Diversity in hiring allows your company to bring the most effective people in to fill positions. In an increasingly competitive business climate, recruiting for diversity ensures that your business is bringing in the brightest people available.

The majority of our population growth over the next 50 years is expected to be in the non-Caucasian demographic. With this increase in the general population, similar numbers will be seen in the workplace. Creating a workplace that actively aims for diversity gives your business an advantage.

Diversity in recruitment is important for a number of reasons. Understanding these reasons gives you a better understanding of the importance of diversity in the workplace.

1. Minority recruitment brings in employees that normally would not consider your company.
2. The more diverse your workplace, the less of an issue diversity becomes.
3. As baby boomers retire, minority employees will take the lead as the largest group of employees in the workplace.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Educate yourself about diversity recruiting

Before you begin building diversity in your workplace, you should understand the unique challenges that the minority employee faces as well as some of the possible attitudes or resistance that you may encounter with your existing employees. None of these problems are insurmountable; but, if not addressed, they can affect retention and morale which, of course, affects productivity.

I recommend: Penn State University publishes a diversity newsletter each quarter. Diversity Inc., is a monthly print magazine that covers diversity issues.

For the most diverse workforce, cast a wide net when filling a position

Recruiting minorities requires that you broaden your search field. Simplify the process of recruiting for diversity by using diversity job boards to post open positions.

I recommend: Post a job on Diversity.com or Diversity Working in addition to your usual recruitment websites.

Diversity recruiting is a specialized field, so you may want to consider a diversity consultant

Small businesses may have particular difficulty getting their message to the people they want to hire. A minority recruitment firm can simplify the process.

I recommend: J. B. Hunt Executive Search and Hughes Consultants, LLC, both provide executive level minority recruiting as a part of their employment consulting services.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Make establishing a diverse workforce a priority for your business. Add it to your employee handbook and mission statement.
• •  Bring a recruiter on-board to reach your diversity recruitment goals. In addition to filling positions, many also provide diversity training for your existing workforce and other services.
• •  Minority recruiting is only the first step in building a diverse workforce, retention and training are necessary as well. Consider mentoring relationships and workshops to smooth the transition for new employees.