Effective hiring strategies to make your business more inclusive

An inclusive workforce is a force to be reckoned with. Inclusivity allows people from different backgrounds to come together to provide a myriad of ideas and solutions. It’s an important foundation from which you can build a productive and accepting team. 

However, creating and maintaining an inclusive business can take work. From knowing how to recruit to establishing the right working environment – there are many elements to think about. So where should you start? 

Below you’ll find guidance on effective inclusivity strategies. Starting at the hiring process and going straight through to helping your team feel comfortable during the working day. 

What is inclusive hiring?

Before exploring effective hiring strategies, let’s explain what we mean by inclusive hiring. Essentially it means you’re actively trying to include people from different backgrounds in your workplace. Examples include age, disability status, gender identity, race, and social class. According to Forbes, recruiting plays an integral role in shaping organizational diversity. 

Inclusive application process 

Making your business more inclusive starts at recruitment. How should you recruit inclusively? Pay attention to the language you’re using in job advertisements. Focus on the core capabilities a candidate requires to be successful, rather than specific traits.

Your business can accept a wide range of applications, from online platforms to the traditional CV. Remember not everyone has a computer or the skills to use it. Also, consider what kind of portals you’re using – are they accessible for people with disabilities?

It’s also worth looking at who’s doing the hiring. Are you getting insight from people with different backgrounds and experiences? Try to get varied perspectives for picking potential candidates. The number of people involved in the hiring process will depend on the size of your business. 

Also, make sure you’re looking across a wide pool of candidates. Not sure where to get started with this? At Maximus, we offer recruitment support and can help your business find people from diverse backgrounds. 

Inclusive interview process

The interview stage is another area where you can aim to improve inclusivity. Have you considered making reasonable adjustments for your candidates? These include extra assistance for reading, a sign language interpreter or offering more time to complete assessments. You could also consider alternative methods such as setting a task instead of solely asking questions. It’s important for your business to offer different options so you can access more candidates. There’s further online guidance you can refer to for your interview process.

Benefits of inclusive hiring strategies

Once you’ve implemented inclusive hiring strategies, your business will soon feel the benefits of them – both internally and externally. By accessing a wider pool of talent, you’ll be bringing in a wider scope of perspectives to the office. This can increase innovation and encourage employees to share their ideas.

Not only will you be able to improve the employee’s experience, but you’ll also improve the customers. You’ll gain a better understanding of your customers, as you’ll have more experience to gauge from. Your business will be better equipped to cater for different needs. 

Your business can become more profitable. According to a McKinsey study, ethnically diverse companies are 35% more likely to financially outperform ethnically homogenous ones, and gender diverse companies are 15% more likely to financially outperform companies lacking gender diversity.

Inclusive work environment 

It’s fantastic that you’ve followed the steps to make your recruitment and hiring process more inclusive. Now it’s time to assess the working environment of your business. From the physical space to inclusive policies, there are lots of areas you can explore.

Did you know about the Access to Work funding programme for employers? This is a publicly funded employment support grant scheme, which aims to support disabled people start or stay in work. It offers a range of support to help your employees, such as covering the costs of adapting equipment or additional travel costs. These are just a couple of examples of how you can use the grant.

At Maximus, we offer an Access to Work Mental Health Support Service. It’s available at no charge to help your employees with depression, anxiety, stress or other mental health issues affecting their work. Our specialist team can provide tailored advice and support plans.

ACAS provides a template you can refer to when drafting inclusive policies for your business. Alongside these policies, you can also have inclusive benefits. Also, just like the interview process, it’s important to make reasonable adjustments for the team.

What about equitable talent development – how can your business help with career progression? Maintaining an inclusive development plan can help improve employee retention. 

Inclusive hiring with Maximus

There are lots of steps to follow when it comes to effective hiring strategies, and we can help guide you on your journey. With our cost-free service, you can connect to candidates from a range of backgrounds and lived experiences that can enrich your business.

Want to find out more? Contact a member of our expert team today to find out more about how we can help your business more inclusive.