Nine Ways To Adjust Hiring Practices For A More Inclusive Workplace

Now more than ever, it’s crucial for companies to create a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion. Today’s consumers value brands that take DEI seriously, and the positive financial impact of boosting diversity within companies has been proven many times over. However, outdated hiring practices and unconscious biases, among other things, can sometimes make it difficult for companies to find diverse applicants for open positions.

If you’re trying to build a more inclusive workplace but aren’t receiving applications from a broad spectrum of job seekers, there are some moves you can make within your organization to expand your recruiting horizons. Below, nine members of Forbes Coaches Council share their best advice on how companies can adjust their hiring practices to work toward creating a more inclusive workplace.

1. Look At Who Is Doing The Recruiting

If a company isn’t receiving diverse job applicants, I would look at who is doing the recruiting and hiring. Do these individuals look like the desired job applicants? Many times, unconscious bias is something we have become conditioned to. Having diversity within recruiting and hiring departments will foster diversity in job descriptions and job postings, thus attracting a diverse applicant pool. - Dr. Melissa Weathersby, 5-Star Empowerment

2. Agree On The Value Of Diversity

The hiring manager and the HR team need to first agree on the value of diversity, or else this incongruence will show up in the way their communique is positioned and worded. Putting in place “soft quotas” is the best way to start the diversity drive. The long-term view is that this then takes root and goes from being just the practice to becoming the culture of the company. - Thomas Lim, Singapore Public Service, SportSG

3. Be Explicit In The Job Description

Be explicit in the job description about the level of diversity being sought, from professional expertise to languages to ethnicities and more. Potential candidates may not always be aware of the level of stretch opportunity available within a role, and this would discourage their application in the first place. Use language succinctly and effectively to underscore the company’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. - Arthi Rabikrisson, Prerna Advisory

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4. Look At Your Brand Image

Examine what you portray on your website and in the media. Perhaps you are not viewed as a diverse company or diversity-friendly. With people’s ability to research companies so easily these days, if your image shows your company to be all one way, people will assume (rightly or wrongly) that you don’t welcome diversity or inclusion. - John Knotts, Crosscutter Enterprises

5. Secure A More Diverse Client Base

I find many companies are struggling to diversify their talent today. One little-known strategy to recruit and secure a more diverse workforce is to actually recruit and secure a more diverse client base. If you do not have a broad and inclusive customer population, your efforts to diversify your staff will be twice as difficult. - Natasha Ganem, Lion Leadership

6. Examine Your Hiring Policies

Start by taking a look at your organization: Does it reflect diversity? If there are no people of color or women on your leadership team, it shows that your past values and practices haven’t supported diversity. Examine your hiring policies: Are there inherent biases built into your systems? Something as simple as taking candidate names off of resumes removes possible unconscious biases. - Aaron Levy, Raise The Bar

7. Look At How The Job Opening Is Presented

Start with how the job opening is being presented and marketed. Just as you must have a strong marketing strategy to attract the right clients, you should also have a strong marketing strategy to attract the right applicants. Finding diverse job applicants requires you to think differently, act differently, look differently and search in different areas than your competition does for candidates. - Purdeep Sangha, Sangha Worldwide

8. Leverage Tech To Eliminate Selection Bias

Many of the new HR tech tools are helping hirers enhance diversity. These include tools that enable hirers to source diverse candidates from new, broader pools and to check their advertisements for bias. Some provide profile masking features to eliminate bias during the selection process. The right technology can be a great asset for companies that are serious about diversity. - Gillian Kelly, Outplacement Australia

9. Determine What Caused The Current Lack Of Diversity

How diverse is your leadership team, or your board? What have you explicitly done to make your current culture more inclusive? What are your retention numbers for diverse candidates? Change will not come from posting jobs in more places; it will come when you make your organization attractive to a broader pool of candidates. - Lisa Schmidt, Worksphere