Sourcing top candidates is challenging and time-consuming. However, looking for and hiring diverse talents becomes more strenuous when dealing with inclusion initiatives, equity, and diversity.
While there are several reasons why some employers have difficulty in the hiring process, it wouldn’t be time-consuming and arduous if you had a readily available talent pool that you could resort to.
Employers and recruiters can use many resources and channels to create a talent pool of underrepresented talents.
Let’s explore more about the essential steps for hiring underrepresented talents in the rest of this post.
Why and How to Hire Underrepresented Talent?
Employers highly prioritize creating a more diverse workplace because it’s a valuable asset in recognizing the individual strengths of every employee and the potential they can contribute to the company.
The initial step in establishing a more diverse workforce is hiring more talent from underrepresented groups.
As an employer or hiring manager, you can do this by passionately changing some of the approaches you search for and attracting talents.
Did you know that candidates can usually point out if your firm values diversity by looking at the talent you have already hired?
Yes, that’s right. Top talents search for a diverse composition among your present employees and the leaders in your firm.
Nonetheless, without a diverse list of talents or candidates to select from, it’ll be challenging to have a well-represented employee base.
Here are some practical strategies to pinpoint underrepresented talent:
Assess your current hiring process.
By evaluating your existing hiring process, you can point out some flaws in your practices and processes that need fixing.
Select diverse talent through referrals.
You can ask your colleagues about specific candidates from the underrepresented groups to get ideas.
For example, ask about the best female team leader or the best Black supervisor they know or have worked with.
Alternatively, you may use an employee referral platform to make diversity hiring easier.
For instance, look through your colleagues’ networks and filter talents from underrepresented groups.
Collaborate with a diverse organization by using your expertise.
Aside from doing excellent work within the system, as an executive recruiter, you can also share your knowledge about career paths and success with underrepresented talent.
For instance, you can engage in community events, such as mentoring, workshops, and speaking.
This approach empowers underrepresented talent to search for skills, opportunity developments, and promotions, leading to a better career path.
Establish partnerships with career coaches.
Partnerships with professional career coaches who support the underrepresented groups are advantageous for both recruiters and coaches.
It gives you access to undiscovered candidates, and coaches get access to someone with jobs.
Get involved with minority institutions.
You may get involved with institutions that support people from underrepresented populations and establish relationships with the members.
Examples of these institutions may include minority professional groups, LGBTQ, and women organizations.
Allow the rest of your workforce to participate by offering allowances for employees to get involved in these groups and attend events.
Read more: Want to boost the development of underrepresented talent? Explore https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2021/07/18/want-to-boost-the-development-of-underrepresented-talent-strengthen-clo-cdo-partnerships/.
Source: https://pixabay.com/vectors/meeting-business-brainstorming-1453895/
What are some Organizations that are Successfully Increasing the Representation of Underrepresented Talent?
Collaborating with organizations that support underrepresented groups can help enhance your diversity hiring solutions, particularly entry-level ones.
Partnering with these organizations can help your firm provide assistance and training to underrepresented candidates.
For instance, if you are searching for an AI diversity article writer, collaborating with these organizations allows you to hire entry-level employees and interns directly from their membership base.
Here is a list of diversity-focused organizations that you can collaborate with.
Society of Women Engineers
This organization is the most prominent proponent and advocate for change for women in engineering and technology.
SWE offers many scholarship programs, and their preeminent Collegiate Leadership Institute aims to equip college students with the knowledge and skills to make it in engineering careers.
T. Howard Foundation
This organization aims to foster diversity in entertainment and media by multiplying the number of underrepresented and diverse groups and underserved communities within the industry.
Their internship program selects URM college students for a program that consists of mentoring, professional development, networking, and scholarship opportunities.
Disability: In
This organization is outstanding non-profit support for business disability inclusion globally.
They have a so-called next-generation leaders program that interconnects students with corporate allies to prepare them for employment through recruiting, networking, and mentorship opportunities.
National Association of Black Accountants
This organization is committed to assisting and providing more opportunities for black professionals in finance, accounting, and other business-related careers.
The National Association of Black Accountants offers a national scholarship program, student memberships, and purposeful conferences for college students.
Campus Pride
As a prominent national non-profit organization for campus groups and student leaders, Campus Pride works to establish a safer college environment for LGBTQ students.
This organization offers career fairs, internships, extensive resources, and job boards for LGBTQ students.
How to Find and Hire the Best Underserved Talent in Your Industry?
The quality of its talent mainly determines a company’s strength and success. When attracting top candidates, it’s crucial to provide more opportunities for employees to flourish and a robust organizational culture as an employer.
