Hi all! We did our first anonymous D&I survey last year which highlighted to us we need to be more representative of the New Zealand population within our company.
We know if we keep recruiting in the same way then nothing will change. And we are trying to work out how we can generate CVs from women and Māori and Pasifika.
Here is the part we are struggling with. We’re trying work out how to say this when we advertise the roles via our social media with a link to the job ad. We usually share our job ads via our social channels. We’ve struggled to work out what words to use so as not to offend and do the opposite of what we are trying to do!
Anyone tried putting it out there publicly? And did it work?
Such a great question Clare and I’m also interested in the responses of others. This is something that I would like to look at for the future so that people from all backgrounds feel comfortable applying for a position with us.
Two suggestions I would have, one that we do and one that I was thinking of introducing, are:
Ensure that any communications, predominantly on your public channels such as social media accounts and website, include diverse societal commentary, recognising and celebrating those backgrounds that you would like to encourage.
Include a statement along the lines of - X Company (sorry, can’t see your company name in your profile) is an equal opportunities employer and we welcome and encourage people from all cultural, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation and ability backgrounds to apply for positions with our team
I think the first is important if you’re going to do the second because it demonstrates that you are genuine in your request.
I’d be keen to see what others have done too so thank you for asking the question
Karen is spot on with both points. If you start early on in your ad with something along the lines of point 2 that should achieve your aims. Don’t leave that point till the end of the ad. @Clare
My response is a little off topic and also a little long but I hope it helps anyway.
I personally do not take much credence in the DEI words that companies add to their job listings when looking for a job.
I usually look for in community endorsement. If I am applying for a role that I find online (so no in community endorsement) I look at the website, I checked yours and your DEI statement is pretty far down the page, I would move it further up along with all the info on working at your company and state clearly what inclusive and diverse means to you at your company. A lot of underrepresented groups see the word inclusive and diverse and jump to assumptions about what that means. Clearly stating who “all” is, is super helpful for understanding the head space of a company and their intentions and values around DEI.
If you have the capacity maybe start an internship program that hires a large number of the group you are wanting to target so that you don’t have a token person for a long time working for you who feels uncomfortable and like the diversity hire. This will also make you “safe” within that community and word of mouth and community sharing will mean more people will apply and be hired in the long run.
Maybe also look at sharing beyond your social channels, as the people looking at your social channels will probably be similar to the people already working for you. Underrepresented people are not going to see the words in your DEI statement if they aren’t looking in that place in the first instance.
I just saw this on an SBS ad and thought of this thread:
At SBS, we embrace difference and we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds. We want your vibrancy, language, culture, experiences, and abilities to brighten our halls, light up our screens and strengthen our team.
SBS also recognises that everyone is unique and you may require some adjustments to ensure you have the best opportunity to apply and put your skills forward for consideration. If we can make some adjustments to the SBS recruitment/interview process to better enable you to shine, please contact…
I particularly love the second paragraph which recognises typical job applicant processes favour certain types of people - usually extroverted and/or neurotypical people.
This is what we went with in the end: Springload is part of Diversity Works — we celebrate different perspectives and we’re committed to creating an equal, inclusive, and diverse workplace. Women, Māori and Pasifika, and members of the rainbow community are strongly encouraged to apply to our roles.
At Springload, we know we’re doing better work for our end users and our clients if we have a diverse mix of people on our team. We want vibrancy, language, culture, experiences, and abilities to brighten up our office and bring diversity of thought to our team. If there is anything we can do to accommodate you to participate fully in the recruitment or interview process, please let us know by emailing apply@springload.co.nz.
This is from Raisely’s Head of Customer Success job description. They are a B Corp I especially like that they’ve said “people without the economic advantage of a higher eduction”. I’ve not seen that before.
We know with diversity comes strength. We want Raisely to be a team of many cultures, nationalities, sexualities, gender identities, religious beliefs, abilities, and ideas. We particularly encourage Indigenous people, First Nations, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, people with disability, or people without the economic advantage of higher education, to apply for our roles.
