A RECAP of Best and Brightest® National Town Hall
A RECAP of Best and Brightest® National Town Hall
By Sandy Moran, HR Business Partner
Creating Equitable Hiring Practices – BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Veterans and People with Disabilities
Companies looking for cognitive diversity, also find the need to incorporate gender, lifestyle, and racial diversity into their hiring practices. Today’s panel discussed what it takes to create an inclusive work environment for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color), LGBTQ+, Veterans, and People with Disabilities.
All companies regardless of size need to build a strategy for long-term diversity recruitment and retention. This starts with top leadership. It needs to be an all-hands-on initiative not just an HR goal. On going training across the organization is key for success. Successful organizations develop a training program for DEI and make sure it is fluid and ever-changing to keep moving forward. Employee resource groups form and meet with recruiters and managers to provide input and new ideas to improve recruitment and retention. Interviewers need to be trained to be self-reflective to look for any unconscious bias they may have from how they were raised or people they associate with. A required refresher on unconscious bias before participating in a hiring process is very helpful. All organizations should measure success of initiatives by looking at candidates flow, movement in the company, and retention. Holding people accountable and including DEI measurements in performance reviews drives success.
Where are you posting? Who are you partnering with? Where are your candidates coming from? The following are great ideas of resources for candidate sourcing: Department of Rehabilitation, Veterans organizations, LGBTQ organizations, chambers of commerce, labor and development organizations, workforce development groups in communities, affinity groups at universities and community colleges of veterans, people of color, LBGTQ, the disabled.
What can you do within your own organization? Build a strong orientation and mentorship program. Be sure to train your mentors before putting them in that role. Monitor employees from entry point through career to see how they progress in the organization. Development of employees after hire builds retention and employer brand. Build an employee referral program to reward existing employees for bringing in candidates has been shown to be successful. Review policies, procedures, and practices in both hiring and internal promotion. Focus on qualifications. Give people power to bring ideas to the table. When establishing project teams ensure managers are using all resources.
Identify what accommodations are needed. Cost may be negligible as there are probably things the company is already doing such flexible hours or software enhancements. You may need a recruiter who specializes in Veterans and can translate military experience to transferable public company skills.
Successful companies have an inclusive and equitable environment for success and realize a positive ROI. Differences can be threatening. Leadership needs to help find common ground and common mission. Diverse teams are 30% more innovative.
Thought provoking books to share with leaders in your organization:
Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Inclusion: Diversity, the New Workplace & the Will to Change by Jennifer Brown
How to be an Inclusive Leader by Jennifer Brown
Diversity Beyond Lip Service: A Coaching Guide for Challenging Bias by La’Wana Harris
