pipeline And Keep Them There

3 Ways to Bring Diverse Candidates Into Your Talent Pipeline And Keep Them There

Job seekers are starving.

They’re craving as much information about your company as you’ll give them. They want to see the company’s mission in motion. They’re looking for how passions turn into productive output, and what you’re doing to empower a diverse workforce.

They are expecting to see diversity across age, gender, ethnicity, experiences, and thought.

A few of companies are focused on giving job seekers exactly what they’re looking for in the diversity department. In fact, 35 percent of hiring professionals, according to a 2017 Glassdoor report, plan on increasing their diversity and inclusion efforts when looking for talent. Some may argue, however, this number still isn’t high enough when it comes to bringing diverse candidates into talent pipelines.

Even if your team has already set diversity and inclusion goals, hitting them is a significant challenge if your hiring tactics remain stagnant. It’s time to find new and hungry job seekers by developing strong, meaningful relationships with diverse candidates. Once you do, your ability to bring top diverse candidates into your talent pipeline, and keep them there, will grow exponentially.

Here are three tactics you need to fill up your talent pipeline with diverse candidates:

1. Uncover holes in your diversity

Before you put on your recruiting boots and go out searching for diverse candidates, you must first determine what type of diversity your company is lacking. Remember, diversity goes far beyond gender and race. You need to uncover what backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives will enhance your company.

Believe it or not, hiring pros in the previously mentioned Glassdoor report say candidates’ demographics are one of the top three metrics for measuring recruiting success. Even more surprising, those same hiring pros agree candidate demographics are more critical to recruiting success than the following measures:

  • How long it takes to fill a role
  • How long it takes to deliver a job offer
  • The success a company has in converting job seekers to applicants
  • The ratio of applicants to hires

Focus on your company’s gaps in diversity by performing a multidimensional demographic survey of employees and candidates. Look at personality types, age, gender, race, and both personal and professional experiences. Use these details to create a target list of demographics you want to see in your talent pipeline.

2. Track a variety of hiring metrics

Once you’ve narrowed down the types of candidates you want in your talent pipeline, there’s no doubt you’ll eventually find those traits in applicants. This is a positive — but only when you’re actively maintaining those relationships.

You can’t adequately hold onto top diverse candidates if you don’t understand what aspects of the talent acquisition strategy attracted them. Without the proper hiring metrics, it will take you, or another team member, an inordinate amount of time to understand what makes them tick.

Collect data that shows how candidates discovered the company. Was it an employee referral, were they Googling companies like yours, was it a customer referral, or were they on a job board and were matched with a current opening?

Also, survey candidates to determine what details attracted them to your company. Find out if it was a specific job opening, your mission, or the way an employee or customer spoke about your product or team. In these details, you’ll find definitive answers about how diverse candidates are searching for jobs and what you need to do to keep them interested.

3. Empowering employee ambassadors

A company can pour excessive amounts of money into diversity hiring and inclusion efforts. Some of these costs are necessary, of course, and this isn’t a place where you want to tighten the budget. Unfortunately, the Glassdoor report found 10 percent of hiring decision-makers think employees will leave their current job in the next 12 months if there isn’t a diversity and inclusion program.

However, some diversity hiring efforts don’t require significant funds. Some of the most powerful diversity recruiters have been under your nose this whole time — your current team. Employees who love their jobs, feel supported by leaders, and whole-heartedly believe in their product, will be more than willing to discuss those details with their network.

Show off how your company embraces diversity and inclusion by featuring employee stories on your blog, career site, and social media channels. Invite other employees to share posts with their network of friends, family, former co-workers, and even acquaintances. Using personal stories to inform job seekers that your company recognizes the importance of diversity will draw even more quality candidates into your talent pipeline.

How do you bring diverse candidates into your talent pipeline — and keep them there? Let us know!

Josh Tolan

Josh Tolan is the Founder and CEO of Spark Hire, a video interviewing platform used by 6,000+ customers in over 100 countries.