How to Attract Diverse Talent into Tech

by Startacus Admin

There are many benefits of diversity in tech and having a diverse team. Here are some ways a company can attract diverse talent into tech.

The technology industry is put at the heart of success for British companies as it is head of the pack for driving innovation. This is perhaps down to AI as it has the potential to be transformative and enables businesses and people to thrive in the digital world. However, a lack of people working in the digital environment could have the potential of derailing future efforts to empower businesses. Failing to address the shortage of skills in the UK workforce could cost the country roughly £90bn a year. Businesses are feeling the effect as technology and digital skills are essential for the UKs future growth within technology firms and other sectors.

Companies need to start thinking about how they can attract diverse talent and into tech industry to help with the skill shortage. There are many benefits of diversity in tech and having a diverse team. It’s especially needed within the tech industry due to how fast its growing. Although most people talk about wanting to create an inclusive workplace and build their diverse team, some may not know where to start or what they can do to attract diverse talent into tech.

There aren’t many organisations that can provide you with jobs and career and employer advice around Diversity in Tech. So, below are ways in which you as a company can attract diverse talent into tech.

Make diversity a part of your corporate culture

Making diversity a part of your company culture is the first step you can take towards attracting diverse talent into tech. Many companies are looking to connect their work with social initiatives and are looking at working Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into their culture. As the future workforce are the millennials, then they are the people companies would need to target to grow their diverse workforce. This is an opportunity for the leadership team to decide how they can incorporate diversity and CSR into its culture to meet the expectations of the millennials.

Diversifying your corporate culture is also a way of showing your employees that you value them. Changing your company culture so it is more inclusive for those who are of a minority can indicate that you are committed to growing a diverse team and attracting diverse employees. It will enable employees to see others like them in the workforce, collaborate with people who have different experiences and have the potential to widen the company’s customer base.

Change how you conduct interviews

Secondly, adapting the way you conduct interviews can also help you to attract diverse talent into tech. There could be things that aren’t that obvious to you, but to candidates which are putting them off from applying for a job. If you haven’t tried different approaches to interviewing candidates, then try the next 3 steps to ensure that you’re removing unconscious bias from your hiring process.

Blind CV Screening – blind CV screening is when either a candidate’s name, gender or university for example is removed from their CV. Judging candidates on those factors can cause unconscious bias and stop you from developing a diverse team. Therefore, blind CV screening helps to remove this option which in return can help you attract diverse talent into tech.

Voice Changing Software – To disguise a candidate’s voice, software has been made so employers are unable to distinguish the candidate’s gender. The software distorts the voice making it impossible to work out whether it is a man or a woman that you are talking to on the phone.

Structured Interviews – Having structured interviews is a great way of gauging how each candidate will answer questions given to them. Asking questions in the exact same format and structure to each candidate will ensure fairness when interviewing them. This will help when attracting diverse talent into tech as every candidate will be in with a fair chance at receiving the job offer due to the questions asked.

Inclusive wording in job descriptions

Believe it or not, the wording of job descriptions can unconsciously be unappealing to some candidates. Words that are masculine such as ‘dominate’ and ‘competitive’ can be off putting for women when applying for a job role. Some companies are also unaware of how job descriptions can reflect their companies’ culture. The style and format job descriptions are written in can appeal more to white male candidates for example, rather than women or minority individuals and therefore there will be an influx of white males applying for the role instead of a diverse amount. To ensure your job descriptions are appealing to everyone, you should include more inclusive language and emphasise your company values and criteria that is important to job performance.

Creating partnerships with diverse institutions

Businesses search long and far for diverse candidates to hire; however, some do not realise that the ideal candidate could be right in front of them. It should be remembered that diversity goes beyond race, but includes age, disability, religion and more. It may be beneficial for companies to partner with minority and gender specific institutions such as non-profit organisations and even colleges. This will not only give them a wider diverse talent pool to hire from, but it will also show their commitment to changing their company culture by partnering with these organisations.

Article written and provided by Yasmin Ledward of Technojobs Ltd

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Published on: 27th February 2019