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    How to Improve Workplace DEI Through Payroll Management 

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    Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) are near the top of the list of many issues that concern employees today. ADP’s People at Work study reports that 76% of employees would think about finding a new job if they discovered an unfair gender pay gap or learned that their company doesn’t have a DE&I policy. It’s a particularly critical concern for Gen Z, who are set to make up over half the global workforce by 2030.
    This places DE&I as a top concern for employers too. Many businesses are publishing policy statements on the topic, but practical changes are far harder to implement. McKinsey observes that UK companies struggle to simultaneously achieve gender and ethnic diversity.
    Moreover, many women in tech feel, and sometimes are told directly, that they are token “diversity hires”. Others talk about not being taken seriously, even when hired or promoted on their own merits.
    HR professionals are taking all kinds of steps to address DE&I, like examining recruitment policies and wording recruitment ads in ways that appeal to women, members of underrepresented ethnicities, and disadvantaged groups. Many workplaces are investing in professional development for BAME and female employees and cultivating welcoming workspaces.
    But pay gaps remain a significant problem, placing payroll front and center for DE&I issues.
    Pay equality
    Understandably, pay equity is still a primary issue in the quest for workplace equality. The pay gap is narrowing, but it indeed hasn’t disappeared. A survey by ADP found that 60% of women think that they are underpaid for their roles, compared with 46% of men, and significantly more women than men are unhappy with the pay they receive.
    Part of the solution is to commit to pay equality, but that’s only possible when workplaces have accurate data about pay equality. Staying organized with payroll processes results in more reliable data, which can be used for pay reviews and to check pay disparities.
    Automation also helps ensure that employees receive all the pay they are entitled to and there aren’t “hidden” pay gaps. Often, overall compensation includes disparate aspects like bonuses, overtime, and paid leave. If pay is not calculated and paid in full and on time, the real-world experience of take-home pay could be very different.
    For example, if 5% of an employee’s pay is due to overtime, and manual payroll processes mean that overtime calculations consistently lag two or three months behind regular salary payments, the employee might not be receiving the full pay they expect, even if their compensation package looks great on paper.
    Pay transparency
    Without transparency, it’s impossible to achieve real equality, so this goes hand in hand with the previous point. Transparency matters a lot to employees, with a recent report noting that job ads that include salary details attract six times as many applicants, while increased pay transparency does effectively narrow the gender pay gap.
    Transparency also promotes trust in the company, which makes employees feel safe, secure, and included — the ultimate goal behind DE&I policies.
    An awareness of this lies behind the EU’s Pay Transparency Directive. While the UK doesn’t yet have similar legislation, companies that stay ahead of the game could have an edge in attracting top talent. Given that remote work is commonplace, candidates could choose to work for EU companies with more transparent payroll processes.
    Conversely, companies with opaque, confusing, and inefficient payroll processes lack transparency into who receives what compensation in actual terms. That’s particularly problematic in companies where employees commonly work shifts, overtime, and/or on a contract basis, making it difficult to compare real-world compensation. These organizations can also use automation to make payroll more reliable, trusted, and transparent.
    Pay flexibility
    Flexibility is essential to everyone nowadays, but it’s particularly crucial for women.
    Women are still more likely to bear the majority of the childcare and elder care burden. In some ethnic minorities, such as Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities, families still expect that women will care for extended family members.
    When people think about flexibility in the workplace, working hours and remote work options are the first things that come to mind, but payroll and compensation play a key role. Streamlined payroll management practices make it far easier for companies to support flex work, because it lightens the burden of calculating compensation for irregular working hours.
    Automated payroll also enables companies to support flexible payment arrangements, like if an employee prefers to be paid weekly or bi-weekly rather than monthly for the sake of easier budgeting. This way, the company can accept such requests without worrying about the payroll team getting overwhelmed.
    Pay reliability
    Getting paid on time and in full isn’t often mentioned as a DE&I issue, but it’s worth pointing out in this context. According to LinkedIn’s Future of Recruiting, compensation remains the top priority for jobseekers, despite ongoing concern for work-life balance and flexible working arrangements.
    Employees from middle-class backgrounds are more likely to have enough financial stability that they won’t worry if the pay is a day late or overtime payments come through a couple of months down the road. But a delayed paycheque could be disastrous for those living under financial stress.
    BAME employees and single-parent families, which women more often head than men, make up a disproportionate percentage of employees who desperately need to be paid bang on time. They can’t afford to wait for even a portion of their expected income.
    This is where efficient, automated payroll processes come in, guaranteeing that employees receive their full pay when they expect it. With this kind of assurance, employees who are facing financial stress can take overtime or extra shifts with the confidence that they’ll be paid this month and not four months down the road when they finally finish their calculations.
    Payroll can add to your DE&I efforts
    For as long as pay gaps continue to dominate DE&I conversations, payroll will play a significant role in driving equality and inclusion in the workplace. Impressive statements and revised policies have their place, but taking practical steps to improve payroll processes and care for every employee’s financial needs speaks louder than a thousand announcements.
    By Sabrina Castiglione, Chief Operations Officer, Pento.
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      3 Tips to Support the Safety of Diverse Business Travel Groups

