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June 10th, 2021 · 5 min read

Effective diversity recruiting strategies to fuel your talent pipeline

Written by: Izabelle Hundrev

diversity recruiting strategies featured blog header

What is diversity recruiting?

Diversity recruiting strategies

Maximize talent searches in your recruiting program

Nurture your pipeline of diverse candidates

  • Segmenting high potential candidates and targeting them with communications that highlight growth and advancement opportunities
  • Reaching out to candidates that previously made it to the late stages of interviews with new positions
  • Leveraging recruitment marketing channels to promote your employer brand to stay top-of-mind with candidates

Leverage specialized job boards

  • AbilityLinks: This is a job board that connects employers to a wide pool of highly skilled candidates with disabilities. Using the site, you can post jobs, search resumes and schedule interviews.
  • 70 Million Jobs: This job board allows you to find job candidates with criminal records who are ready to re-enter the workforce.
  • Inroads: This organization works to develop underserved youth by connecting them to leadership development opportunities and internships at top companies in the United States.
  • Female Executive Search: Only 6 percent of Fortune 500 companies have female CEOs. Female Executive Search is working to change that statistic by allowing employers to search specifically for C-suite level candidates who are exclusively women.
  • Out & Equal: This job board allows employers to build a company profile and recruit highly-skilled candidates who identify as LGBTQ+.

Re-evaluate current interviewing practices

  • Do the interviewers represent a variety of diverse backgrounds?
    If you expect to recruit diverse candidates, you should also ensure that your interview panels include team members from diverse backgrounds.
  • Are the interviewers aware of the types of biases that exist?
    Host a workshop to educate your hiring team on possible biases that may come up in the interviewing process.
  • Are the interview questions structured in a way that eliminates or mitigates bias?
    Standardize the interview process so that every candidate gets asked the same questions. This ensures that there are no inconsistencies and each candidate is evaluated based on the same set of criteria.

Attract talent with these diversity hiring best practices

  • Highlight diversity in your job descriptions
    Take it a step further than the generic “equal opportunity employer” statement. Job descriptions should include a statement on what your company is all about, and you can take a paragraph or two to describe your current DEI initiatives.
  • Offer equitable benefits and perks
    Standard benefits should be available to all of your employees. Consider offering equal parental leave for both mothers and fathers and include same-sex couples in your spousal benefits policies.
  • Offer accessible learning and education programs
    Provide underserved employees life-changing access to quality education by implementing a comprehensive workforce education program within your organization. With this approach, all employees — regardless of background or level of education — are able to take advantage of the program to earn degrees, credentials or certifications from academic institutions that may have been previously out of reach. Better yet, they can partake on their own terms, while continuing to grow with your organization.
  • Create an employer brand that is rooted in diversity, equity and inclusion
    Be an employer of choice by making DEI one of the top priorities at your organization. When you implement a high-impact DEI initiative, such as an accessible workforce education program, you’re making it known to prospective and current employees that advancing diversity in the workplace is central to your company values.

You can address talent development challenges