Diversity Hiring: How to Create an Inclusive Workplace (Infographic)
Why is Diversity Hiring Important in Recruitment?
Diversity hiring is essential for businesses to thrive. A diverse workforce sparks innovation through varied perspectives. Companies prioritizing diversity outperform in profitability, engagement, and decision-making. Diversity hiring attracts top talent, builds cultural competence, and strengthens competitive edge.
One study from 2021 found that nearly 80% of employees would rather work for a company that takes diversity seriously. Those who feel their workplace values inclusion are also more likely to be satisfied with their jobs and confident about growth opportunities.
These infographics break down what diversity hiring actually means, where most companies fall short, and what you can do to make sure your team reflects the world we live in.
Workplace Diversity Hiring Statistics
Understanding the current state of workplace diversity can help you see where change is needed. Here’s where things stand:
- As of 2021, the U.S. workforce comprises the following:
- Whites – 77%
- Blacks – 13%
- Asians – 7%
- Mixed Races – 2%
- American Indians and Alaska Natives – 1%
- Of every 100 men promoted to manager positions, only 87 women and 82 women of color receive the same opportunities.
- Only 25% of LGBT+ employees believe their organization always treats them fairly, while only 17% feel their employers care about their well-being.
- The number of employed persons with a disability (PWD) has increased from 19.1% in 2021 to 21.3% in 2022. However, PWDs across all age groups still have lower employment rates than those without disabilities.
- In some cases, seniority has a stronger correlation with workplace inclusion than personal background traits, with 92% of senior staff reporting feeling included and their workplace valuing diversity, in contrast to 76% of lower-level employees.
- Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, 66% of employees saw an increased focus and action on diversity and inclusion in their workplaces. Another 66% indicated their expectations of employers to promote diversity and inclusion have risen due to the crisis.
Why Is Diverse Talent Important?
Embracing a diverse and inclusive workplace goes beyond mere representation. It brings many benefits that can positively affect every aspect of your business. Here are compelling reasons you should actively seek to hire diverse talent.
1. Attract a wider talent pool
When you build an inclusive hiring strategy, you’re not limiting yourself to one type of candidate. You’re opening the door to people with a broader range of skills, experiences, and ideas.
Let’s say you’re launching a product in Southeast Asia. Someone who understands that region’s culture, language, or market could help shape your strategy and improve communication with new customers and partners.
People also want to work for companies that respect who they are. So, building a diverse workplace makes you more attractive to top talent.
2. Promote innovation and creativity
Different backgrounds lead to different ways of thinking. When people with different perspectives work together, they challenge each other and come up with stronger ideas.
For example, if you’re designing a finance app, older employees might prefer a clean, no-frills layout. Younger teammates might suggest bright visuals and gamified features. Put those together and you’ve got an app that appeals to both groups.
3. Boost employee retention
People are more likely to stick around when they feel heard, included, and respected. A sense of belonging builds loyalty and reduces turnover, which saves time and money.
Replacing just one employee can cost $2,000 to $20,000. Keeping your team intact means your hiring dollars go further and your company culture stays intact.
4. Improve brand reputation
A company that values duversity and inclusion sends a clear message to employees, clients, and customers. People want to support businesses that reflect their values.
When employees are proud of where they work, they share that with others. That kind of word-of-mouth builds trust and helps you attract more great people.
5. Increase bottom line
Diverse teams make better decisions. They bring different viewpoints to the table and avoid groupthink, which leads to smarter strategies and stronger results.
A 2022 study has shown that companies with diverse leadership tend to perform better financially. That’s not a coincidence. It’s a direct result of having more complete conversations and stronger decision-making processes.
Why Can It Be Challenging for Some Companies to Hire a Diverse Workforce?
Even well-meaning companies struggle to hire more inclusively. Here are a few common reasons why:
- They don’t know how to connect with underrepresented candidates
- Hiring managers might have unconscious bias
- The company culture doesn’t feel inclusive to everyone
- There’s no real support from leadership to back up diversity efforts
- Past reputation can make it harder to attract new candidates from outside the usual circles
None of these are impossible to overcome. However, they do require effort, consistency, and buy-in from the entire company.