Moreover, it’s vital to meet your employees’ career expectations, the benefits, and career advancement opportunities they demand, ensuring work-life balance.
You can hire and retain the best-underserved talent in your industry by:
Campus recruiting
Universities and colleges are brimmed with young and competitive talents who show a keen interest in their work.
You may collaborate with prestigious colleges and universities and partake in their placement cells, making recruitment effortless.
Employers or recruiters can hire young and dynamic talents through:
- Conducting seminars and workshops in different colleges and universities to demonstrate your company’s career opportunities
- Invite students for an industry/company tour so they can uncover your organization’s structure and functions
- Get featured in their school organ
- Offer internship programs
- Sponsor colleges and universities’ festivals and cultural events
- Connect online
- Social media platforms are excellent sites for business professionals to find and hire top talents.
You can attract potential candidates by sharing tons of information about your firm or using keywords on LinkedIn to find top talents with the skills and experiences you search for.
Or, you may share recruiting photos and videos and information about your company’s events and testimonials from employees.
You may also post the latest company news and important announcements on your social media page to attract potential candidates quickly.
Speed up your recruitment services.
Recruitment agencies lost many top candidates because it’s too long for them to decide or contact the talent. Don’t forget that your competitors are just waiting to hire your prospect.
Your delay might make your prospect lose interest in your firm or accept another job from another company.
Don’t let your potential candidate wait too long if you find them fit for the job.
Establish an employee-focused culture.
Flexible work schedules, perks, and career advancement opportunities are what employees want. As employers, you need to review what you offer to your employees. But, apart from these, employees also need to feel valued.
For example, show your appreciation to the best-underrepresented writers by offering bonuses or incentives, employee recognition programs, and comfortable work environments.
Allowing your employees to relax also attracts an underrepresented talent—for instance, frequent team-building activities, sports competitions, gym membership, or yoga practice.
Source: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/we-are-hiring-job-opening-business-3265073/
The Benefits of Bringing Authentic Voices into Your Marketing Strategy
Your authenticity is what gives you a real connection with your target audience. Of course, people prefer brands that they can easily connect with.
Being authentic is transparent; showing your firm’s true personality helps you stand out from your competitors.
The perks of bringing an authentic voice to your marketing strategy:
- Improve sales and gain more loyal customers
An authentic voice feels genuine and relatable to your target audience. Hence, you can generate more sales and gain more loyal customers.
- Authenticity creates a more emotional connection between your firm and customers.
Understanding your customers and their needs enables you to communicate more effectively on proper social media networks.
A diversity marketing strategy example we can relate to is Adidas’ “Here to Create” ad campaign.
The message here is: we’re all here to create and to passionately leave a mark, making it relatable, and exhibiting creativity and diversity.
- An authentic voice inspires participation that leads to advancement.
Your transparency and authenticity make your voice more flexible and powerful, helping you communicate with people more personally.
When your brand resonates with your target audience, they allow participation.
This approach makes them feel more involved and part of a community; hence, they become advocates and recommend your brand.
A digital marketing strategy example is a growth marketing strategy that employs social media and emails to build customer loyalty.
The Careers that Non-Traditional Students Should Be Considering
Selecting underrepresented careers can offer many perks, such as:
- Established career ladders or better advancement opportunities
- Job satisfaction
- A broad range of careers available
- Higher salaries and more benefits
Meanwhile, the challenges that you might encounter with non-traditional careers are:
- Fear of failure
- Sense of isolation
- Gender role conflicts
- Harassment or discrimination
- The skills and work required might be unfamiliar.
- Lack of confidence
The best way to deal with these challenges is to accept that they’re inevitable and have a plan of action to beat them.
