Inclusive Recruitment Campaigns

Companies spend millions on antibias training each year in hopes of creating more-inclusive—and thereby innovative and effective—workforces. Studies show that well-managed diverse groups perform better and are more committed, have higher collective intelligence, and excel at making decisions and solving problems. But research also shows that bias-prevention programs rarely deliver. So what can you, as an individual leader, do to ensure that your team is including and making the most of diverse voices. Although bias itself is devilishly hard to change, it is not as difficult to interrupt. The authors have identified several practices that managers can use to counter bias (and avoid its negative effects) without spending a lot of time or political capital. In hiring, leaders should insist on a diverse pool, precommit to objective criteria, limit referral hiring, and structure interviews around skills-based questions. Day to day, they should ensure that high- and low-value work is assigned evenly and run meetings in a way that guarantees all voices are heard. In evaluating and developing people, they should clarify criteria for positive reviews and promotions, stick to those rules, and separate potential from performance and personality from skill sets

Neurodiversity 101: Neuroinclusive recruitment: small changes, big impact- low cost for 2026 Many organisations want to widen their talent pool, yet recruitment processes still quietly exclude neurodivergent people — not through intent, but through design. Neuroinclusive recruitment is not about lowering standards. It is about removing unnecessary barriers so people can show what they can actually do. Below are some very practical and low cost ways employers can make recruitment fairer and more effective. 1. Job applications Complex forms, jargon and hidden expectations filter people out early. Simple steps help: Use plain language and shorter forms Offer step-by-step or video guidance Allow alternative formats (e.g. recorded answers) Provide help without requiring a diagnosis 2. Interviews (face-to-face and online) Interviews often measure confidence under pressure rather than job skill. Train interviewers to recognise neurodivergent bias Offer quiet spaces, flexible lighting and clear structure Share questions in advance where possible Allow practice sessions, captions or camera-off options 3. Psychometric assessments Assessments should measure what matters for the role — not processing speed or test familiarity. Use tools designed with accessibility in mind Check for bias in delivery and scoring Explain purpose clearly and provide practice examples 4. CVs, networking and job searching Informal systems disadvantage people without social capital. Teach strengths-based CV writing Provide templates and assistive tools Use structured networking with clear expectations Offer 1:1 options alongside group events 5. Virtual recruitment processes Digital does not automatically mean accessible. Ensure platforms work with screen readers Give clear instructions and technical support Avoid time-pressured tasks unless essential 6. Adjustments and disclosure Many candidates do not know what they can ask for — or fear doing so. Clearly explain how to request adjustments Normalise adjustments as part of the process Focus on needs, not labels The key shift for 2026 : Design recruitment for predictability, clarity and flexibility. When you do, EVERYONE benefits AND not just neurodivergent candidates. For training, consultancy support and profiling tools contact the team at www.doitprofiler.com Lexxic

🔎 When analyzing the onboarding processes of various companies from a DEI perspective, I have noticed that some organizations understand the importance of having a buddy system, providing DEI training during onboarding, and introducing new hires to ERGs. However, there are also overlooked foundational steps that can drive significant change: 💡 Step 1: Conducting a DEI Audit of an Existing Process Before designing your inclusive onboarding program, it is crucial to conduct a DEI audit of your current process. This audit involves assessing your onboarding materials, procedures, and practices through a diversity and inclusion lens through employee personas. It helps identify any gaps, biases, or exclusions that may exist, enabling you to make targeted improvements. 💡 Step 2: Developing Pre-Onboarding Resources Pre-onboarding plays a vital role in setting the stage for an inclusive onboarding experience. Create materials that introduce new hires to practical information, but also your organization's culture and DEI initiatives. Providing this information in advance helps new hires familiarize themselves with your commitment to DEI and sets expectations for their onboarding journey. 💡 Step 3: Designing an Inclusive Onboarding Program for the First Year Extend the onboarding process beyond the initial few days or weeks to encompass the entire first year of a new hire's journey. This extended timeline allows new hires to deepen their understanding of your organization, build relationships, and fully integrate into the company culture, fostering a sense of belonging. 💡 Step 4: Training Onboarding Facilitators and Buddies While many organizations recognize the importance of training onboarding facilitators, they often overlook the significance of training buddies in DEI. These people play a crucial role in supporting new hires and shaping their onboarding experience. Provide comprehensive DEI training to both facilitators and buddies, empowering them to create an inclusive and supportive environment. This training should cover topics such 🧠 unconscious bias, 💬 inclusive communication, 🗺 cultural competence, ensuring that they can effectively guide new hires through the onboarding process in an inclusive way. ________________________________________ Are you looking for more practical tips and DEI content like this?  📨 Join my free DEI Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/dtgdB6XX

