So, honest question - I would really like to hear some *practical* ideas. In a STEM world, how do I go about getting more diversity into my applicant pool, so that I can hopefully end up finding highly qualified talent that better reflects a company that actually values diversity - at least, that is what we tell ourselves?
there ain't many solutions, because you are at the end of the food chain. Who you will get to apply is determined at birth, by geography, and geography seems to be mostly determined by color in your country, from what I've read.
Blacks will often be segregated out of the best schools, will have an higher rate of school drop out and when they reach college it will often be public colleges and this don't seem to me like the best path to a promising carreer and since you want the best candidates, it will most likely require some practical experience in the same job you want them to accomplish.
The easiest part will be to attract women. For that, to put it simply, you need more women so the climate change. I've read real stories of the difficulties women face on construction (butt/breast grabbing, pointing at the breast saying "I want milk" and laughing :roll: ; discriminated on the jobs they are given, constantly sexually harrassed by a foreman, fired when they complain and have zero support from their union, etc).
The reality will obviously be different in a white collar company, but you still got to be careful about small gestures that could intimidate women when they work with men. Like that guy in the office who likes to brag about his sexual conquests, or those looking at scandily clad women's pictures on their computers, or simply having a macho attitude, dismissing an idea because it comes from the latest recruit and it happens to be a woman: she will perceive that as being discriminated for her sex. When you reject their ideas, you have to explain your reasoning for saying no. While with a man it's appreciated to be told tings like that, we won't perceive it as being rejected strictly for our sex.
I grew up on construction sites, surrounded my grown up men who liked to brag about lots of things. But whenever my mom was in the company's trailer during break time, they were much, much, much more reserved. Again, obvious difference here in time&space, but it gives you an idea of what happens when there is one woman in the room. Multiply that by 10 and you get a better work climate for everyone.
It might not be a problem in english, but the vocabulary chosen in your employment offer can have an influence. Men don't usually concern themselves with that, but if I am a woman who's been passed at promotions time&again for men not as competent as I was, any kind of perceived bias in the language might make me think this company is just like any other. Look at your past employment offers, look who applied, and ask yourself why a black person might not bother wasting its time with this offer. Job offers must be short, and to the point. Although we do often want to "over-ask" as to avoid spam resumes, we tend to eliminate shyer candidates this way. Half a page is enough.
Talk to your existing team members to precisely define the kind of candidate they want to work with, and try to redact the offer accordingly (easier said than done!), not specifically with what you have in mind. Talk to your former employee on why she left ("unemployment interview" I think... I read my HR stuff in French, contrary to economics and finance), was it only wage related? Did she perceive she was stalling where she was? Did she have a problem with someone?
Diversify your sources of recruitment. Talk to your other teams, ask for their input, ask if they know of any professionnal associations cathering to women/blacks/migrants/etc in their field, then contact them and ask for their help is distributing your job offers (they often have specific boards for that).
Interns. It's a pain in the ass to form someone and risk losing them when they finally developp. But it's a risk you'll have to take. You ideal candidate has 5 years of experience with software X, professional title Y, experience working in a group environment.... But, maybe you can find someone who does not have all that but who wil be better two years down the road. I don't have a CPA, so I'm not taken seriously by big corporations. But I know that for many companies, I'd be better than any given CPA for the job they are offering, because I know I already am by comparing myself with the clueless ones I meet.
So, invest in training. If you don't have the budget, try to get them. Company owners are often reluctant in doing that, because it is time consuming. And an employee on training is not 100% productive. And we tend to look at schools and consider (kinda rightly so) that it's their job to train the people we need. But various factors can enter into account, family situation might have prevented someone from completing school in the normal course and completing his/her degree in the usual number years, or attending an out of town college, or pursuing higher studies when you think the job requires them.
You can not substitute an entire degree by your on site training, but you can complement any lack of experience. See it that way: you get to train the person the way you want him/her to work, not the way someone else thought it should be done. this way, you might get a woman or a black person often rejected because they don't have the right contacts, because they didn't attend the right schools, because they never were offered and identical job, etc, etc. They are obviously paid less than a fully trained operative, and you will quickly see how good they are at learning, so you will still have the option of not offering them a "full" position at the end of their term.
You can talk to your local colleges&universities about setting up work term. My cousin began working for one of our client&supplier while he was still in technical college, for his mandatory work term, than got to work through summers and university though his other work terms there and after his graduation, until he decided to move out of town. Had his boss opted for a fully trained graduate like his superiors wanted at first, he would have missed an opportunity to work with an highly dedicated programmer. What he lacked in technical skills he made in his willingless to keep learning.
Flexibility is highly sought for many people and often quite lacking in bigger corporations, and especially in the US, I think? It is also often very difficult to implement when people need to work constantly in teams. But, if you can accomodate a worker who does not celebrate Christmas by letting her/him work during this time and instead taking a week off later, it can be appreciated. For women with young children, having the possibility to work from home when the kids are sick will be appreciated, as well as the possibility to start earlier and finish earlier, or even compress the work week if possible or in last resort work less hours during the week. Ofter the possibility to accumulate overtime and use the extra time as extra vacation days.
Freedom expression means freedom of expression. Your employees should always feel free to talk to you about something bothering them, a noisy coworker, a company policy, a specific demand (ex: taking part of a day off and finishing later), etc,etc. Sometimes employees are just being difficult, or simply have serious mental health issues, but other times, they have legitimate complaints/criticism. It's hard to convey this feeling without appearing to favour one group over another, so you have to take care of not alienating your non "diversity group".
To avoid the bias of only recruiting females (for the office work I had to do, 95% of candidates were women), and to avoid the criticism that I was selecting them on their looks (I didn't, but it was often perceived that way since I'm a guy recruiting women :roll: ), I often let the departing employees make a pre-selection of the resumes and had her explain to me why she wanted me to interview this candidate and not this candidate.
A variant would be to have your assistant give you "blind" resumes, with no names attached to make sure you are involuntarily selecting white males since its often easier to identify with your own group. Apparently, when we're reading resumes, we're all closet mysoginists and racists. :roll: I don't believe it has any use, but it's all the rage now.
You could make a first interview via e-mail, or via a specialized recruitment tool/site. You submit your question and the candidate answers sorta anonymously. This is beyond my level, but it's something I've been told by a former employee now working HR at the local hospital; apparently, it makes diversity candidates feel more confidant. Also, some specialized HR tools will let you filter resumes for specific keywords you want, this can help make sure you don't overlook one candidate or another when you have many job applicants.
Lastly: don't fucking bother with HR, hire someone else to do it
No, seriously, for some positions a headhunter could be worth it. Obviously not for a work intern, but if you need someone with a very specific skillset right now, it can be a valid, albeit costly option.
