8 steps to make your recruitment process more inclusive

As more organisations recognise the value of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, there is no doubt business leaders will continue to dedicate more resources to promoting equitable recruitment processes.

However, there is still a lot of work to be done. Research from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) revealed that a significant proportion of minorities and culturally diverse groups face discrimination in the workplace. The global gender gap was still estimated around 27 percentage points in 2019 – a status quo staying stagnant also due to the pandemic. Furthermore, ILO also highlights that LGBTI individuals experience varying degrees of discrimination, starting in the hiring process - making it less likely for qualified workers to be hired full-time – and ending in the workplace, where they are more likely to be denied career progression opportunities.

From a business perspective, developing inclusive recruitment processes not only helps stamp out discrimination, but also positively impacts talent attraction and retention. According to ILO, employees 60% of companies worldwide report that their profitability and productivity increased due to inclusive policies promoting diversity, while ability to retain and attract talent increased by 55%.

The case for diversity and inclusion is clear. But where should you start? In this article, we explore the key steps that businesses can take to developing an inclusive recruitment process.

1. Develop a clear diversity and inclusion policy

A diversity and inclusion (D&I) policy lays the groundwork for your entire organisation – and it is a critical first step to promoting inclusive recruitment processes. Your D&I policy should demonstrate a commitment to fostering, cultivating and preserving a workplace culture of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI).

Work with relevant business leaders to develop a D&I policy that encourages and enforces:

Respectful interaction and communication between all employees
Practices and processes that allows for representation of all groups and perspectives
Contributions to the community that serve to support minority groups, such as volunteer days and charitable donations
HR processes for mitigating and managing intolerant behaviour

Once the policy is defined, communicate it across the organisation and include an open discussion where employees have the opportunity to ask questions or raise concerns.

2. Provide diversity training

Diversity training is imperative for educating employees on, and addressing, biases and prejudices within the workplace. This is especially critical for managers who will be making hiring decisions, where unconscious bias can contribute to workforce inequity.

An effective way to have diversity training can perspective taking - the process of “walking in someone else’s shoes” by writing a few sentences imagining the distinct challenges minorities or culturally diverse groups might face – and personal goal-setting, for example to challenge inappropriate comments about marginalised groups when overhearing them in the future.

3. Establish inclusive hiring metrics

Setting inclusive hiring metrics ensures measurable outcomes and holds relevant stakeholders accountable, as well as a framework for continuous improvement. Depending on your business or organisation, these metrics could be directly related to increased hiring of marginalised groups, improving employee feedback regarding inclusion, or both. For example:

To reach 50% female representation in executive roles within 24 months
To increase the percentage of minority employees within your sales team by 15% within 12 months
To increase employee net promoter scores (ENPS) by 20% within 12 months

4. Build diversity and inclusion into your employer brand

In our recent survey, we found that 85.1% of workers in Europe consider it important to work in a company that is socially responsible, while 65.5% consider gender parity important as well. With this in mind, representing your stance on D&I within your external employer branding is an essential counterpart to promoting it internally.

Revisit your employer brand to ensure D&I is clear in both the language and imagery you use. Ensure this is consistent across all relevant channels, including your website’s careers page, company LinkedIn profile and other social media profiles.

5. Review the language in your job ads

A study by augmented writing platform Textio found that the average job ad contains twice as many phrases considered ‘masculine’ rather than ‘feminine’, which consequently results in more men applying for specific roles.

Many companies, such as Atlassian, TietoEVRY, and Zurich, have put this to the test by rewording their job ads and have suddenly found themselves with a surge of women applying for the positions they offered. TietoEVRy found that 32% more women applied to job ads that considered inclusive language than those that didn´t.

Glassdoor laid out 10 ways on how to remove gender bias from job descriptions that can be easily integrated into your next job ad.

6. Promote workplace flexibility

Adopting a flexible work policy assists in attracting and retaining diverse talent and promoting an inclusive workforce. It is generally known that employees with childcare and caring responsibilities, particularly women, are mostly likely to work flexibly, followed by workers with disability and younger employees.

Depending on your organisation, your flexible work policy might include:

Flexible regular working hours
The option to work from home
Job-sharing
The option to purchase additional leave

7. Use a hiring matrix

A hiring matrix is a document for objectively assessing applicants' qualifications based only on job-related criteria. When assessing candidates, direct your hiring managers to complete a matrix including:

A list of the key skills, knowledge or other requirements for the role
A score for each candidate on a scale of 1 to 5 for each role requirement

Use this matrix to help eliminate bias and ensure hiring decisions are fair and equitable.

8. Review and improve your processes

Finally, regularly review your processes against the inclusion metrics you identified to track how you are performing. Developing an inclusive recruitment strategy is an ongoing process, and one that will need to be periodically adjusted to continue to meet your goals.