Overcoming a tight labor market through inclusive hiring practices

Companies looking for another reason to prioritize their DEI efforts have certainly found it: the widespread shortage of talent. With far too many vacancies and too few candidates taking serious interest in them, organizations are becoming acutely aware of the importance of adopting more inclusive recruitment approaches.

ManpowerGroup recently conducted a labor market survey slated for 2023. While the workforce solutions entity found that employers were hopeful, the statistics on the ground are disheartening for any leader wishing to fill empty seats as quickly as possible. According to research by ManpowerGroup, the global talent shortage has peaked in 17 years at 77%. Positions related to IT, engineering and sales are particularly difficult to fill.

That doesn't mean the candidates aren't there, of course. This is where being more inclusive and thoughtful comes in. By thinking outside the box in sourcing and hiring, business leaders and entrepreneurs can increase their chances of finding the right fit. Otherwise, they will be relegated to continuing on the current path, which is not going in the direction that most growth-oriented organizations want to go.

How can you adopt more inclusive measures in the recruitment process? Use the steps below as a guide. They should help you get your brand and job opportunities in front of more people from different backgrounds. As a result, you will position your organization to move forward with this year's goals with a full membership rather than a fragmented membership.

1. Expand your supply pool.

If you continue to only post your open job descriptions in the same places, you will continue to receive applicants from the same backgrounds. To expand your search, you need to expand your job search pipeline. This allows you to tap into more candidate pools, many of which could be much deeper and more engaged than your current pools.

Nick Pokoluk, director of service delivery at recruitment process outsourcing firm Wilson HCG, recalls a client who wanted to hire a variety of sales talent. Pokoluk's solution was to create a talent community of people who would not normally be exposed to the client's job postings.

"We identified historically black colleges and universities and targeted medical device vendors who graduated from those schools," says Pokoluk. "We put these people in the talent community and started messaging them, trying to recruit them for our client." The efforts took more imagination and consideration, but they paid off.

Spend time exploring new ways to find candidates. And remember that some job search sites have started actively posting jobs to various groups. Pokoluk explains that CareerBuilder partners with various sites, such as AbilityLinks, ChicagoPride, El Neuvo, Multicultural Women's Council, and US Black. Therefore, you may be able to take advantage of existing job board tools to advance your DEI hiring.

2. Degender your job descriptions.

Did you know that certain words can put off some applicants? For example, while you might think a job title like "hacker" would grab the attention of high performers, Glassdoor suggests otherwise. As the job search site notes, some titles may seem too masculine or feminine. When candidates see these titles and adjectives, they pass the jobs on be...