Trouble Finding "Diverse" Applicants? It's You, Not Them!

The last several years of social unrest and intense racial trauma have been a crushing weight on all of us, yet those same years shed a searing spotlight on inequality and the continued lack of inclusion in the workforce. The ongoing succession of reports, articles, and studies, offering both personal accounts and empirical evidence, has highlighted disparities in racial and gender demographics, pay, and leadership positions. The combination of racial turmoil, global protest, and these disappointing—and, frankly, despicable—statistics has placed diversity and inclusion as a top priority on every agenda nationwide.

So, you’ve heard the call, read the studies, and decided not to be one of the organizations with the dark cloud of disparity looming over them. You want to make an effort to move in the right direction. You want to progress, effect significant change, and lead an evolved workplace culture by example. You commit yourself and your organization to cultivating a diverse and inclusive workforce. Unfortunately, when you post positions, you don’t receive the diverse range of applicants you hope for, so you're stuck with good intentions but no way to enact, represent, or demonstrate your commitment to evolve. 

When you're struggling to find a diverse range of applicants, keep these three critical factors in mind to ensure success. 

Review Your Process

Audit your process and procedures, everything from outreach to the hiring process and promotions—all the way down to things that may seem benign, like job descriptions and requirements. Contrary to popular belief, broadening your requirements doesn't "lower the bar"; rather, it widens the net in the applicant pool. Suppose your requirements are Ivy League, unpaid internships, or activities and scores that require access or preparation that's expensive and exclusive to most. Such requirements narrow the search to a specific socioeconomic demographic regardless of race or gender. 

In addition, for your hiring process, go blind. Remove unnecessary identifiers from applications and questionnaires and include a panel with a wide-ranging degree of professional and lived experience in your decision-making. Making the process blind protects us from our own bias and keeps everything fair.

Review Your Network

You have an untapped wealth of potential right under your nose: your staff and partners. Encouraging word of mouth and referrals is the quickest way to get pre-vetted, qualified applicants to your organization. In addition to referrals, tap into your team's insights and perspectives. Ask them to identify your blind spots and missed opportunities so you can improve. You may not need anyone else to tell you where to post open positions if you tap into your staff. 

Review Your Intentions

To bring substantial change to your organization, you must be intentional. The driving force in your diversity and inclusion efforts must be sincere and pure. Do not simply attempt to "check a box" to appear progressive. 

We aren't looking for "diversity hires." Repeat that to yourself every day, like a morning affirmation. If you view improving diversity as hiring people for the superficial sake of diversity, your disingenuousness will become apparent, resulting in tension among the hired individual and the team. 

What you want is to hire in a fair and inclusive way that inevitably results in a wider range of applicants because a staff as diverse as the marketplace in which you exist improves morale, productivity, and profitability and leads to innovation. Plus, it's the right thing to do. 

If you're having difficulties securing this kind of candidate pool, review these three concepts. Once you evaluate your process, tap into your network and keep your intentions pure. You'll identify opportunities for improvement that enable you to configure and execute a game plan. The end result will be attracting highly qualified applicants that will take your organization to the next level. 

For resources that can support you in “going blind” during your hiring process, take a look at the links below:

https://radicalcopyeditor.com/2017/10/02/should-i-use-the-adjective-diverse/

https://www.totaljobs.com/insidejob/gender-bias-decoder/

https://gender-decoder.katmatfield.com/