While many industries have woken up to the necessity of a diverse workforce, the path to attract female talent in some sectors still remains a challenge. This guest blog from Natasha Harvey talks about five ways to attract more women into male-dominated industries.
As well as competitive edge and resilience, a diverse workforce is pivotal for success on many levels bringing greater innovation, better management of risk and improved business performance.
Here are 5 things to think about when you’re helping clients attract female talent.
Consider what your marketing says about you (and your clients)
Think about how your business is perceived through your marketing materials. What tone of voice are you using? Does your website represent the diversity of the society you serve and the types of candidates and organisations you aspire to work with? If not, think about how you can adjust it to ensure it appeals to a broader range of people.
Consider using examples of successful females in the organisations you’ve worked with to help promote your business as an equal-opportunities recruiter and a strong partner for clients looking to attract female talent. Communication is an important first step when it comes to delivering a diversity message successfully.
Re-think your job advertisements and postings
Did you know that most women will only apply for a position if they meet 100% of the criteria, while men will apply if they have 60% of the attributes required?
Focus on critical skills that are essential for the role you’re recruiting for. By including a long list of “nice-to-haves”, you may be unintentionally discouraging women from applying.
Play a role of facilitator, network-builder, thought-leader
As a recruitment specialist and partner to both clients and candidates, consider providing a platform for frequent facilitated group discussion-sessions for women. Include women from different backgrounds, industries and levels of seniority to share experiences. Take the opportunity to invite speakers to discuss key topics of relevance around leadership and career advancement.
This type of event will provide opportunities to bring in different perspectives and learnings from women in similar contexts and promote real conversations about real issues. It will also offer opportunities to build networks and additional connections.
Consider partnering with a coach to offer women the opportunity to tackle typical blockers to success like lack of self-confidence or imposter syndrome. 1-on-1 coaching promotes self-management and the ability to handle ambiguity that will help women navigate through professional environments.
Promote the inclusiveness of the organisation
Ensure that potential female recruits are aware of any development and mentoring programmes as well as career opportunities, available for women in the client’s organisation. Leverage female role models and suggest your client showcase examples of female leaders within their business and on their Board of Directors – including the path they’ve taken to reach the top.
Encourage clients to think about the benefits they can offer. Many working women with families will be attracted to roles which offer flexible and remote working conditions. If the business offers this already, ensure they’re highlighted as a benefit when speaking with candidates.
Work with the client to define clear criteria to describe knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviours of value to the business and evaluate all candidates against them. Set targets together with the client for representation of both female and male candidates on the short-list.
Support your client in preparing for interviews
First impressions matter and job interviews are as much about making sure your client is a good fit for the candidate, as it is about your candidate being a good fit for the client. Share with your client any messaging you consider to be important to female candidates. Ensure that interviewers proactively share the message that a diverse workforce means a high-performing, strong and successful team. Encourage them to share their vision of the inclusive culture they’re working towards and why it’s a strategic priority for the company.
If you feel there is the possibility of gender bias in the recruitment process, you may want to suggest that hiring managers be offered unconscious bias training to help them understand and address automatic patterns of thinking that could impact their recruitment decisions.
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While you can only make recommendations to your clients, you can take charge of your own beliefs, brand and ways of working, to position female talent in the right way and ensure a more diverse and inclusive workforce for the future.
Natasha Harvey is a certified transformational coach and communications specialist. She runs coaching and mentoring programmes for young women to help build self-awareness, self-confidence, strong communications skills and resilience.
Find out more: https://www.embraceyourchange.co.uk/