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      In the big, wide world of global companies, it’s crucial you have the power to send out your top talent to get the job done wherever it’s needed most. Many employees also see international postings as central to their career development.
      Supporting and encouraging all staff demographics to take advantage of these opportunities increases job satisfaction and talent engagement. Employees who don’t feel supported in this way may seek opportunities elsewhere.
      However, different employee demographics – including women, LGBTQ+ groups, and those with disabilities can face additional challenges when working globally.
      In this article, I highlight some of these challenges, offering a step-by-step roadmap to protect and support diverse business travel groups while prioritizing the importance of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) for employees.
      #1 First steps
      To embrace the concept of EDI, it’s essential to understand its meaning and the significance it holds within our workplaces.
      While there’s a wealth of literature covering this subject, let’s break it down succinctly:

      Equality in the workplace signifies providing equal opportunities and ensuring fairness for all employees and job applicants.
      Diversity encompasses the broad spectrum of individuals in a workplace, and it involves not only recognizing but also appreciating and valuing these differences.
      Inclusion entails fostering an inclusive workforce where every individual feels valued and welcomed in their professional environment.

      EDI is essential when it comes to business travel because we want to know all employees are treated fairly and have the same opportunities as everyone else. However, this comes with a responsibility to offer support and keep staff safe during assignments.
      Unfortunately, there are still more risks associated with certain demographics than others when it comes to travel.
      Considering these complexities, it’s vital to have an accessible company travel policy, which contains both the essential safety information for diverse travel groups, and which meets EDI requirements.
      ISO 31030 documentation is essential here, as it provides a framework for organizations to develop, implement, and continually improve their travel risk management processes. According to its travel risk management guidelines, employers must prepare travelers for travel through practical training and education.
      “[…] Attention needs to be given to the traveler’s profile in relation to destinations because factors such as race, competencies, nationality, cultural identity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, occupation, position, disability, or medical history can all affect the risks associated with the travel […]
      In short, your company has a duty of care to effectively communicate to all employees the necessary responsibilities, which help them to comply with relevant international laws and regulations.
      #2 Cultural intelligence & doing business
      Many companies talk about being global companies that are locally relevant. Of course, we travel for business to build better relationships and gain access to other markets; this means that to leverage international scale, we must use cultural intelligence so our strategies are locally relevant in each individual market.
      To ensure business success and the safety of different employee demographics, we must tailor our travel risk management approach to the unique needs of our company. This means profiling the traveler before they go on an international workplace assignment and the destination and checking whether the area is medium-high-risk for that individual.
      Global employers must collect information on potential legal factors for all assignment locations. The best organizations track legal developments and keep information up to date.
      For example, in more than half the world, LGBTQ+ people may not be protected from discrimination by workplace law. Very few jurisdictions legally recognize the gender identity of trans people, and sexual acts between people of the same sex are criminalized in more than 70 countries. Only a tiny minority of states recognize same-sex partnerships.
