"What does 'inclusive hiring' mean?" is one of the questions our clients ask us most frequently. Everyone knows that principles of inclusive hiring are important, but what they are and why they matter isn't always so clear.
Let's explore what inclusive hiring is and how it can make a huge difference to your recruitment strategy and your organisation's performance and reputation.
What does 'inclusive hiring' mean?
Inclusive hiring means hiring people from a diverse range of backgrounds and communities to increase the diversity in your workforce, benefit from a wider range of perspectives, and improve the performance and reputation of your organisation.
Inclusive hiring incorporates the measures and practices that recruiters use to attract candidates from a wide range of backgrounds, assess them fairly, and appoint them to roles they're a good fit for. Successful inclusive recruitment allows organisations to benefit from the skills, talents, and perspectives of workers with a diverse range of experiences.
As well as improving the performance of the organisation, inclusive hiring makes it easy to avoid discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 and improves the reputation of the brand among both customers and employees.
Today, inclusive hiring is one of many ways that organisations can - and should - ensure that employees from all backgrounds and communities feel safe and welcome within the workforce. Inclusive recruitment practices should be implemented alongside other measures relating to management styles and company culture to create a positive work environment for all employees.
The benefits of inclusive hiring
The recruitment process is the first interaction that most employees have with an organisation. From reading job adverts to applying for roles and onboarding, the experiences that candidates have in these early stages determine their attitude going into work and their likelihood of wanting to work for the organisation, or with your recruitment firm in the future.
Incorporating inclusive hiring practices into your recruitment process is one of the most effective ways to ensure diversity within the workforce and to create job adverts that appeal to talented workers from a wide range of backgrounds. In this way, you can fulfil your obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and maximise the quality of the applicants who apply to open vacancies at the same time.
There are many benefits to inclusive recruitment, which is a practice that impacts the culture of your organisation at every level:
Reduced employee turnover
Inclusive hiring and greater workplace diversity result in reduced employee turnover. Workplaces with higher rates of diversity and inclusion make employees from all backgrounds feel more accepted, which boosts happiness and morale in the workplace and often leads to higher productivity rates as well as lower turnover rates. As a result, companies with inclusive hiring policies often spend less on recruitment overall.
Different perspectives
By actively recruiting a more diverse workforce, you can ensure that your workforce benefits from a range of different perspectives and insights. Diversity in the workplace usually brings a wider variety of skills and experiences that enable organisations to plan and execute more nuanced and unique business strategies.
Superior innovation
Organisations with more diverse workforces usually enjoy a superior innovation rate compared to organisations with less diversity. Some studies have shown that organisations with higher inclusivity rates are 1.7 times more likely to be innovation leaders. This helps companies to stay competitive in challenging markets.
Positive branding
Companies that practise inclusive hiring are viewed more positively by both employees and consumers. They're seen as more ethical and more responsible than companies with less inclusive policies, and brands with more diversity in their workforce also appeal to more diverse audiences which opens up opportunities in new markets and sectors.
Chat with us
Do you need help ensuring that your job ads attract the talent you're looking for? Chat with us at Idibu to find out how we can help you to create eye-catching job adverts that appeal to candidates with a diverse range of backgrounds and abilities.
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