Here are some examples of careers for non-traditional students:
Non-Traditional Careers for Men
- Librarians
- Bookkeepers
- Flight Attendants
- Cashiers
- Occupational Therapists
- Teacher Assistants
- Cosmetologists
- Bank Tellers
- Dental Hygienists
- Elementary School Teachers
- Hair Stylists
- Secretaries
- Child Care Workers
- Home Health Aides
- Dental Assistants
- Hotel Clerks
- Nurses
- Maids and Housekeepers
- Social Workers
- Clerical/Administrative Support Workers
- Receptionists
- Middle School Teachers
- Court Reporters
- Sewing Machine Operators
- Physical Therapists
- Speech pathologists
On the other hand, the non-traditional or underrepresented careers for female students are:
- Carpenters/Construction Workers
- Airline Pilots
- Electricians
- Architects
- Science Teachers
- Clergy
- Announcer
- Optometrists
- Mail Carriers
- Engineers
- Printing Press Operators
- Firefighters
- Garbage/Waste Collectors
- Bellhops and Porters
- Parking Lot Attendants
- Chefs and Head Cooks
- Hospital Administrators
- Machinists
- Dentists
- Fishers, Hunters, Trappers
- Logging Workers
- Security and Fire System Installers
- Mechanics
- Film Directors
- Service Station Attendants
- Parking Lot Attendants
- Groundskeepers and Gardeners
- Truck Drivers
- Funeral Directors
- Scientists
- Pest Control Specialists
- Taxicab Drivers and Chauffeurs
- Security Guards
- Meter Readers
- Tow Truck Operators
- Mathematicians
- Welders
Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/people-business-meeting-1979261/
Parenting as an Underrepresented Parent with Disability
Most organizations highly value workplace diversity, but people with disabilities or disabled parents are commonly overlooked and not given sufficient support. Consequently, some companies miss out on an excellent source of the top candidate.
Companies need to consider having a good disability inclusion policy as this benefits all employees at any level and your organization.
You can design your websites, physical environments, language, and events to make it effortless for parents or people with disabilities to work, live their lives to the fullest and reach their potential.
Diversity inclusion is all about establishing an inclusive workplace wherein people feel comfortable, valued, heard, seen, welcomed, and recognized for what they bring to the table. You don’t make them feel different by appreciating their talents and achievements.
Did you know that the unemployment rate for people with disabilities is doubled compared to people without disabilities, even though they are so eager to work?
Providing well-thought-out inclusion policies makes it possible to appeal to people who can bring underused talent to the table. As a result, this will bolster retention all through the company.
There’s no denying that creating an environment that is supportive and open to all people, regardless of how uncertain you are about the necessary changes you should make, can offer several advantages.
How to Navigate the Intersections of Underrepresented Identities and Help Create a Diverse School Environment for All Children?
When students embrace diversity in the classroom, this can positively impact the school community.
In particular, the school community can establish a supportive, safe, and undeviating environment for students and the other people around. As a result, students develop intellectually and socially.
Unquestionably, the ability to interconnect with colleagues, peers, and neighbors with different abilities and backgrounds is invaluable.
Diversity enhances students’ critical thinking skills and motivates them to think differently and openly empathize with others.
There are several ways to encourage a diverse culture in your school, and some of these are:
Create a space for reflection and expression.
Teachers need to build positive relationships with their students so they can freely express their individuality.
Students need to express their individuality to feel and be themselves, which helps them become more self-efficient and enhances learning outcomes for students.
Employ various teaching strategies.
Teachers should consider using different strategies that can appeal to different strengths of learners because all students have different learning needs.
As a teacher, you should be prepared to use diverse teaching strategies to promote a flourishing and diverse classroom.
Introduce different perspectives.
Teachers may introduce historical figures and notable authors into their teaching materials to foster diverse perspectives. This method helps students better understand and acknowledge diversity.
Learning about influential people you can look up to and get inspiration from can promote diverse learning for students.
Establish an integrative curriculum that concentrates on diversity.
Collaborating with co-teachers can significantly help introduce diversity into a classroom.
Educators who concentrate on diverse subjects can help establish a multifaceted curriculum that emphasizes the essence of diversity.
Teachers can talk with their co-teachers about this collaboration to reinforce the ideas of diversity. This approach gives students extra support and a better understanding of that field.
Conclusion
Pursuing diversity in your workforce can be a win-win situation for everyone involved. A diverse workplace employs talents representing various sexual orientations, races, nationalities, ages, backgrounds, physical and mental abilities, spoken languages, and gender identities.
Broadening your hiring practices to appeal to top talents from diverse backgrounds can help improve how your business works and make your firm more attractive to candidates.
Ultimately, a diverse workforce offers better opportunities for problem-solving and creativity, promotes well-thought-of decision-making, and results in more productivity and revenues.
Furthermore, your employees feel more comfortable and satisfied in an inclusive workplace, reducing employee turnover rates. Best of all, when your company promotes diversity, it becomes more socially responsible, relatable, and reputable.
REFERENCES:
https://hireez.com/blog/guide-to-hire-diverse-workforce/
https://www.lever.co/blog/15-ways-to-build-a-more-diverse-talent-pipeline/
https://www.talentlyft.com/en/blog/article/211/8-recruitment-strategies-to-attract-the-best-talent
https://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2019/08/01/brand-authenticity-and-the-power-the-voice
https://www.wgu.edu/blog/improving-diversity-classroom2005.html#close