      Even incorrect workplace attire can cause significant offense to other cultures. For example, in India and China, women are expected to wear knee-length skirts and avoid low necklines. In France, it is forbidden to wear niqabs and burqas, and in Sudan, women are not allowed to wear trousers.
      Once important cultural and legal distinctions have been made, businesses must confirm that employees understand the nuances of what’s expected of them.
      Working with a travel management company here, is ideal, as they collect and remain current with legal and non-legal country information and can help your business develop risk management plans before employee travel.
      They can also provide employee training, which informs employers and employees about specific locations. It outlines the legal, socio-cultural, and workplace situation for different groups in the specified country.
      For example, companies like Maiden Voyage provide in-person training workshops to support diverse business travel groups, including women, disabled travelers, and LGBTQ+ business travelers in other companies.
      Providing training like this means all businesses have appropriate support and accurate information about assignment destinations to their employees before travel.
      We believe it’s essential to build a spirit of community across travel management companies so all individuals are kept safe when traveling. The more we do this, the less likely it is for incidents to happen abroad, and we see that as most important.
      #3 Safety on arrival
      Once employees have reached their destinations, attention to the safety of their surroundings is essential.
      Ensure your travel policy makes it clear what is expected of them in terms of increasing their safety while abroad. For example, you might want to highlight the expectation that employees should take taxis late in the evening instead of walking alone in the dark.
      One of the main benefits of using a travel management company to support your business can be particularly helpful, as they provide 24/7 emergency assistance to your employees if they run into difficulties once they arrive at their location.
      There is also safety advice needed when working abroad, to keep staff safe, while not on work premises or if they are extending their trip for ‘bleisure’.
      For example, staff could be encouraged only to use licensed taxis and to take copies of their passport, fronts and backs of their credit, debit, and prepaid ATM cards, and other travel documents. Keeping copies in their luggage and one in their jacket means if any document gets stolen, they can take the copy to your local embassy.
      Stories about poor hotel safety have been rife this year, with examples including Former X Factor contestant Lucy Spraggan revealing she was raped by a hotel porter while competing on the ITV talent show in 2012.
      Now, more than ever, hotels must be checked to ensure they meet the safety requirements of all employees. For example, hotels that prioritize guest safety know that when someone is checking in, they should be handed their room details discreetly and that the hotel reception shouldn’t say their room number out loud, so details can be overhead.
      Employees should be informed that if this does happen, they have the right to request a different room from the hotel.
      Where possible, vulnerable or solo female travelers should not be checked into rooms on the ground floor or at the end of a corridor. Double locking, hotel door entry systems, which only allow guests to enter, and available on-site parking are all other important safety features to be considered.
      Safeguarding employees during international travel is an imperative duty for any responsible organization. The potential risks and challenges associated with overseas journeys are multifaceted. It’s vital to implement a robust travel safety policy, provide comprehensive training, and maintain clear lines of communication.
      Additional nuggets of safety advice for ‘out-of-hours’ activities show employees you genuinely care about their health and wellbeing and not only about the company’s bottom line. As well as fulfilling moral and legal obligations, you’re helping to foster a more loyal, productive, and engaged workforce overall.
      By Laura Busby, Commercial Director, Good Travel Management.
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      How Supporting Diversity Gives Your Business a Head Start

