Five things you must do to successfully source diverse candidates. Cathlene Johnson bio l email

Let me start this article by saying that there is no one secret source available to recruit diverse candidates. With this in mind here are five things you must do if you want to be successful at sourcing diverse candidates.

1. Incorporate diversity specific sources into your sourcing strategy.

The only way to ensure diverse candidates in your recruitment process is to incorporate diversity into your sourcing strategy. Organizations serious about recruiting diverse candidates recognize that diversity sourcing must be integrated into your regular recruiting process.

Sourcing is like marketing. You want to narrow your demographic profile as much as possible and go after your target market. A clear understanding of your demographic profile will help you determine which sources to use.

When looking for diverse candidates your primary focus should be on the demographics of the source. Does the organization or source have the demographic profile of the type of candidates you are seeking? The principle is very simple you can’t get oranges from an apple tree. If the source cannot confirm the demographic as part of the membership or audience keep moving - that source is not your resource.

Ask yourself the following questions about your candidate’s demographic profile to determine appropriate sources:

• What is the industry of the candidate you are seeking?
• What are specific skills sets of the person in this industry?

• What diversity dimensions are you seeking? (African-Americans, Asians, Hispanic, or Native American)

• In what locations are you looking for candidates?

An example of a demographic profile of a candidate might look like this:

• Industry - Information Technology
• Skill sets - Application Developer and .net technologies
• Location - Chicago, IL
• Diversity - All diversity dimensions (African-Americans, Asians, Hispanic, or Native American)

So along with the following sources:

• Industry - Job board posting on Dice
• Skill sets – job announcement to .net user groups list serves
• Location – classified ad with the Chicago Tribune

Diversity appropriate sources might include the following:

• Black Data Processing Association
  BDPA Chicago Chapter
  215 N. Des Plaines Ave #2S
  CHICAGO IL, 60661
  http://www.bdpa-chicago.org
• Chicago Chinese Computing Professionals
  http://www.cccpa.org/index.html
• The Association of Latino Information Technology Professionals (ALITP)
  Association of Latino IT Professionals
  P.O. BOX 0440
  Chicago, IL 606090-0440
  http://www.alitp.org

2. Get comfortable creating recruiting opportunities where there is limited, archaic or no defined recruiting vehicle.

Incorporating diversity specific sources into your recruiting strategy can be really tough to do because, one of the biggest hurdles you will encounter when trying to source diverse candidates, is the lack of defined recruiting vehicles at most diversity focused sourcing channels.

Defined recruiting vehicles are those tools or technology recruiting support services that have become common place in managing the sourcing and response of candidates to your specific job openings. The reality of many diversity sourcing channels is that they may not have the financial, technology, manpower or marketing to support those recruiting vehicles that put the employer’s opportunity or message in front of the source’s demographic in a way that is familiar to recruiters.

Don’t be afraid that the source does not have a clear recruiting context.

This in itself is not a reason for recruiters to walk away from a diversity sourcing channel, however many do. When I hear recruiters say that they judge diversity sourcing channels on high traffic and an impressive list of employers job posting I wonder if they really hear what they are saying. Don’t approach diversity sourcing in traditional recruiting ways.

Many diversity sources tend to not function as a recruitment site, initially. Instead, recruitment may evolve as the source develops and matures. Recruitment programs are an easy win/win for diversity sourcing channels as a member benefit and an employer support service.

What you are mostly likely going to find at diversity sourcing channels are evolving recruitment vehicles. These recruitment vehicles may look like traditional job fairs, in-house job posting systems, simple job posting, banner advertising or linking opportunities. At some diverse sources there is no recruitment vehicle at all. Don’t be afraid that the source does not have a clear recruiting context. Identifying the defined recruiting vehicles the source has and use them, no matter how archaic or awkward.

3. Create customized opportunities for your employer’s message to be in front of the group’s members or communities demographic.

