It’s no secret that the global population is evolving and becoming more diverse. According to studies, there are plenty of benefits that come with building a workforce that reflects society.
Diverse teams lead to sharper and more innovative teams that not only find work satisfaction, but improve sales productivity as well.
So, how does diversity recruiting contribute to better overall performance?
Well, it makes total sense when you really think about it. Having totally different backgrounds and perspectives on your team will definitely contribute to newer and more diverse ideas, problem resolution and more innovation.
That’s why companies all around the globe are focusing on developing a solid diversity recruiting strategy. Statistics show that organizations with diverse teams tend to see almost 20% higher revenues.
However, it’s worth noting that the topic of diversity goes beyond just business performance. It’s a worthy and noble cause for any company to strive for. Constructing teams from qualified candidates regardless of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or background is long overdue and will go a long way towards creating true equality in the workplace.
So, how can you add more diversity to your sales team?
5 Tips for Diversity Recruiting
1: Audit and Edit your Job Ads
Words matter. That’s why doing an audit of your recruitment ads and job descriptions is one of the best ways to recruit diverse candidates.
For instance, your past ads could have been geared towards a particular experience demographic. If that’s the case, you might want to be more inclusive in your language so as to appeal to people from different backgrounds. And speaking of language, it’s equally important to use the right terminologies.
Consider whether any terms, colloquialisms or metaphors used are biased, stereotypical or exclusive in any way.
Likewise, don’t be afraid to write ads with specific demographics in mind. Let your candidate pool know you’re specifically looking for them and explain how they would fit in your organization and boost your diversity recruiting.
2: Target Sources with a Diverse Congregation of Talent
Another extremely effective way to guarantee a diverse work force is to source candidates from a variety of different places.
Never rely on the same source over and over again every time you’re looking to hire. That’s because the same source could result in a similar pool of candidates and an acute lack of diversity.
What you should do is go hunting at the very source where diverse candidates hang out.
For instance, we’ve got plenty of online groups dedicated to women in technology. This could potentially be a great source to increase the number of female IT experts in your company instead of just waiting around for them to find you.
The more you take initiative, the more you fine tune your recruitment process for both diversity and skill.
3: Offer Internships to Targeted Candidates
If you’ve been following the business, then you’ve no doubt seen one interesting recruiting trend.
A lot of companies have started internal diversity programs that provide co-op and internship positions to candidates from different backgrounds. As always, this is a great way to encourage fresh and upcoming talent in your industry to join your team and hopefully secure a full time position.
The best way to achieve this goal is to reach out to community groups and schools in your area. This will help you determine opportunities for making connection with students. More often than not, communities have their own programs. As such, teaming up with such initiatives is a solid way to give back while reaping massive benefits from new talent.
If it doesn’t seem inclusive of all potential employees, then you definitely need to revise or update it.
At the very basic level, try to at least make sure you offer paid parental leave, paid sick days, childcare subsidies, flexible time off among others.
Once you’ve got varied benefits, highlight the inclusive ones that make all employees feel welcome as part of your company’s commitment to forging an inclusive and diverse workplace for all.
According to a recent study conducted by Harvard, there are quite some notable differences when it comes to genders and benefits packages.
Men were more likely to value free food, retreats and team bonding events while women prefer yoga classes and free fitness. Offering a mix of both benefits could give you the competitive edge you’ve been looking for even if you can’t afford pricier job perks or higher salaries.
5: Develop an Employer Brand that Showcases Diversity
Perhaps the most effective and ultimate way of boosting diversity in your candidate sourcing is creating a natural employer brand that values opinions and people from all walks of life.
Start by talking about the benefits and importance of being diverse with your team. If you can, get their buy in and try to engrain these values in your company culture.
Overtime, you will organically develop an employer brand known for valuing diversity and teamwork above all else. Encourage your teams to talk about it, record their stories and incorporate the content as part of how you promote your company brand.
Trust me; diverse candidates will be looking for you if you can show that you truly value a diverse work force.
Diversity Recruiting – Final Word
These are just a few tips that will help you diversify your candidate pool when hiring new talent. However, it is by no means exhaustive – there are plenty of other ways you can employ to make sure your team reflects society as much as possible. But as you compile your workforce, don’t just hire anyone because they add diversity. Instead, hire people that will be the best fit for your organization through and through.
You can learn about all the different sales personas and how each works to benefit your organization. The topic goes hand in hand with our other post titled how to identify different buyer personas. You’ll also need the right tools for the job.
With Veloxy, companies can keep track of all their customers’ needs, expectations and behavior patterns as they proceed. Sales leaders can then use this data to generate forecasts and predictions that will not only improve the overall experience of multiple services and business operations, but also help in creating highly accurate buyer personas. With these personas, it’ll be easy to know what type of sales personalities you need on your team and what sort of skills you need to go with the diversity recruiting.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Samir Majumdar
Samir is the CEO and Co-founder of Veloxy. After spending 20+ years creating corporate systems, boosting revenue, and eliminating inefficiencies, Samir started Veloxy to help sales professionals shorten sales cycles, accelerate pipelines, and close more deals.