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      Many organizations claim they support diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI). Some, however, have yet to grasp that ensuring DEI is part of the hiring process is one of the keys to success.
      What is DEI?
      Effective diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies involve taking active steps to ensure that people with different ethnicities, genders, abilities, cultures, and personalities have representation, opportunity, and support in the face of historical and structural bias. DEI isn’t about box-ticking.
      It’s about delivering transparent and meaningful change that embraces all workers and makes them feel they’re an essential part of an organization.
      The Skills Gap
      Back in April, we released part 1 of our multipart “Future of Work” survey into the growing challenge of finding the right candidates.  Undertaken in conjunction with independent research firm Dynata, the survey revealed that UK hiring plans are up while skill shortages are greater. 87% of UK companies said they’re finding it hard to fill positions, with a third believing that the skills gap is widening. Companies across the UK told us that recruiters have to search harder and wider for talent, unlocking the untapped potential to fill the skills gap.
      It makes good business sense, therefore, to ensure all candidates, irrespective of race, gender, or other characteristics are fully considered in the recruitment process. Today, DEI isn’t an optional extra but a crucial part of being a modern business. In the second part of our “Future of Work” survey, we asked over 3,000 recruitment, talent acquisition, and HR professionals about their views on the importance of embracing difference in order to attract talent.
      Embracing Difference
      40% of organizations who took part in the survey said that candidates expect more than ever to learn about a company’s plans to become more diverse, while 70% expect companies to be open about the diversity of their workforce. Recruiters increasingly recognize that DEI is a factor in attracting the right talent – and that the talent wants to know about a company’s DEI efforts. 45% of employers believe that building a diverse workforce is a priority to retain existing talent and attract new employees.  And perhaps surprisingly, we found that nearly two-thirds of employees (62%) would reject a job offer from an organization with a culture that didn’t support diversity.
      The world of recruitment, like the rest of society, has faced a reckoning in recent years with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) pushed to the fore. Our survey found that nearly a quarter of organizations already include diversity, equity, and inclusion in recruitment practices. In addition, 30% are seeking to encourage greater diversity in leadership positions.
      However, diversity isn’t what you say; it’s about what you do – so it’s encouraging to see that 40% of businesses are building DEI into recruitment processes and strategies. It isn’t just the right thing to do ethically – it benefits the company, the workforce, and the communities we operate in. It’s an ongoing task, and companies recognize they have more to do. it’s concerning, however,  that just 19% of employers have strategies to engage the neurodiverse. It’s an area that needs focus and action for employers, or they risk missing out on those with unique talents.
      Organizations are beginning to understand that differences are not necessarily negatives and are starting to value a diverse range of views and voices, from people with disabilities of whom only half are in work, including neurodiverse people (for example autism – only 22% of autistic adults in the UK are in any kind of employment), says the report.
      Good Communication is Vital
      Many organizations are now ensuring they communicate HR policies on inclusiveness so that applicants can understand the culture of a potential new workplace even before they consider applying for a role. According to the research, globally, 86% of employees consider diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) critically important. And employers are taking the hint, with 45% believing that building a diverse workforce is a priority to retain existing talent and attract new employees.
      The survey found that organizations that prioritize DEI use this as a mechanism to attract talent and fill the skills gap. However, only 8% of employers say DEI initiatives are in the top three changes they are making to attract new employees, although this may also reflect that they feel they already have robust processes in place.
      Recommendations based on the report
      Monster recommends that to create an open and welcoming workplace for neurodivergent workers organizations should:

      Take time to understand any specific needs. During your recruit’s induction week, take time to sit down and find out what their needs and difficulties are. Treat these as a benefit, not a burden.
      Apply to the “Access to Work” scheme. Employers can access grant funding to support disabled people starting or staying at work.
      Be flexible and ready to adapt. Employers who are flexible and prepared to adapt are more likely to experience the benefits of a neurodiverse workforce.

      Monster’s Top Tips for making DEI a priority in recruitment are:-

      Start by looking inward: listen to your staff and learn from their experiences. Use data to spot trends, but don’t stop there. Use the lived experience of colleagues to help you shape DEI policies and set priorities.
      Create more inclusive job descriptions: writing job adverts that focus on skills, attitude, and approach is critical to engaging talent. Don’t revert to cliché, but create job descriptions that engage and inspire applications from those with the skills to succeed.
      Highlight commitment to DEI: if you’re doing great things, let people know. Your stance on DEI is a source of competitive advantage, so use it. Publicize benefits, policies, and processes that show what you’re doing.
      Be transparent: employees want to know you’re making progress, so be transparent with successes and highlight challenges. Every organization can – and should – do more.
      Audit the hiring process: diversity isn’t what you say but what you do – so ensure inclusive hiring processes are embedded at every level. From the application to the interview, your staff should recognize and respect differences.
      Revitalize the talent pipeline: engage with new groups, advertise in new places, or work with experts to find candidates with the skills you need.
      Don’t stop at inclusive hiring: companies serious about DEI ensure there’s support at every step for new hires and existing staff. Leadership and development programs support underrepresented talent from early career entrants to the boardroom. Staff should be free to share their views, and employers must listen to their voices.

