How to Hire Diverse Candidates and Why it’s Important

In 2021, it might seem redundant to underscore the importance of diversity in the workplace. Yet, there are a number of industries, like in the tech world, where diversity is very much lacking.

This is a real challenge for industry leaders and hiring teams because there are so many verifiable, studied, and tangible benefits to diverse workforces.

Below we’ll get into how you can hire diverse candidates and why diversity in the workplace is so important. 

Why workplace diversity is important

So why is diversity in the workplace important? Other than wanting to engage in non-bias and nondiscriminatory hiring practices, there are a number of reasons why cultivating workplace diversity should be a priority for hiring teams. 

Some of those reasons include:

• The numbers don’t lie
•  Studies from McKinsey and Deloitte, among others, show that gender diverse companies are 15% more likely to outperform their counterparts, and companies that are ethnically diverse are 35% more likely to do better than their non-ethnically diverse competitors. 
• Companies who were more diverse showed a 2.3 times higher cash flow over three years. 

• Strength in differences
• It shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise that more diverse workforces tend to outperform their homogenous counterparts. Individuals with different backgrounds, worldviews, perspectives, and experiences will have more insight to offer and market blindspots to identify. They have different experiences with products, services, communication hurdles, and more, which can give you a rounder perspective of what you’re offering customers or clients.

• More vibrant workplace culture
• When you have a more diverse workforce, you have a more inclusive workforce. That means that minorities and individuals from non-traditional backgrounds will feel more welcomed. Additionally, you can expect your team members to be more empathetic, patient, and understanding when they have to work with a wide array of workers that differ in age, gender, ethnicity, race, or other demographics. 

• Larger talent pool
• When companies make an effort to reach out to a wide, diverse set of applicants, they open themselves up to a larger pool of applicants. Hiring teams that don’t make an effort to hire a wide range of applicants will miss out on a large number of quality applicants. 

On top of all of these benefits, you want your organization to reflect the customers and communities you serve. Creating an inclusive brand that customers can identify with will help you stand out and cultivate a rich company brand. 

Five Ways to increase diversity in your workplace

If you see the value of having a diverse workforce but don’t know where to start, here are five ways to start you in  the right direction.

5 Ways to increase diversity in your workplace include:

New Job Boards

• Of course, we all know of Glassdoor, Monster, LinkedIn, and the other major job boards. These are great and you should be utilizing them, but there are plenty of other niche job boards out there, like DiversityWorking, that will provide you with a diverse set of talent pools.

Hiring manager training to avoid biases

• Diverse hiring practices take an institutional effort, which means that on top of utilizing diverse job boards and looking for diversity in your recruiting practices, hiring managers need to be aware of unconscious bias. Diversity training, specifically for hiring purposes, should be a priority to creating a more inclusive and diverse workplace. 

Develop/uphold diversity policy

• Again, if diversity is a priority, it has to be ingrained into your company culture. This means that organizations need to develop and uphold a robust diversity policy that clearly defines their values and ambitions. Making this visible in your office and through meetings will help ingrain the values and expectations of upholding an inclusive workplace. 

Honor multicultural aspects of your employees

• If you’ve managed to put together a diverse set of team members, celebrate your differences. Host culture days and allow your employees to share their foods, traditions, and aspects of their cultures and backgrounds. 

Rework wording of current job postings for more inclusive language

• Don’t be afraid to highlight and underscore the ways in which your organization values diversity and inclusivity in your job descriptions. Individuals from diverse backgrounds often feel marginalized in  their workplaces, so branding yourself as someone who values diversity will, in turn, attract a diverse set of candidates. 

With so many different ways to prioritize diversity in the workplace, there aren’t really any excuses for organizations in 2021 to not hire diverse candidates. With the above tips, you can start hiring candidates for a wide range of backgrounds and build a company culture that you and your customers will be proud to be a part of. 

How Crosschq can help you hire diverse candidates

Companies need advanced, state-of-the-art recruitment and reference check technology to find a diverse set of quality candidates. Crosschq offers robust talent analytics, data-driven reference checking, and qualified talent pipelines to give companies everything they need to find top talent. 

Visit our website and check out a demo to learn more about how our team can help you reach your hiring goals and unlock your organization’s potential.