Are you struggling to build a workforce that accurately reflects the diverse population of your city, state, or country? As a business leader, it’s important to actively seek out and recruit talent from all walks of life. However, this task can be incredibly daunting when you’re not sure where to start. Thankfully there are some easy steps that organizations can take to promote diversity in their recruiting process and find successful applicants with different backgrounds and perspectives. In this blog post, Jay Holstine discusses these tips so that you can make progress toward building an inclusive hiring strategy within your company today!
Jay Holstine’s Tips For If You Are Having Trouble Recruiting Diverse Talents
1. Leverage Your Network: One of the best ways to recruit diverse talents is to leverage your existing network, says Jay Holstine. Reach out to individuals who can provide referrals and recommendations, including diversity and inclusion networks, college alumni associations, or professional organizations for minority professionals. You can also build relationships with local organizations that specialize in recruiting diverse talent. This will help you quickly expand your reach and access a larger pool of potential candidates.
2. Re-evaluate Your Job Descriptions: The language used in job descriptions can have a major impact on the type of applicants you attract to your organization. To reach a more diverse audience, it’s important to use inclusive language when creating job postings and avoid any words or phrases that could be interpreted as discriminatory. Additionally, provide detailed information about the job requirements and responsibilities to ensure potential candidates understand what’s expected of them in the role.
3. Utilize Job Fairs: Attending job fairs is another great way to reach a wide range of diverse talent. You can tailor your recruitment materials to include information on how your organization values diversity and showcase any initiatives you have in place that support it. Make sure to speak with attendees and get an understanding of their background, interests, and skillset so you can properly evaluate each candidate and determine if they’re a good fit for your company.
4. Create Internship Programs: Internships are a great way to build relationships with future diverse talents and cultivate an environment of inclusion. You can offer internships to students from different backgrounds, giving them the opportunity to gain valuable experience and develop their skills. Additionally, you can use internships as a way to test potential candidates before offering them full-time positions.
5. Develop Long-Term Strategies: According to Jay Holstine, recruiting diverse talent is not a one-and-done process—it requires ongoing effort and commitment. It’s important to create long-term strategies that will ensure your organization continues to attract diverse candidates and retain top talent. This could include setting recruitment goals and establishing diversity committees or initiatives to ensure these goals are met. Additionally, developing comprehensive onboarding programs can help new employees become acclimated quickly and reduce any potential obstacles they may face.
Jay Holstine’s Concluding Thoughts
By leveraging your network, re-evaluating job descriptions, attending job fairs, creating internship programs, and developing long-term strategies, you can create a recruiting process that will help you attract and retain top, diverse talent. Doing so will not only allow you to bring in new perspectives and ideas to your organization, says Jay Holstine, but also help build an inclusive work environment for all.