      Overall, we’re encouraged to see employers making changes to create a positive working environment that recognizes and rewards differences, because, in the end, we all benefit. Our survey shows that an open and accepting culture, and the policies to back it up, are critical to attracting the best talent.
      By Claire Barnes, Chief Human Capital Officer at Monster and Global HR Lead, Randstad Enterprise Group. 
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      How to Amplify Your DEI Initiatives in 2022

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      Talent acquisition teams are no stranger to the importance of creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive (DEI) workplace for all employees. According to the newly-released 2022 Job Seeker Nation Report, 38% of workers would turn down a job offer if the company lacked diversity in its workforce or had no clear goals for improving diversity in hiring. Below are ways companies can amplify DEI initiatives in 2022.
      Take Meaningful First Steps
      Many talent teams are dedicating considerable time and resources to DEI, including increasing investing budget resources to expand their efforts. In fact, 68% of recruiters reported that they believe improving DEI in their organization will be a top priority in the next year.
      Teams can take small steps by measuring key recruiting metrics in the process and continuing to analyze areas of improvement as changes are made. Here’s how:

      Understand the current workforce: This is a crucial step to help measure diversity of representation among an existing employee base. Evaluate the demographics across the organization, and within departments.
      Create a more diverse candidate pool: You’ve got to start somewhere, and there are several free tools and resources that can help you make sure you, and your company, are putting your best foot forward. Make small improvements to be more inclusive in recruiting practices by using free tools to help write more inclusive job descriptions and attract a wider variety of candidates.
      Develop inclusive content: Use existing social media channels and the company’s career website to tell employee stories within the organization. By leveraging this original content, your team can further convey how employees of differing backgrounds, ethnicities, races, genders, and abilities feel a sense of belonging. This is also a great medium to share current efforts and commitments for improving DEI. Think like a marketer – track the data related to interactions with your posts, understand what messages perform well, and determine what messages your audience wants to hear more about.

      Align Hiring Teams on Candidate Requirements
      Hiring team members can get stuck on the notion of the “ideal candidate.” This mindset can limit the diversity of talent pools by having too many requirements listed when they may not all be necessary. In today’s competitive labor market, this will cost your organization time, which inevitably will cost you top candidates.
      Grow a Diverse Talent Pipeline
      Today’s labor market is incredibly tight, and candidates expect a culture that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion. Avoid limiting the talent pool by requiring specific skills and experience that are not dealbreakers. Build programs to attract, engage, and hire historically marginalized communities through strategic audience planning and develop programs to make everyone feel welcome.
      Talent teams must work hard to expand their talent networks and source diverse candidates, which can be done in the following ways:

      Interact on social media: Keep in touch with potential applicants, passive talent, and past candidates on social media. Share what’s going on in the company, tell employee stories, answer questions, post job openings, and give info on referral programs to the network.
      Attend recruiting events: Virtual and in-person recruiting events can be great places to help you build your talent network. Focus on hiring events that bring together a niche audience that is centered around diversity. These events are a great way to connect with job seekers and broadcast the message that the company is hiring.
      Work with local organizations: Find local diversity groups and work with them to source candidates for open positions. Building a relationship with these organizations can help long-term network growth.

      Leverage tools needed to enhance DEI initiatives
      Automation and AI tools can help further supplement DEI initiatives, streamline hiring  processes, and eliminate manual tasks in the following ways:

      Automated intelligent sourcing: Sourcing candidates can be the most time-consuming process in recruiting. Automated intelligent sourcing can help find candidates that fit open roles and invite them to apply. It can also reach top candidates while keeping the pool diverse.
      AI candidate skill-matching: Skill matching automatically screens applicants for role requirements, which is helpful for specialized roles that benefit from diverse candidates, such as engineers, healthcare workers, or machine operators. Integrating automated skill-matching tools with applicant tracking systems (ATS) eliminates the strain of managing multiple candidate databases in different places and helps find qualified talent more quickly. Leveraging technology to screen for skills can also help reduce bias in your hiring processes.

