How to Bring More Diversity into the Workplace

Multi ethnic business group greets somebody with clapping and smiling. Focus on woman. Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

As an employer, how much have you thought about diversity at your company?  If you have not considered it, then you are missing out on an opportunity to create a healthy mix of thoughts and ideas that could lead to increased business.  In addition, a diverse workplace shows potential employees that you embrace people being original and unique.  However, diversity should not be something that you feel forced to implement, but have a desire to do so.  If you want to achieve more diversity in your workplace, check out the following tips for your hiring process.

Figure out and then fix any biases – What factors do you consider when hiring someone?  If there are any outside of the qualifications to do a particular job, then a bias exist.  After finding out what your bias is, concentrate on fixing it.  For example, when interviewing two equal candidates of different cultural backgrounds (one being yours), who are you more likely to choose?  If you have been prone to making a decision based on choosing the person with a similar background, try focusing on what each candidate can bring to the job; make a list of pros and cons.

Create structure for interviews so biases are avoided – While both the job candidate and the interviewer want to be comfortable during an interview, both parties need to be professional.  A structured interview will keep this meeting from becoming too relaxed and getting personal, which gives the interviewer an opportunity to form biases against a candidate.  Two ways to create structure for interviews are asking the same interview questions to each candidate and forgetting about the names on job applications.

Diversity can be a key to success for employers.  Not only can diversity give them the chance to hear a variety of perspectives and ideas from employees which can improve business, it can also be a powerful recruiting tool to show potential employees that they can be themselves while helping a company succeed.  By applying the tips above, you will be on your way to achieving more diversity in the workplace.

In today’s business climate, it can seem as though companies make their diversity hires out of obligation — not because of the many business advantages a diverse team can bring.

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