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Over the years, the movement for increased diversity in the workplace has picked up significant momentum. Having a diverse team offers businesses a variety of perspectives, allowing for increased innovation and problem solving, while also increasing employee engagement and brand reputation.
In most cases, building a pipeline of diverse job candidates requires intentional efforts at the recruitment level. To help you achieve this goal, eight members of Rolling Stone Culture Council share their best strategies to promote a broader range of candidates in your applicant pool.
Vary Your Recruiting Methods
Tap into a wide variety of recruiting methods. While popular job boards and LinkedIn postings may give you quantity, they don’t always give you the most diverse talent pool. In addition to using these tools, ask for employee referrals and consider leveraging BIPOC organizations, online forums, social media and even schools that specifically serve communities that are underrepresented in your current workforce. – Dan Serard, Cannabis Creative Group
Think Outside the Box
Put in the work. It’s easy to just post job announcements in the same place where you have found prior success, but diversifying how you look for candidates and thinking outside the box when it comes to recruiting can open up many avenues for finding a wider pool of applicants. – Amanda Reiman, Personal Plants
Target a Wide Range of Candidates
By targeting a wider range of people while searching for new talents, you can better diversify the talent that you bring on. Rather than staying in one place, try to reach all around, both locally and internationally. Don’t ever limit your options. – Christian Anderson (Trust’N), Lost Boy Entertainment LLC
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
Celebrate Diversity in Your Culture
Your company culture is the most powerful tool you have for ongoing success in your recruiting efforts. Embody the people and values of diverse communities through your brand voice in both internal and external communication. Celebrate your team and be a great place to work. It creates urgency in the market that attracts and grows diverse voices in your company. – Michael Klein, Trees Corporation
Consider Your Ideal Hire
Use multiple platforms, check Facebook groups and discuss multiple avatars for your ideal hire. Think about where they might work now that would fit your company culture. Are they in the arts, education, healthcare or HR sectors? Find groups catering to those types of careers and post about your job opening there. – Victoria Kennedy, Marisa Johnson
Start With Diverse Recruiters
By building partnerships through networking in areas or during events that are out of your comfort zone, you can start meaningful conversations with potential applicants. The answer is simple: Diverse recruiting starts with having diverse recruiters on board who can build true connections with other communities. – Jacob Mathison, Mathison Projects Inc.
Partner With Nonprofit Organizations
Team up with nonprofits that aim to open doors for diverse candidates. Use their suite of tools to evaluate how your organization could be more diverse by receiving foundational education and troubleshooting to create a welcoming environment for more diverse candidate pools. For example, as a cannabis-centered PR agency, we participate in second-chance hiring with the help of The Last Prisoner Project. – Evan Nison, NisonCo
Advertise in Specific, Local Locations
Posting your information in diverse areas closest to where you want to find applicants is key. This can be at the local library, places where people play sports, coffee shops, diners or gas stations. At the very least, buy an ad in the very specific neighborhoods you want to recruit from. Showing an interest in the community is key. – Susan Johnston, New Media Film Festival®