      Start Investing in DEI Today
      The time to prioritize DEI is now. In today’s challenging labor market, those who prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion will find more qualified candidates, which can turn into new hires. Talent teams can improve the diversity of their candidate slates by taking charge and applying the right strategies throughout the hiring process, including sourcing, relationship management, workforce planning, and audience planning.
      The investment in DEI goes far beyond cash – employers can invest time in telling the organization’s story, setting expectations, and aligning teams, which often yields the highest return on investment. It’s critical to lead DEI initiatives with empathy, compassion, and dedication, and to be relentless in driving change.
      By: Corey Berkey, Senior Vice President, People & Talent, Employ Inc. 
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      A Step-By-Step Checklist To Inclusive Hiring in 2022

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      Many HR departments are attempting to create a diverse workplace in today’s world, but you can’t have diversity without inclusion.
      To construct a diverse team and a modern and attractive workplace culture, HR staff must create an environment that welcomes all individuals and fosters equal engagement and representation.
      In recent years, there has been a significant effort in the UK to fight for equality, to the point that employers are instituting quotas based on gender, BAME, disability, and even sexual orientation.
      There are two significant types of diversity in today’s workplace:
      First, inherent diversity is concerned with qualities such as race, gender, and age. Education, experience, beliefs, skills, and knowledge are all aspects of acquired variety.
      Natural HR has set out to explore our top ideas for making a diverse and inclusive recruitment process a standard element of your people talent strategy in this article.
      What is the definition of workplace diversity?
      It is critical to remember that workplace diversity is defined as when a company understands, accepts, and values differences between people of different races, ethnicities, genders, ages, religions, disabilities, and sexual orientations, as well as differences in personalities, skill sets, experiences, and knowledge.
      What are the benefits of diversity and inclusivity recruitment?
      Having a functional diversity and inclusion strategy that is incorporated into your recruitment workflow will provide your company with various benefits, including:

      Hiring better talent.
      Being able to make more informed business decisions.
      Increasing the performance of your teams.
      Accelerating innovation by allowing different mindsets to collaborate.
      Gaining more decadent customer satisfaction due to high-quality staff.
      Improving company culture with improved employee satisfaction.

      The inclusive hiring in the workplace checklist
      The tutorial below will walk you through the whole recruitment process, from bringing on a new team member to crafting a job advertisement and interviewing qualified candidates. It will include critical considerations to ensure that diversity and inclusion are prioritized at each stage.
      1. Audit your job adverts to remove bias:
      When it comes to inclusive and diverse recruitment, you can’t look forward without looking back. As a result, the first step you must take is to assess your whole recruitment pipeline to identify faults and begin implementing improvements that will address diversity and inclusivity concerns.
      When reviewing historical job advertisements, you may find a propensity to employ more masculine or feminine language in job advertisements, which may discourage particular groups from applying for specific roles. Based on the findings of this analysis, you may then retroactively apply new conditions to the recruiting procedure to reduce biases in future recruitment drives.
      2. Target sources where diverse candidates are focused:
      It is now easier than ever to recruit applicants from a large skill pool with the Internet’s strength. To that end, sourcing individuals from several sources is a terrific method to diversify your recruitment pool.
      Rather than relying solely on traditional job boards or recruitment agencies, look for chances to diversify candidates through alternative sources such as educational institutions, government agencies, and even rehabilitation centers.
      You might also communicate directly with organizations that focus on specific areas; for example, for a technology post, you could interact directly with women in technology groups to connect with suitable female applicants.
      3. Encourage your employees to utilize their network:
      If you want to hire more of a specific group of under-represented people, reach out to some of your current team members who fall into that category.
      Creating an internal applicant recommendation program is one approach to accomplish this. You will be able to connect with similar candidates from varied backgrounds by utilizing your existing internal pool of diverse workers.
      4. Offer internships targeted at underrepresented groups:
      Offering internships to folks with specialized credentials is a terrific approach to foster up-and-coming talent in your sector. To accomplish this, you may form collaborations with education and community organizations in your area to provide an opportunity to groups that may struggle to take the first steps into the roles you’re recruiting for.
      5. Develop an employer brand that showcases your diversity:
      When developing a brand identity, don’t overlook the significance of diversity and inclusivity. You should encourage employees from various backgrounds to share their experiences with your organization, which you should then incorporate into your employer and recruiting branding.
      Having these stories in place and actively pushing them in your applicant sourcing is a terrific approach to ensure your diversity recruiting strategy is working properly.
      6. Utilize blind recruitment:
      Blind recruitment is one of the most popular trends in the industry. To reduce bias during the first recruitment stage, it takes steps to blackout essential information such as name, age, education, and candidate photos. The idea here is to avoid further discrimination in who you choose to interview.
      7. Rethink what factors you screen for when hiring:
      When determining what your ideal recruit looks like, it is vital to ensure that your possible candidates exhibit the characteristics that your firm values. Throughout the recruitment process, examine how you’re screening candidates and yourself to see whether you’re directing the outcomes towards specific types of people owing to potential bias.
      Chris Bourne is Head of Marketing at Natural HR. Natural HR is a cloud-based HR software for small businesses and organizations looking to improve staff management and pay. 
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      How to Embed Diversity and Inclusion into Your Recruitment Policy

