Wanted! More Inclusive Recruitment

It’s hard to believe that we are at the end of the second decade of the 21st Century! As the new year begins, many of us will be thinking about and preparing for a career change or a new role. This is a great time to update and refresh your CV, but how many employers are refreshing their processes, particularly when it comes to Inclusive Recruitment?

The construction industry is one of the least diverse sectors in the UK for a variety of reasons from poor image to out dated recruitment practices. 

According to data from the CIC on built environment professional services (architects, engineers and surveyors etc), only 14% of practitioners are female, 25% of all practitioners are under 25 years of age; 3% identify as Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual, 4.85 declare a disability and just over 11% are from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. 

Why diversity and inclusion matters?

At present, the construction sector does not reflect the society it serves and the built environment is fundamentally important to our way of life. I believe we need greater diversity in the development, design, construction and management of the built environment so we all gain from an enriched understanding of the way the environment shapes everyone’s lives and to assist industry with creating places fit for the future.

What is Inclusive Recruitment?

Inclusive recruitment can be defined as the process of engaging, interviewing, and hiring a diverse set of individuals. An inclusive approach is holistic and intersectional, which considers intrinsic characteristics such as ethnicity and gender along with extrinsic characteristics such as education and socio-economic factors. 

Tips for removing barriers in recruitment practices

There are a number of ways that organisations can review and improve their search for talent. Here are 3 tips:

1.Use inclusive talent and recruitment services - there are a growing number of organisations which specialise in connecting employers with a wider talent pool (like Built By Us). Where possible expand the types of agencies used to find new talent.

2. Be consistent with recruitment processes  - interview processes are often the area in which companies fall short, leaving candidates confused and disappointed. A built environment professional shared their experience with me about recruitment to a construction company. “I was approached directly by the company for a role, I knew that they were looking for people with my skill set as others in my network noted that were also being approached or making applications. What surprised me was that while my colleagues were being invited to short informal interviews, I experienced something quite different in terms of the process despite having far more experience than my colleagues and it being the same job title. It made me question why I had been treated differently in the process, at the end of which I was told that I didn’t fit their criteria and wouldn’t be getting the role. While I don’t expect to get every role that I am shortlisted for it is disappointing to find myself being put through a different process than other people and it makes me wonder whether my age, gender and or ethnicity are a factor in that”.

It’s important to keep each aspect of the recruitment process consistent, with a clear plan communicated to all. This allows the team to compare candidates like for like and avoid bias or the appearance of bias affecting the process. People will and do share their experiences with others in their networks which could impact a businesses’ reputation and undermine efforts to attract more diverse candidates.

3. Use checking practices appropriately

At present, an increasing number of employers in all sectors including construction are using pre-employment checks including credit reviews to vet potential candidates. According to an article by REED:

“There’s a school of thought that the ‘bad debtor’ classification indicates the person may commit fraud in future. This is challenging as there are many cases where people with no debt go on to commit fraud.”

A credit report can only give a partial picture of an individual candidate and without context could be interpreted incorrectly. For people who have been on no or low incomes for a variety of reasons could, therefore, create barriers for candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Improving recruitment practices takes time and consideration, however putting the right strategy and processes in place will pay dividends for forward-thinking organisations who want to leverage the benefits of a diversity of skills, experiences and talent for their companies.

Contact Built By Us for more on developing inclusive recruitment strategies, to share opportunities or for help with finding talent.