It’s no secret that the global population is evolving and becoming more diverse. According to studies, there are plenty of benefits that come with building a workforce that reflects society.
Diverse teams lead to sharper and more innovative teams that not only find work satisfaction, but improve sales productivity as well.
So, how does diversity recruiting contribute to better overall performance?
Well, it makes total sense when you really think about it. Having totally different backgrounds and perspectives on your team will definitely contribute to newer and more diverse ideas, problem resolution and more innovation.
That’s why companies all around the globe are focusing on developing a solid diversity recruiting strategy. Statistics show that organizations with diverse teams tend to see almost 20% higher revenues.
However, it’s worth noting that the topic of diversity goes beyond just business performance. It’s a worthy and noble cause for any company to strive for. Constructing teams from qualified candidates regardless of their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or background is long overdue and will go a long way towards creating true equality in the workplace.
So, how can you add more diversity to your sales team?
5 Tips for Diversity Recruiting
1: Audit and Edit your Job Ads
Words matter. That’s why doing an audit of your recruitment ads and job descriptions is one of the best ways to recruit diverse candidates.
For instance, your past ads could have been geared towards a particular experience demographic. If that’s the case, you might want to be more inclusive in your language so as to appeal to people from different backgrounds. And speaking of language, it’s equally important to use the right terminologies.
Consider whether any terms, colloquialisms or metaphors used are biased, stereotypical or exclusive in any way.
Likewise, don’t be afraid to write ads with specific demographics in mind. Let your candidate pool know you’re specifically looking for them and explain how they would fit in your organization and boost your diversity recruiting.
2: Target Sources with a Diverse Congregation of Talent
Another extremely effective way to guarantee a diverse work force is to source candidates from a variety of different places.
Never rely on the same source over and over again every time you’re looking to hire. That’s because the same source could result in a similar pool of candidates and an acute lack of diversity.
What you should do is go hunting at the very source where diverse candidates hang out.
For instance, we’ve got plenty of online groups dedicated to women in technology. This could potentially be a great source to increase the number of female IT experts in your company instead of just waiting around for them to find you.
The more you take initiative, the more you fine tune your recruitment process for both diversity and skill.
3: Offer Internships to Targeted Candidates
If you’ve been following the business, then you’ve no doubt seen one interesting recruiting trend.
A lot of companies have started internal diversity programs that provide co-op and internship positions to candidates from different backgrounds. As always, this is a great way to encourage fresh and upcoming talent in your industry to join your team and hopefully secure a full time position.
The best way to achieve this goal is to reach out to community groups and schools in your area. This will help you determine opportunities for making connection with students. More often than not, communities have their own programs. As such, teaming up with such initiatives is a solid way to give back while reaping massive benefits from new talent.
4: Highlight All Inclusive Benefits
How good is your benefits package?
If it doesn’t seem inclusive of all potential employees, then you definitely need to revise or update it.
At the very basic level, try to at least make sure you offer paid parental leave, paid sick days, childcare subsidies, flexible time off among others.
Once you’ve got varied benefits, highlight the inclusive ones that make all employees feel welcome as part of your company’s commitment to forging an inclusive and diverse workplace for all.
According to a recent study conducted by Harvard, there are quite some notable differences when it comes to genders and benefits packages.
Men were more likely to value free food, retreats and team bonding events while women prefer yoga classes and free fitness. Offering a mix of both benefits could give you the competitive edge you’ve been looking for even if you can’t afford pricier job perks or higher salaries.
5: Develop an Employer Brand that Showcases Diversity
Perhaps the most effective and ultimate way of boosting diversity in your candidate sourcing is creating a natural employer brand that values opinions and people from all walks of life.
Start by talking about the benefits and importance of being diverse with your team. If you can, get their buy in and try to engrain these values in your company culture.
Overtime, you will organically develop an employer brand known for valuing diversity and teamwork above all else. Encourage your teams to talk about it, record their stories and incorporate the content as part of how you promote your company brand.
Trust me; diverse candidates will be looking for you if you can show that you truly value a diverse work force.
Diversity Recruiting – Final Word
These are just a few tips that will help you diversify your candidate pool when hiring new talent. However, it is by no means exhaustive – there are plenty of other ways you can employ to make sure your team reflects society as much as possible. But as you compile your workforce, don’t just hire anyone because they add diversity. Instead, hire people that will be the best fit for your organization through and through.
You can learn about all the different sales personas and how each works to benefit your organization. The topic goes hand in hand with our other post titled how to identify different buyer personas. You’ll also need the right tools for the job.
With Veloxy, companies can keep track of all their customers’ needs, expectations and behavior patterns as they proceed. Sales leaders can then use this data to generate forecasts and predictions that will not only improve the overall experience of multiple services and business operations, but also help in creating highly accurate buyer personas. With these personas, it’ll be easy to know what type of sales personalities you need on your team and what sort of skills you need to go with the diversity recruiting.