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      The ‘S’ (social) in ESG campaigns is integral to any business, a lack of diversity can negatively impact growth and stifle creativity. Diverse teams generate almost 20% more revenue than those that are lacking in this area.
      Thinking carefully about the specific language used in job adverts, using blind CV assessments, and employing inclusive interviewing techniques can all help businesses embed diversity and inclusion into their recruitment policies.
      With almost one-third of jobseekers and employees have said they would not apply to a company where there is a lack of diversity among its workforce, it’s time that businesses start to scrutinize their recruitment policies.
      Think about the job advert
      Pay attention to the nuances in recruitment communication to ensure what is written is inclusive and unbiased.
      Job adverts should avoid phrases such as “competitive nature” and “aggressively determined” in favor of truthful descriptions of competency, these phrases are also typically ‘male-coded’, so might deter female applicants from applying. Similarly, complex jargon and specialist terms can also overwhelm applicants. Adverts should be as simple and to the point as possible.
      The use of equality and diversity statements in job adverts can aid in creating an inclusive atmosphere from the very start of the recruitment process. One study found that job adverts with an empathetic diversity statement left 71% of potential applicants with a positive impression of the hypothetical employer.
      Similarly, awards such as ‘The Times Top 50 Employers of Women’ can be mentioned on job applicants to reassure minority applicants that they are welcome to apply.
      Blind CV assessment
      The Department for Work and Pensions sent out applications to 1,000 job vacancies with 2/3 containing names typically associated with a certain ethnic group. Results showed that ethnic minority applicants needed to send out 74% more applications in order to generate the same success rate as those with White sounding names.
      Removing names, ages, genders, and postcodes from CVs before they are assessed can remove opportunities for bias to enter the recruitment process. A number of top employers adopt this technique, including the UK’s Civil Service.
      Championing diversity and inclusion is not just about CV blind initiatives. It’s a complex and multifaceted agenda.
      Keeping an eye out for opportunities to learn more about diverse talent pools should be a priority. At Totum Partners, we host a series of successful diversity and inclusion webinars, such as: ‘How to create the most diverse firm in Britain’.
      Inclusive interviewing
      Once a candidate is at an interview, the best way to minimize bias is to combine a number of efforts, there is no magic bullet approach.
      Standardizing the interview questions in a structured manner will allow the employer to focus on the candidate’s skills that will determine their ability to perform the job. Unstructured interviews are difficult to compare, making it more likely that personal factors will infiltrate the hiring decision.
      Sometimes called a “mental shortcut”, affinity bias is common. This means we gravitate towards people who we feel are similar to ourselves. Training modules and workshops are a good way to generate self-awareness of your own biases.
      The importance of succession planning
      Employees should be able to see diversity all the way up an organization. Last month it was reported that 2 in 5 Black employees have left their job because of a lack of diversity.
      Initiatives that only focus on entry-level recruitment leave BME employees without anyone to look up to. Since 2018, among the Fortune 500 boards, of the 974 seats filled by new directors, 80% were by White directors, this is an example of bad succession planning.
      Organizations should consider lateral workplace diversity when looking at how to progress talent internally. Firms that ignore this form of conscious inclusion, will soon be left behind, especially considering the escalating numbers of employees quitting their jobs in the UK in recent months.
      Accountability
      Having awareness of the benefits that diversity brings to the workplace is important, but actions speak louder than words.
      As a recruitment firm, Totum is committed to questioning candidate lists that show a lack of diversity. Feedback on a BME candidate that reads “something was not quite right” needs to be followed up for factual feedback. Too often this behavior goes unquestioned.
      This is embedded into the Race Fairness Commitment that Totum is a part of. The Commitment pledges all members to engage in activities to ensure equal access to opportunities for all candidates.
      Calls for diversity and inclusion will grow louder in 2022. Deloitte’s 2018 Millennial Survey demonstrated that diversity is integral to workplace loyalty, with candidates saying they are more likely to stay with an employer for over 5 years if there is diversity in the workplace.
      Employers must be aware of how to entrench diversity and inclusion into their recruitment policies, or both their business and colleagues will suffer. CV blind assessments, inclusive interviewing, and succession planning should be a staple in any recruitment process in 2022 if businesses want to take this agenda seriously.
      By Deborah Gray, Director at Totum Partners.
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      Why Visual Representations of Diversity Aid an Inclusive Work Environment

