Diversity and inclusion within a workforce mean more than just demographics. They are what ensure a vital, creative, thriving workplace and foster a true sense of belonging that candidates seek out when choosing the culture and environment that are right for them.
What D&I Look Like
Diversity means ensuring that team members of all beliefs, backgrounds and experiences have the same career opportunities. Inclusion means providing those opportunities to every individual working for your organization.
Differences in age, race, gender, national origin, and sexual orientation should be encouraged to ensure optimal performance and employee well-being throughout your company. Ensuring that everyone is treated equally and with their fair share of resources is simply the right thing to do, and it’s important that your workplace accurately reflects the society you live in.
- Recent research shows that organizations that fail to implement D&I practices miss out on opportunities to tap into their people’s potential. Diverse teams are more innovative and make better decisions, and diverse organizations have better shareholder returns.
Branding Helps Tell Your D&I Story
Having a diverse workforce is not a new concept. But, are you leveraging D&I within your employer brand so it accurately reflects your positive culture in this regard? Here are some samples of where and how this can happen:
- Incorporate your story throughout your careers site. Be sure it includes diverse images, videos, graphics and testimonials, as well as benefits valued by a diverse representation of team members.
- Share D&I via social media. Provide an inside look at how your employees are embracing your inclusive culture through community involvement, holidays and events. Include diversity-specific topics in your posts. On Facebook, you can add a D&I tab.
- Be conscientious in your job descriptions. Avoid any biased terminology. Go beyond the standard equal opportunity employer statement to expand on your company’s D&I commitment. Examine each word and examine the connotation it has with everyone.
- Use diverse language in all your communications. Not just your job descriptions, but on your website and in all your online and traditional media and messages. This includes making pertinent content available in different languages.
- Brand both internally and externally. Have representation of diverse employees at job fairs and other industry, marketing and career events. Internally, routinely share D&I communications and initiatives with all your employees. This way, they too can become brand ambassadors and cultivate a sense of ownership in bringing in diverse talent.
When you reach the point where you don’t even have to think about it because it’s second nature, then you know you’ve succeeded in truly embedding D&I into your culture and your brand.
For more tips on D&I initiatives and building your overall employer brand, contact the recruitment marketing team at Haley Marketing today. We’d love to brainstorm with you via a free 30-minute focus call. From there, the possibilities are endless!