If you are going to be effective at recruiting diverse candidates you will have to learn how to engage talent in new and creative ways. After using defined recruiting vehicles that the sources has in place. Look to see historically what kinds of things other employers have done with the group to see what has worked well and what has not worked so well. Here are a few ideals on how to create recruiting opportunities at the source.

• Organize a Recruitment Event.

Strengthen your connection to the group by organizing a recruitment event. Targeted recruitment events provide an excellent opportunity for you to share information about your opportunities and interact with interested members. It raises awareness about your organization and is a great start to building personal and networking relationships with group members. The recruitment event doesn’t have to shout job opportunities. Approach the event from an interest perspective. Using our demographic profile from above, organize a panel of current employees on the use of .net technology in your organization. Contact your local vendor for an expert on the subject, new betas or give-a-ways and invite the members from BDPA, CCCP and ALITP.

• Conduct a Company Presentation

Company presentations give group members an opportunity to learn more about your organization and meet some of your employees. If possible take employees of the diversity dimension and professional level that you are trying to attract. A presentation about your company’s culture, mission, strategies and commitment to diversity is a great start for establishing contact with groups. Also it is a great opportunity to broaden diversity candidate’s exposure to different career opportunities in your organization’s industry.

 

• Market Your Opportunities to the Group

Look to see how the group communicates to each other and embed your recruitment opportunity and message there. Start by making a list of all the communication vehicles formal and informal and develop a communication strategy for communicating with the group over a period of time. A well-planned communication strategy can create a positive buzz about your organization to the groups demographic.

• Develop a Broader Presence by Partnering with the Organization

Strengthen your networking relationship with the diverse source by partnering with the group. The best way to show your support of the group is to join the organization. If you are a recruiter join the group and ask employees within your organization with a similar demographic profile or group interest to join the group. Your membership support will show your sincere interest in the development of the group.

Look for opportunities to support the organization. One of the ways that I have supported a professional diverse organization in the past is by offering the use of our facilities for the group’s monthly meeting activities. It ensures the group could meet in a central professional location and offered me an ongoing opportunity to network with members of the group.

Look for opportunities to lend your recruiting expertise. Career opportunities are a win-win membership driven benefit for the organization and employers. The organization will need someone with your perspective to help them meet the needs of their members and employers.

4. Develop partnership relationship with diverse professional associations.

By seeking community and validation, many groups have developed associations related to their professional industry and trade based on the diversity dimension. These organizations exist to identify the critical issues facing their own populations and to address issues that might only be a small blip on the radar screen of larger associations, while others formed because at the time their members were excluded from joining the white association that represented their profession as a result of racism. Diversity focused professional industry and trade associations gives recruiters direct access to a more seasoned and experienced level professional in the mid to upper level positions. Additionally, partnership with professional diverse association allow for a long term relationship with diverse candidates as many professional associations have programs that interface with their membership at all stages of the career continuum (high school, college, early professional, mid level professional and senior manager). Employers can develop long term recruiting programs that will truly allow them to develop a pipeline of candidates.

5. Analyze your Employee Referral Program (ERP) program to strengthen your diversity sourcing strategy.

Over and over employee referral programs have been determined to be the most effective sourcing method for companies to find diverse candidates. However many employers to fail to analyze the employee referral program information to refine the organization’s diversity sourcing strategy.

Many Employee Referral Programs focus and measure the success of the program only on the number of qualified applicants that the program can generate.   Sourcing is limited to sourcing the job listing to its employees. Analysis of the Employee Referral Program is generally limited to identifying the Employee Referral Program as the source of hire.   However, an Employee Referral Program that is source-generating, focuses on generating applicants but more importantly, the program focuses on analyzing the connection between the referring employee and referred applicant. The key to an Employee Referral Program that produces top and diverse talent is to incorporate the sources from which employees are referred into the organization's overall sourcing strategy. 

Using these five techniques will open up a pipeline of diverse talent to ensure that your organization has a quality diverse pool of candidates to source from.