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      The workplace is where we spend most of our lives. Shouldn’t it, therefore, be a place where we can bring our whole selves to work without the fear of facing discrimination based on our ethnicity, culture, gender, age, or sexual orientation? Shouldn’t the workplace include, celebrate, and represent people from all walks of life? Unfortunately,…
      Why Visual Representations of Diversity Aid an Inclusive Work Environment Undercover Recruiter – More

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      Create a Sense of Belonging Within Your Organization

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      Belonging is a feeling. None of us wants to participate in communities where we don’t feel good, welcome, or appreciated. We certainly won’t invest our full effort unless—and until—we’re vested in this manner. Of course, what makes us feel welcomed differs from person to person.
      When possible, people leave places where they don’t feel belonging. They proactively move to where they do feel it. At the end of the day, any thriving organization wants to create a feeling of belonging among its employees. Otherwise, you’ll never get the best from your team members.
      What creates belonging?
      Research indicates that belonging shows up when we experience two feelings:
      Feeling valued (or needed) by the entire group or some part of it.
      Feeling that we’re a fit for what’s needed in the community and the environment that’s been created.
      Reflecting on the past 20 years of research and practitioners’ experience, we say that the feeling of belonging usually arises when participants experience some of the following feelings, at some level:
      Accepted
      Welcomed
      Valued
      Cared for
      Appreciated
      Possessing insider understanding
      How can we create these feelings?
      To produce these feelings, a community must provide an experience in which participants can notice they are accepted, welcomed, valued, cared for, appreciated, or in possession of insider understanding.
      Successful leaders generate positive feelings in their employees and colleagues. Though this can seem like a magical task to some, after you’ve learned the principles that make communities work, it will sound more achievable. To start:
      Understand it’s a first-person experience. As a feeling, belonging is experienced internally as a first-person experience. These experiences are difficult for a third-person observer to measure, but that difficulty makes the experience no less critical.
      Many first-person experiences, particularly those that are important in relationships (and the world), don’t lend themselves to quantified measuring, such as a mother’s love or the trust in your neighbor. Measuring belonging is similar to measuring a mother’s love.
      Promote the “inside view.” You can magnify a sense of belonging by helping community members share insider understanding, which simply means sharing things insiders understand that outsiders do not or cannot.
      Here’s an example: Melissa Allen is a retired firefighter captain. She shared how much she appreciates spending time among other firefighters in her community because they understand the complexity, pressure, and passion that often comes with the role. The firefighters share a never-spoken understanding and compassion for one another. This is so strong that Melissa notices that if a firefighter’s spouse joins the group, the conversation changes. This isn’t because spouses aren’t welcome or loved. It’s because they never share the insider understanding that career firefighters gain.
      Usually, when we seek out people who have shared an experience similar to our own (fighting cancer, living overseas, running a marathon), we’re searching for this shared insider understanding.
      When an organization embraces the principles of building community, employees are drawn in because they share some values more intensely than do outsiders. We want to feel understood by the people who share our values. We want to see that the people inside understand this more than the people outside of our community.
      Be selective. By the way, this is one reason why a community can’t succeed if it accepts anyone, anytime, with any values. So be careful to recruit people who not only embrace your organization’s core values but also fit with your culture.
      Charles H. Vogl is an award-winning author, speaker, and executive adviser. Carrie Melissa Jones is the founder of Gather Community Consulting. Their new book is Building Brand Communities: How Organizations Succeed by Creating Belonging. Learn more at buildingbrandcommunities.com.

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