- IAB UK
How to Recruit a Diverse and Inclusive Team
Updated: Jun 5, 2020
Hiring people with different perspectives creates better advertising to appeal to our diverse audience
Our industry is not as diverse as it should be which is a social and moral concern and has financial implications as shown by the McKinsey study. Hiring people with different perspectives and backgrounds who challenge the status quo will create better digital advertising to appeal to a diverse global audience
When to use this To increase the diversity of talent in the industry so it can do better work. Consider this at every recruitment opportunity and make it standard practice for anyone involved in the hiring process.
Things you can do
Do and don’t interview questions – set out types of questions you should not ask and examples of those you can get information without discriminating
Blind CV's – take all personal information off CV's before sharing with hiring managers so decisions to interview is based on experience and skill set only
Scorecard criteria – create scoring metric for interviewers based on the requirements of the job so candidates are only assessed on whether they can “do the job”
Diverse interview panel – in terms of gender, age and ethnicity etc, to present company as it plans to hire, and broaden perspectives when evaluating candidates
Recruit from a diverse pool e.g. recruitment agencies with a focus on diversity, job boards outside of the industry, work with diversity schemes
Job descriptions & language – don’t request number of years of experience or a degree and consider the gender and tonality of words used to ensure neutrality
Include a section on every job description to encourage applications from all backgrounds and commit to it
Unconscious Bias – understanding the importance of all stages being the same for every candidate, being aware of our natural biases and discrimination
Watch outs
Ask recruitment agencies about their policies. Ensure they are aware and are aligned with your diversity and inclusion strategy
Ensure recruiters share CV's with someone who can remove personal details before sharing them with hiring managers
Hiring people known by employees – may mirror the majority of people in the company. Encourage people to network and meet those outside their circle
Longer term ideas
Engage with future talent initiatives to encourage people from all backgrounds to apply to for roles e.g. Founders4Scools, Princes Trust internships, Media Trust
Connect with schemes that support groups from different socio-economic backgrounds, neuro-diverse individuals etc looking for work
Check out our full guide here.
