Is your company as diverse as it could be?
Workplace diversity has rightly become a top priority, with 57% of recruiters saying they have strategies designed to attract a more diverse pool of candidates.
Why Diversity?
It’s been shown that diverse organizations reap tremendous benefits. More diverse companies have more creativity, stronger innovation, and increased market share. Diverse teams are also smarter, as they process facts more objectively than a more homogeneous group of employees.
So how do you know if you need to bring more diversity into your company? You need to know the two different kinds of diversity: inherent and acquired. Inherent diversity includes characteristics such as race, gender, or age. Acquired diversity involves traits you get from certain experiences, such as education, knowledge, or skills; hiring someone who has worked in a foreign country is a good example of acquired diversity.
When looking to shake up your company culture, you’re not just looking to hire more inherently diverse candidates. You want to have an array of employees who fall into both categories.
So, you know what kind of candidates you want, and what types of diversity you need. How do you do it? Here are five ways to bring more diversity into your organization.
- Ask employees for assistance.
There are a few ways your employees can help you diversify your company. First, you can ask your underrepresented employees to write about their experiences at the organization. Diversity will attract more diversity, so being able to give prospective candidates a unique and truthful perspective will pique their interest.
Secondly, Your existing employees will have numerous connections they can reach out to, and a few of them will probably be candidates you wouldn’t traditionally consider. This will also allow you to better engage and retain your employees. Asking for their opinions and recommendations will make them feel like they matter (which is one of three things all humans crave, in addition to safety and belonging). Additionally, if new hires already have people they know and trust at the company, they’re more likely to stick around.
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