How to Improve Hiring Practices for Diversity: 7 Pro Tips
Hiring diverse talent is more than just giving people from all backgrounds a chance to showcase their skills and work experience beyond their personal traits. Here are some diversity hiring practices to implement in your organization.
1. Use diverse recruitment platforms
Various recruitment platforms enable you to pool specific or underrepresented groups. For instance, you can join social media groups for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) or partner with organizations catering to the same community to widen your search.
You can also join job fairs or hold seminars in universities to attract interns and fresh graduates. The key is to cover all your bases by sourcing candidates online and offline.
2. Use inclusive language in job ads
Your job ads can influence how job seekers perceive you. Use gender-neutral terms, avoid biased language, and emphasize your commitment to workplace diversity to convey your openness to candidates from diverse backgrounds.
One way to show diversity and inclusivity is substituting gender-specific pronouns like “he” or “she” with gender-neutral terms such as “you” or “they.” You can also replace gender-specific titles like “salesman” and “saleswoman” with inclusive alternatives like “salesperson.”
Moreover, refrain from using discriminatory or offensive terms and instead opt for inclusive language, such as “person with a disability” instead of focusing on the disability and “fluent in English” instead of “Native English speaker.”
3. Reduce unconscious bias in the hiring process
Unfortunately, some recruiters or hiring managers have personal prejudices toward specific groups that may affect their decisions. To prevent unconscious bias in your organization, conduct structured interviews, make standardized evaluation criteria, and gather diverse interview panels.
For instance, some unbiased interview questions you can ask any candidate can include:
- Can you provide an example of a project you worked on that demonstrates your problem-solving skills and approach to solving a complex problem?
- Share an example of when you had to manage multiple priorities and deadlines simultaneously. How did you prioritize tasks and ensure timely completion?
- Describe when you had to think creatively to solve a work-related problem or challenge.
- If you made a mistake that went unnoticed by others, would you choose to address it and potentially delay progress, or would you ignore it to keep the project or task moving forward?
- Can you discuss a specific accomplishment or achievement you’re proud of in your career? What steps did you take to achieve this success?
These questions focus on skills, experiences, and qualifications rather than personal characteristics. Training recruiters and hiring managers on unconscious bias awareness can ensure fair and equitable evaluations.
4. Offer internships to targeted groups
Thirty-five percent of job postings for “entry-level” positions require relevant work experience. However, getting hired for these posts can be difficult for people in ethnic minority groups or those living far from major cities.
Internships and training programs are powerful tools for inclusion. Use them to reach people who may not have years of experience but show strong potential.
You can also partner with LGBT+ organizations to ensure queer individuals gain professional growth since 46% have experienced workplace discrimination in their careers.
5. Incorporate blind hiring practices
Blind hiring removes identifying information—names, gender, or educational institutions—from resumes or applications during initial screenings. This approach can help you focus solely on the qualifications and skills of candidates, minimizing the impact of unconscious bias and fostering a more diverse selection process.
Consider providing skills assessment tests to ensure you evaluate candidates based on their capabilities. For instance, you can give a cognitive abilities test to measure a candidate’s critical thinking, problem-solving, and logical reasoning skills.
You can also provide a sales skills assessment to check a candidate’s negotiation and persuasive communication aptitude.
6. Implement anti-discrimination policies
Establish and enforce clear anti-discrimination policies prohibiting bias based on race, gender, age, or disability. It helps to create an equal employment opportunity (EEO) policy stating your commitment to employ individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, or other legally protected characteristics.
Your EEO policy should include how you’ll fairly provide equal opportunities to potential and current employees and how you’ll deal with harassment cases.
7. Keep training your team
Diversity training should go beyond a one-time slide deck. Build a regular schedule of workshops, feedback sessions, and conversations.
Help employees unlearn outdated habits and replace them with better ones. That takes time, but it’s worth the effort.
Embrace Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Today
Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace doesn’t happen overnight. But it starts with one thing: hiring.
You don’t have to guess who the right candidate is based on a resume. With the right tools, you can spot real skills and hire based on performance, not bias.
Skills assessment tests from EmployTest objectively evaluate candidates based on their abilities, knowledge, and aptitude. At EmployTest, we create assessment tests to help businesses like yours make more informed hiring decisions, promote diversity, and create a thriving and inclusive workplace culture.
Transform your recruitment process. Request a demo of our advanced testing platform!