„Companies spend millions on antibias training each year in hopes of creating more-inclusive—and thereby innovative and effective—workforces. Studies show that well-managed diverse groups perform better and are more committed, have higher collective intelligence, and excel at making decisions and solving problems. But research also shows that bias-prevention programs rarely deliver“, schreiben Joan C. Williams und Sky Mihaylo in der Harvard Business Review. Statt auf ineffiziente Programme fokussieren die Autorinnen auf Möglichkeiten, die einzelne Führungskräfte in der Praxis haben, um Vorurteilen entgegenzuwirken und Diversität zu verwirklichen. Es beginnt für sie damit, zu verstehen, wie sich Voreingenommenheit im Arbeitsalltag auswirkt, wann und wo ihre verschiedenen Formen tagtäglich auftreten. Das Motto: „You can’t be a great manager without becoming a ‚bias interrupter‘.“  Ihre Empfehlungen gliedern Williams und Mihaylo in drei Hauptpunkte. ▶️ Fairness in hiring: 1. Insist on a diverse pool.  2. Establish objective criteria, define “culture fit” (to clarify objective criteria for any open role and to rate all applicants using the same rubric), and demand accountability.  3. Limit referral hiring.  4. Structure interviews with skills-based questions.    ▶️ Managing Day-to-Day:  Day to day, they should ensure that high- and low-value work is assigned evenly and run meetings in a way that guarantees all voices are heard. 1. Set up a rotation for office housework, and don’t ask for volunteers.  2. Mindfully design and assign people to high-value projects.  3. Acknowledge the importance of lower-profile contributions.  4. Respond to double standards, stereotyping, “manterruption,” “bropriating,” and “whipeating (e.g., majority-group members taking or being given credit for ideas that women and people of color originally offered). 5. Ask people to weigh in. 6. Schedule meetings inclusively (they should take place in the office and within working hours). 7. Equalize access proactively (e.g., if bosses meet with employees, this should be driven by business demands or team needs).   ▶️ Developing your team: Your job as a manager is not only to get the best performance out of your team but also to encourage the development of each member. That means giving fair performance reviews, equal access to high-potential assignments, and promotions and pay increases to those who have earned them. 1. Clarify evaluation criteria and focus on performance, not potential.  2. Separate performance from potential and personality from skill sets.  3. Level the playing field with respect to self-promotion (by giving everyone you manage the tools to evaluate their own performance).  4. Explain how training, promotion, and pay decisions will be made, and follow those rules. „Conclusion: Organizational change is crucial, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Fortunately, you can begin with all these recommendations today.“ #genderequality #herCAREER

An often overlooked aspect of diversity is socioeconomic diversity. This new paper studies socioeconomic diversity in academia. Key findings: 1️⃣People from poorer backgrounds have been significantly underrepresented for the last 70 years, particularly in humanities and elite universities. 2️⃣Poorer academics have similar average publication numbers to wealthier peers, but are more likely to have both very high and very low output. 3️⃣Poorer academics introduce more novel scientific concepts, but are less likely to receive recognition, as measured by citations, Nobel Prize nominations, and awards. Recent trends in academia (at least in my field) increase the financial barriers to entry in the profession and reduce socioeconomic diversity. When I graduated, the average time from undergrad to PhD was 5 years; now it's 6 with 7 not being uncommon. Many PhD candidates have pre-docs before a PhD; others have a masters and some have both. So, you might need to spend a decade as a student or research assistant before getting a faculty position, which some people can't afford (or may not have the contacts to get). In part, this is due to an arm's race created by the job market preferring candidates with ever-longer CVs. While universities individually and the profession collectively is taking action on gender and ethnic diversity, there is little action on socioeconomic diversity. https://lnkd.in/eWs29vmK

