Diversity has been a hot topic in the last couple of years, and this discussion has also reflected in workplaces all around the globe. Globalization has led to a world where employees have the possibility to apply for work even on the opposite side of the Earth; however, this might also be the first obstacle for candidates. Stereotypes and prejudices on gender, nationality or religion can blind recruiters from what they could gain by diversity in their company.

Why focus on diversity in hiring?

Diversity in the workplace has a lot of benefits. Different kinds of people bring different kinds of energy, experience, and ideas into their work which can help your company in solving problems and tackling challenges. A 2015 McKinsey report Diversity Matters reveals that more diverse companies have better customer orientation, employee satisfaction and better-than-median financial returns than less diverse organizations. Simply put: diverse companies perform better.

Better performance is what every organization strives for, and one way to increase it is to pay attention to diversity in recruiting.

Diversity in hiring – what is it in practice?

Diversity in hiring requires conscious effort for it to work, and making diversity a part of your hiring strategy ensures fair treatment for all your applicants.

A Forbes article reported that applicants who have “white-sounding” names have better luck in getting the position than other applicants. This means that possible qualified and experienced candidates who could benefit the company do not pass even the first screening. One way to tackle this is to use blind hiring, where recruiters only see the information that matters: education, professional experience, skills, and abilities. Personal information, like name, gender, age, or ethnic background, can create an unnoticeable bias that favors certain candidates. Think about your needs and focus on what really is important for your company.

Pre-hiring assessments are also a good way to learn more about the candidates’ skills and personalities before the actual recruitment. Why? Machines are not biased, as they only work with the assessment results. Taking the human out of shortlisting, for example, can lead to a more diverse set of potential new employees. This, of course, requires the assessment itself to be unbiased, employing the same strategies as in blind hiring.

Assistance in hiring from organizations that do not discriminate based on gender, ethnicity or religion can be extremely beneficial for your company. An unbiased external opinion can help you and your company to get the top-quality talent you need and getting support in shortlisting makes unbiased hiring and acquiring international talents easy and effective.

Now that we know how diversity affects a workplace and what you can do to increase it in your organization, it is time to act. Value personality and skill over gender or ethnic background and make diversity in your workplace the norm.

Learn more about how you can find diverse international talents for your company here.