6 Talent Acquisition Strategies for Workplace Diversity in 2022

Before we get into the fundamental role of workplace diversity in talent acquisition we should clarify the core concept of it. The theoretical definition of workplace diversity says – “Appointing talent irrespective of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, culture, language, sexual orientation, political beliefs, physical abilities and disabilities, socioeconomic background, educational background, and geographical orientation.” Practically, an ideal strategic human resource management plan for any workplace would be implementing diversity in such a manner where equal opportunities would be guaranteed on the basis of sheer merit. The only way of achieving that is level of transparency is considering every job seeker exclusively based on their talent and personal integrity.

Why diversity is indispensable? We can get the answer from a very recent incident. A few days back, Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates visited Pakistan for the very first time to inspect the Polio eradication program. Probably he wanted to see by himself why Pakistan (& Afghanistan also) still could not eradicate Polio? Though it was a surprise visit; but, I was shocked to see there was not a single woman representative from Pakistan’s side on the discussion table. For me, that was the textbook example of the price a nation pays when they neglect diversity issues. However, neglecting diversity hits a company much harder.

Now, the question might be why talent acquisition team of any workplace should consider diversity as one of the most important aspect in the workplace? According to a diversity survey conducted by Glassdoor, 57% of employees believe their workplace should be more diverse and 67% of job seekers prefer a diverse workplace. On the contrary, in another study conducted by McKinsey & Company, the overall performance of a diverse workplace is 35% better from a global perspective. To be more precise any company with global aspiration in mind knows the importance of workplace diversity. Therefore, even the talent acquisition teams are also coming out with unique strategies to develop a vastly diverse workplace. In this blog, we will be discussing a few immerging talent acquisition trends that are going to shape the future workforce.

Diverse Talent Acquisition Team:

A diverse talent acquisition team is the basic requirement for a diverse workforce. It functions as a magnet to talent. It’s the catalyst that not only attracts diverse talent, at the same time it also retains those talents by implementing the right policies. Immerging start-ups can outsource the same tasks to diverse talent acquisition sources. In case, there is a budget constraint then they should follow the next strategies.

AI-Enabled Recruitment:

Another important strategy for workplace diversity is using diverse sources of recruitment. Earlier its used to be either job portals or talent acquisition consultants. Both these methods were very limited and in a quite expensive. However, the recent introduction of the AI-enabled recruitment process has improved that conventional method by many folds. That new technology searches the global talent pool within a few seconds and suggests the best options at a fraction of cost. The entire recruitment process has never been so easy for the human resource professionals.

Encouraging Remote Work:

According to Jewell Parkinson, the Chief People Officer at iCIMS, the new leaders should encourage flexible and hybrid work culture at the workplace. The best way of doing that is fusion of remote work option along with hybrid and flexible work schedules. The employee returns the commute time to the employer by working extra hours. Generally, many employees stay extra hours at the workplace when they work from home. Therefore, remote work culture is profitable for both employees and employers.

Cutting Edge Software:

If you are planning to introduce flexible and hybrid work culture at your workplace then you have to invest considerable resources in cutting-edge software. Presently, there are various software products for project management, employee management, and team management available in the market. The core purpose of all these software is to set up a global workplace for your business at very little to no cost.

Ensuring Work-Life Balance:

According to a study, workplace stress is the 5th highest cause of death in the US alone. Many experts believe there should be a worldwide study on the importance of work-life balance at the workplace. However, nobody can deny the fact that work-life balance at the workplace retains a healthy and diverse workforce. Above all, it also encourages creativity among the workforce. A workplace with work-life balance always excels in both creativity and productivity. Skilled employees always give preferences to those workplaces where they don’t get exploited.

Respecting Individuality:

Finally, a diverse workplace is all about respecting individuality. No matter how hard you try, the individual need of employees would remain different. Any workplace where employee engagement programs respect that individuality goes a long way. Exciting weekend parties can be an integral part of the employee engagement program for an organization; but, the reality is every person is not a ‘party animal’. For example, if someone crave for some ‘me time’ after office and you are dragging that person to a noisy party in the name of ‘employee engagement’ then you are simply showing utter disrespect to someone’s individuality and at the same time it’s a kind of torture. Hence, it’s very important to judge individual personality types and respect that individuality with due respect.

In conclusion, we can say workplace diversity is no longer a bandwagon that any organization can choose to give a miss. Rather, this is the much-needed nutrition that would decide the survival of your organization.

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