Recruiting an inclusive workforce is something that many leading construction firms have prioritized. In addition to boosting the reputation of your brand, increasing inclusivity in the workplace has also been proven strategy to increase productivity. An experienced construction recruiter can help you get started, but there are some steps you can take right now to promote more inclusive interviewing. Here is a step by step tutorial to help you focus on diversity and inclusion throughout the entire hiring process.
- Use inclusive language in job postings. Review your job listings to ensure that they don’t contain biased or stereotypical language. For instance, swap out non-gender-neutral terms like “he” or “she” with “you” or “they.”
- Offer ongoing training for interviewers. If you’re struggling to recruit a wide range of candidates, then unconscious bias could be holding you back. Some hiring managers struggle with hiring because they are focused only on a narrow set of qualifications related to the job opening and lose great candidates because they look or think differently. You can offer interview training to help hiring managers and interviewers by providing them with the necessary tools to adjust automatic patterns of thinking while screening candidates. Interviewers should also be trained to ask open-ended, flexible questions and avoid closed or leading questions.
- Build a diverse interview team. The key to achieving workplace inclusivity may very well be creating more diverse interview panels, especially during virtual meetings, because they can create a more comfortable experience for candidates from different ages, cultures, genders, abilities, etc. A recent survey indicated that only 34% of people meet with a diverse panel during their interviews suggesting room for improvement.
- Rank candidates against a fixed scoring system. Consider using interview rating sheets in lieu of unstructured interviews. Structured interviews that have a clear scoring system in place are an effective way to mitigate potential bias and judge candidates uniformly based on their skills and experience.
- Send post-interview surveys. Asking candidates if they felt the interview process was fair and inclusive can provide you with some valuable insight about where improvements could be made. Candidate experience surveys can also tell you what specific benefits job applicants are looking for.
Inclusive interviewing is one of the most important steps to building a stronger, more diverse workforce. 79% of job seekers want to work for diverse organizations. Advertising inclusivity and diversity initiatives might help you receive more interest in your construction jobs, but the real change begins with building a more inclusive hiring process.
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