An accessible recruitment process is not just about offering adjustments/ accommodations, it should also include: Adequate Training Hiring teams should have adequate training in accessibility, ableism, bias, adjustments/ accommodations, and inclusive communication. This shouldn’t be a one-off training either; it should be annual and mandatory. Job Descriptions Hiring teams should be able to write job descriptions that are clear, anti-ableist, and free of jargon and acronyms. Role requirements should be essentials, not nice-to-haves and they should focus on outcomes. Adjustments/ Accommodations Always include an adjustments/ accommodations statement and include a point of contact. Hiring teams should know the process and be able to support candidates with confidence. Ask Preferred Communication Style Hiring teams need to be asking a candidate for their preferred communication style, and not just ignore it. If we say email is better, use email. Promote Accessibility at Every Step Emails to candidates should include an accessible message. Example: “If there is a more accessible way to communicate or if you need any adjustments/accommodations at any point, please let me know.” Be Flexible Be flexible when arranging interviews, interview locations, and during the interview itself. Keep Candidate Informed Keep a candidate informed of any next steps and provide timeframes. If you would like to learn more about creating an inclusive accessible recruitment process, please reach out: info@disabledbysociety.com) #WednesayWisdom #DisabilityInclusion #DiversityAndInclusion #Recruitment Image Description: A dark background filled with colourful squares and rectangles, of all different sizes. An off-black box contains text reading, "An accessible recruitment process is not just about offering adjustments/ accommodations". At the bottom left the Disabled By Society logo.

Why do talented women from marginalized communities still struggle to access leadership roles? At LedBy Foundation, we ask this question every day—not as a theoretical debate, but as a real challenge that Indian Muslim women face in the workplace. The answer is layered: a lack of representation, unconscious bias in hiring, and networks that remain closed to those without privilege. So, how do we solve this? LedBy creates access: Through mentorship, executive coaching, and industry connections, we bridge the gap between talent and opportunity. LedBy builds confidence: Our women don’t just gain skills; they learn to navigate spaces where they were once invisible. LedBy measures impact and iterates: 80% of our program graduates secure jobs and continue in the workforce, and 40% step directly into leadership-track roles—proving that systemic change starts with focused interventions. Leadership development doesn’t happen by accident—it happens through access, mentorship, and opportunity. Programs like ours are proving that when barriers are removed, talented women thrive in leadership roles. The next generation of leaders needs to come from those who are given a fair shot. If you believe in inclusive leadership, let’s talk. Because talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn’t—yet. #Leadership #Diversity #Inclusion #LedByFoundation

You are more likely to work in the back office if you are from a lower socioeconomic background than if you are from a higher socioeconomic background 🫤 I attended yesterday's launch of the ‘Building the Future’ socioeconomic inclusion report at the CMS building! The report, created by the fantastic Nik Miller and The Bridge Group and sponsored by the JLL Foundation Real Estate Balance reviewed and continued the 2020 report exploring the impact of socioeconomic inclusion within Real estate. Have we made progress? Unsurprisingly, the answer was no! And in some cases, it’s clear we have even regressed on our efforts and impact 🤷🏾♀️ People always ask me, ‘Why are you so passionate about socioeconomic inclusion?’ Answer: Have you ever had to be a translator for your parents while looking after your siblings, living in challenging financial situations, and smiling at your teacher every day? To me, that translates as: 💡Great communicator 💡Great change management 💡Able to work under pressure 💡Great relationship building 💡Experienced conflict resolution expert Often, we look down on people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds as people who are not up to standard and fit for our polished and perfect teams. That can’t be further from the truth! Want someone who is passionate, resilient, focused and ambitions? Get someone who has had no choice to be anything else 💪🏾 The key finding from the report support this idea that in order to be successful in real estate you need to be a certain gender from a certain socioeconomic backgrounds 1. Only 22% of employees in participating organisations come from lower socio-economic backgrounds (SEBs), compared with 39% in the UK workforce. This disparity is most acute in senior roles, where 69% of leaders are from higher SEBs, highlighting important barriers to progression. 2. There is strong evidence that a focus on SEB will also have a positive effect on diversity by gender and ethnic background. Women and those from minority ethnic groups, who are also lower SEBs are underrepresented, are acutely under-represented in senior positions. 3. Despite awareness raised by the Bridge Group 2020 report, real estate has been outpaced by industries like finance, law, and accountancy in responding to challenges around SEB diversity. 4. Comprehensive and consistent data collection is critical for identifying gaps and measuring progress. 5. The shift from isolated initiatives to enabling profession and growth is critical in fostering an inclusive culture. As a board member on Progress Together and having driven this work across financial services it is great to see ‘Real estate’ starting to understand its data, but we need change! Now more than ever our focus needs to be on skills first hiring and transparent equitable progression! Amidst all the noise is the value of having passionate, dedicated people who can take our business forward!

