Employers not getting it right in recruiting diverse talent

Canada has seen employers seeking out more talent as the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, the national hiring rate in the country for the month of May stood at 124 per cent compared to the figure in May 2019, according to a LinkedIn report. However, nearly seven in 10 (69 per cent) of employers globally are struggling to find workers to hire for specific positions, marking a 15-year high, according to the ManpowerGroup.

Attracting diverse talent may be the solution. After all, it does offer a lot of positives for employers, says Jason Kipps, managing director, Canada, Universum, in an interview with Canadian HR Reporter.

“There’s been lots of research that’s been done on that. A diverse workforce leads to diverse ideas, diverse solutions to challenges, to innovation and ultimately productivity and greater effectiveness as an organization.”

But are employers doing the right things to attract diverse applicants? Many are not, and this is evident in how they are delivering messages to attract talent, says Kipps.

“Most employers are getting this wrong… When we looked at what’s important to diverse talent, that talent is interested in secure employment, they’re interested in companies with ethical standards, they’re interested in working towards an inspiring purpose, they’re interested in high future earnings, friendly environment, working in an organization that has respect for its people and professional training development opportunities,” he says.

“But on aggregate, when we look at talent that identify as visible minority, they do not identify support for diversity and inclusion in the top 10 attributes that they’re looking for.”

Misunderstanding diversity

A lot of organizations are going to the market saying, “This is our diversity and inclusion strategy,” “We are a diverse and inclusive organization” and “Here are our people who represent our diversity” While all these things are specific to diversity and inclusion, diverse talent has a much broader understanding of diversity, says Kipps.

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