Did you know that staffing agencies can help make your company’s commitment to creating a diverse workforce a reality? Diversity, equality and inclusion initiatives in the workplace are an expectation of employers in the 21st century, particularly when identifying and welcoming talented workers with various backgrounds.
The Importance of a Diverse Workforce
People of all ages and abilities come from a range of different social, religious, and ethnic backgrounds and different genders and sexual orientations. It’s important to recognize a diverse workforce that feels comfortable and supported to provide the best opportunities for success. Inclusive workplaces make people feel valued and proud of their culture. Inclusivity in the workplace statistics show that inclusive companies are more likely to create a diverse workforce that reflects a variety of backgrounds and experiences.
How can your business tap into this reservoir of talent, and how can a staffing agency help?
Creating a Policy
Implementing a workplace policy is an excellent first step toward diversity, equity and inclusion, but what is important is how the company acts on those formalized processes and written policies. Many organizations have developed diversity management plans that are tied to the written diversity policy of the organization.
- Assessment of diversity. Employee satisfaction surveys, discussions, and open forums that can provide insight into the challenges and obstacles to diversity. Inclusion of all workers for input is necessary.
- Development of the diversity plan. Based on step 1, a series of attainable and measurable goals should be developed.
- Implementation of the plan. The commitment of executives and management is necessary. Formulating action plans based on the goals developed in step 2 and assignment of implementation and measurement of those plans must follow. The action plan should be the responsibility of the entire organization.
Inclusive cultures make people feel valued and proud of their culture, and these companies are more likely to create a workforce that reflects a variety of backgrounds and experiences. By first acknowledging the differences that may exist in a workforce, more consciously inclusive efforts and diversity initiatives can be introduced into the organization.
Foster an environment where every voice is heard, because a variety of opinions strengthens approaches to every company issue, whether internal or external. Employees need to feel free to express themselves based on their unique perspectives. Companies must make sure employees feel included and respected regardless of their age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, physical conditions, cultural background or country of origin.
In the United States, race demographics in the workforce breaks down as follows (according to the U.S. Department of Bureau of Labor Statistics):
White – 77%
Hispanic – 18% (*Note: People of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity can be any race)
Black – 13%
Asian – 6%
In 2019, about 17% of the workforce was foreign born. Women held 50.04% of American jobs (excluding farm workers and the self-employed) and 57.8% of all women were participating in the workforce. In 2021, 19.1% of people with a disability were fully employed. Building a workforce that reflects these realities requires intentional actions by your company, and a staff agency can help.
What a Staffing Agency Can Offer
The right staffing agency can champion various recruiting projects and promote diverse workforce development across your organization through its professional understanding and focus on the issue.
Eliminating implicit bias is essential to creating a hiring process and workplace that encourages diversity, equity, and inclusion. Removing embedded predispositions in hiring begins by raising awareness and sensitivity to them and then creating a process that evaluates candidates based on the same criteria.
Recruiters working for staffing agencies that develop deep pools of on-hand talent can focus on inherent bias in society and the workplace as well as inclusive hiring best practices. A creative, professional staffing agency can help you find a new hire that increases your company diversity, inclusivity and your competitive advantage.
Staffing agencies can foster a diverse workforce in alignment with a company’s short and long-term business growth goals, partnering with companies to help analyze job descriptions for unconscious bias and review candidate reporting metrics to identify roles that aren’t as inclusive as others.
Identifying your company’s goals for diversity, equity and inclusion, creating policies that are supported by real action and partnering with a professional staffing agency can help build a success story that your employees – and customers – want to experience.