Learn the best practices and tips for hiring more diverse candidates!

How to hire for diversity?

If you want to improve diversity and inclusion at your workplace, you should start by hiring more diverse candidates. 

In this article, you will learn how to incorporate best practices for hiring more diverse candidates at every stage of your recruiting process. Read on to learn:

• How to attract more diverse candidates?
• How to incorporate diversity values in your selection stage?
• How to ensure greater job acceptance rate among diverse candidates?

Attraction stage: How to find more diverse candidates?

Here are some great, actionable strategies for attracting diverse candidates:

1. Source for diversity
   Add terms like “employee resource group” and “ERG” to your Boolean search strings, along with phrases related to different types of diversity focused networks (such as “black,” “Latino,” “disabilities,” “women in IT,” or “LGBTQ”).
   
   
2. Post your jobs on job boards specialized in diversity
   Job boards dedicated focused on minorities and diversity are also becoming more common these days. Did you know that you can find a diversity jobs section on Indeed? Make sure you also post your job on Diversity Working, the largest online diversity job board.
   
   
3. Encourage diverse employee referrals
   Encourage your employees to recommend diverse candidates by offering additional bonuses and prizes. For example, Intel awards double referral bonuses for diverse hires.
   
   
4. Highlight diversity on your career site
   Highlight your company’s dedication to diversity and inclusion. Check out Schneider Electric’s career page focused on promoting their company’s inclusion and diversity initiatives: 

Selection stage: How to select more diverse candidates?

There are 2 proven strategies for incorporating diversity and inclusion at the selection stage of your hiring process:

1. Organize diversity training for recruiters
   Help your recruiters and HR managers learn more about their unconscious biases we all have. Luckily, with a little bit of education and training, everyone can learn how to avoid bias in recruitment. 
   
   
2. Implement a blind hiring practice
   Blind hiring is the practice of obscuring job candidates’ personal information such as a photo, age, gender and name. That way, recruiters and hiring managers make their decision solely based on qualifications, experience, education, references and the quality of the person's resume.

Offer stage: How to improve job acceptance rate among diverse candidates?

67% of job seekers said a diverse workforce is important when considering job offers, according to Glassdoor research

Thus, make sure that you highlight your company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion. Proudly present all of your company’s diversity and inclusion initiatives. As well as your diverse employees’ testimonials. Show your diverse candidates that you have cultivated a welcoming company culture that accepts and celebrates differences.