I’m Robyn Webbe, Strand Hill’s Marketing Manager. I joined the team four months ago and one of the most exciting things I’ve been working on is growing our learning around Diversity & Inclusion within financial services recruitment for the real estate industry.
Recently, I attended two webinars:
1. How to make financial services hiring more inclusive with Cindy Joseph and Simon Mortlock
2. How to reduce unconscious bias in recruitment with Nicola Langley
I learned a lot and was scribbling away about some of the practical actions we can introduce to diversify our candidate channels. Here are my top takeaways:
🌟 Hiring diversely is only the first step. A diverse workforce is great but to truly harness the power & benefits this brings to your company you need to create an inclusive workplace culture where everyone has equity and feels safe to express their authenticity.
🌟 Younger generations entering the industry are seeking a strong inclusion culture. Younger colleagues are actively seeking employment in companies that showcase strong inclusion values – so start letting people know all that you do!
🌟 Acronyms are a no-no when writing up a job advert. Using the full name for industry terminology instead of its acronym will signal to potential candidates not currently in the industry but with transferable skills, they are welcome to apply – expanding your talent pool.
🌟 Patience is key to diversity. When making hiring decisions resist the urge to make a snapshot decision based on instinct, be patient and take your time getting to know each candidate fairly. The same goes for sourcing candidates. Easier said than done when trying to fill a role but seeking equity over speed gives the job more time to reach diverse audiences.
🌟 Data is your friend. Capturing diversity data on potential candidates at the beginning is a great way to look back after the hiring process to assess patterns and begin to tweak your processes to make them more inclusive or focus on a source where a higher percentage of diverse candidates came from. However, only look at the data after the hire – to ensure this doesn’t unconsciously affect your decision during the process.
🌟 Choose your words carefully. When it comes to writing job descriptions, avoid using words that feel exclusive or carry gender bias. Words such as ‘fearless’ and ‘outspoken’ have been proven to deter women from applying. Bonus points if you encourage people who don’t meet all the criteria but see themselves being successful to apply anyway = a more diverse pool of applicants.
🌟 No organisation is perfect and we are all on a journey. We cannot shy away from the fact that historically (and maybe even presently) the reputation of the finance and real estate sector has not been the most inclusive and although it is making headway there is still much opportunity for development and representation of all people.