When I thought I’d done enough hiring, I missed one small but big thing, and it cost a great employee. Last quarter, I filled an important position in just 11 days. It felt like a win. But 6 months later, that person quit. And I realised, the mistake wasn’t in how fast we hired, but in how little we understood what truly motivated them. I did everything right, job description, skill match, reference check, offer letter. The candidate joined happily. They were talented and responsible. But what I never asked was: 👉 What will make you stay here beyond one year? During his exit talk, he said, I wanted more challenges, a clear path, and a stronger sense of belonging. That’s when it clicked, we hired for skills but didn’t show them the growth journey. Here’s what I should have done from day one: 1️⃣ Growth Plan: Explain what their 6, 12, and 18 months could look like, including new learning or team exposure. 2️⃣ Culture Talk: Share how our company lives its values daily and how they’ll be part of it. 3️⃣ Ownership Chance: Tell them what project they’ll own and how it will make a difference. Because employees don’t just quit jobs, they quit environments that don’t meet their expectations or values. Recent reports also say: Professionals now value purpose, growth, and belonging more than just salary. A good onboarding and role clarity are now key to retaining employees in the first year. So I changed my process, Now ask them: ✔ Why this role? Why now? during interviews. ✔ Share a short growth roadmap at the offer stage. ✔ Have a First 90 Days check-in on culture and impact. ✔ Explain, What success looks like in Year 1 and review it at month 6. Results: ✅ Fast hiring (under 20 days) ✅ Better offer acceptance and retention rate Key lessons for HRs and recruiters: 1️⃣ Start with why, understand what drives the candidate beyond the job title. 2️⃣ Talk about culture and belonging early, not after joining. 3️⃣ Show the path, people stay when they see how they’ll grow and make an impact. Simple frameworks: Why-Impact-Roadmap: Explain the reason, result, and path. Environment Check-In: Discuss clarity, culture, and growth before hiring. 90/180-Day Review: Set early goals and revisit them at 3 and 6 months. #careers #careeradvice #hr #linkedinnewsindia #linkedin

Three unpopular ways companies can remove bias from their hiring process. 👯 More interviewers Those posts that go viral about hiring someone after a single coffee chat? Or mocking hiring managers that need a panel ? That's all bias - decisions based on gut instincts instead of with objective criteria. Instead, involve multiple interviewers with different perspectives - a peers and key stakeholders may have different interactions with the new team member, and their input can help you make a better decision. 🔎 This is backed up research from Harvard that shows that structured interviews with multiple interviewers are 2x more predictive of success in the role than unstructured ones. 🪧 Assess skills I know skills assessments aren't popular, and many people claim that they won't engage in a process that includes them. But lots of people can talk the talk and make up examples in interviews. It's harder to fake hard skills. If you're hiring a financial analyst, ask them to build a model using dummy data. If you're hiring a social media manager, ask them to create a plan for a campaign for a fake product. Work samples are great as well! And then dig in with questions to fully understand what they did, why they made the choices they made, etc. to ensure they didn't just submit something where someone else did the work. 🔎 And the research backs it up: the Aberdeen Group did a study that showed that those who completed skills assessments had a 36% higher rate of retention in their roles than those who didn't. 💰 Don't negotiate Negotiation increases inequity. When companies are big on negotiation, hiring managers will suggest things like "let's go in at X so when they negotiate we can bump up to Y." Then the candidates who don't ask for more end up underpaid. It promotes playing games and the people who are afraid to push are the ones who will be negatively impacted. Instead, companies should be transparent about their salary ranges and how compensation is determined, and then apply those practices consistently across all hires. Adjusting offers should be reserved for the rare cases where a candidate brings new information to the table around their qualifications or ability to have an impact, or the company realizes they're misaligned to the market. Now, I do know that many companies don't operate this way so it never hurts to ask, but just know that if a company comes up a lot with their offer after you negotiate, that's a signal that they were happy to try to lowball you. 🔎 And again, research backs this up: countless studies from McKinsey to Leanin to Harvard show that there are differences in who negotiates and in how negotiation is perceived, and this hurts people from marginalized groups. Like I said, these aren't necessarily popular ideas - they are more work for companies AND candidates. But they are research-backed ways to make hiring more equitable. And that's something we should all support.