How To Promote Diversity and Inclusion in Your Hiring Process

In the quest for a more diverse and inclusive workforce, we’ve asked seven professionals from various fields, from Senior Talent Acquisition Leads to AGM-BD and Ops, to share the actions they’ve taken in their hiring process. From leveraging VR for inclusive hiring to diversifying recruitment channels, this article presents their insightful and practical strategies for promoting diversity and inclusion.

Leverage VR for Inclusive Hiring

As a DEI consultant, I know VR tech can improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in hiring. Immersive experiences can create shared understanding and combat implicit biases among hiring managers.

I integrated a VR-based program into a client’s recruitment process. This allowed hiring managers to experience interviews from the perspective of candidates with diverse backgrounds. They could even better understand the challenges of those with disabilities or cultural barriers.

By immersing themselves in these scenarios, hiring managers gained valuable insights into job seekers’ struggles. This helped them identify and address their own unconscious biases

Using VR technology, we were able to level the playing field for all candidates and ensured an equitable and inclusive hiring process. The client saw concrete improvements in workforce diversity and overall company culture, demonstrating VR’s transformative potential as a tool for creating a more inclusive workplace.

Vivian Acquah CDE®
Certified Diversity Executive, Amplify DEI

Implement Diversity Sprints 

There are plenty of small tweaks you can make to your hiring process to significantly impact the volume of diverse candidates in your talent pool.

One approach we’ve taken at Knak is diversity sprints. Before going through our inbound candidate pipelines, I take time to actively source for the role, focusing only on outreach to diverse talent.

Outbound pipelines generally take longer to move from outreach to recruiter screens, so focusing on outreach first allows us to broaden our candidate diversity for our first wave of talent.

Zak Michalyshyn
Senior Talent Acquisition Lead,  Knak.

Adopt the Inclusive Interview Rule

The “Inclusive Interview Rule” is one of the major actions Indeed has taken to remove bias and barriers from our sourcing and interviewing processes.

Designed to improve visible representation in candidate pipelines and interview slates, the Inclusive Interview Rule now applies to all roles globally, including roles that are promoted or sourced internally only. It forms part of a shift in our overall approach to equitable recruitment and hiring — which also includes how we train hiring managers and interviewers and how we debrief candidacies.

We believe that every candidate, whether internal or external, at every stage of their employment lifecycle, should feel like they belong at Indeed and be given equitable consideration, support and access.

Jessica Hardeman
Director, Employee Lifecycle, Indeed

Embrace a Global Hiring Strategy

At Ingredient Brothers, we prioritize diversity and inclusion in our hiring process. Being a fully remote company, we naturally embrace a global hiring strategy. With team members spanning four continents, our talent pool expands, providing us access to diverse skills and expertise. This enables us to nurture a dynamic, inclusive work environment that promotes success.

Eran Mizrahi
CEO and Founder, Ingredient Brothers

Offer Internships to Underrepresented Groups

One action I’ve taken to improve diversity and inclusion in my hiring process is offering internships and mentorship programs to underrepresented groups. By providing these opportunities, we not only address the lack of diversity in the industry but also build a pipeline of diverse talent for future hiring needs.

We also ensure that these programs provide the necessary experience and connections. For example, we partnered with a local organization that focuses on increasing diversity in the tech industry and provided internships to college students from underrepresented groups. The program was successful, and we hired several interns as full-time employees.

Ben Lau
Founder, Featured SEO Company

Include Bias Training

Make sure the job descriptions are inclusive and welcoming. Using gender-neutral language and explicitly stating your commitment to diversity and inclusion can attract a broader range of applicants.

Train your hiring team to recognize and counteract unconscious biases. Everyone has biases, and being aware of them is the first step to minimizing their impact on hiring decisions.

Nidhi Thakur
Co-Founder and Editor, Earthtech

Diversify Recruitment Channels

At Authors On Mission, we’ve consciously taken steps to improve diversity and inclusion in our hiring process. One key action was implementing “blind hiring” practices, which involved removing identifiable information from applications during the initial review process. This strategy reduces unconscious bias and promotes equal opportunity.

Our job descriptions were also reviewed and rewritten to ensure neutral language that encourages applications from all qualified individuals, irrespective of their gender, race, age or background.

Additionally, we partnered with diverse job boards and universities to attract a wide pool of candidates.

We understand that diversity brings innovation, creativity and progress. Hence, these efforts are just the beginning. We’re committed to continuous evaluation and improvement of our hiring processes to ensure inclusivity at all levels of our organization.

Vikrant Shaurya
CEO, Authors On Mission

Authors

Staff Reporter