How Smart is your recruitment strategy?

GUEST BLOG: In this contributed blog post Byron Calmonson, director at the resourcing hub, discusses strategies for ‘smart recruitment’ and how this will contribute to a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

You will already have heard of Smart Cities, Smart Tech, Smart Goals and so forth. In 2019 everyone will also be talking about Smart Recruitment or Smart Recruitment as a Service (SRaaS).

Another business acronym you say? Absolutely! And it’s a very important one…

My view is that diversity and inclusion should form the basis of everything an organisation does. Diverse technology teams are more innovative, high-performing and better at understanding customer or user requirements.

At The Resourcing Hub we are committed Tech Talent Charter UK signatories and I am also a permanent adviser to the Civil Service Diversity & Inclusion Working Group, consulting the government on hidden disability inclusion in particular.

Utilising a Smart Recruitment strategy could help companies source great people with fresh ideas and thinking. Hiring managers are encouraged to think much wider and bigger about talent and resourcing to help attract a high-quality diverse candidate pool.

So, what does Smart Recruitment actually entail? There are four key components:

1. Organisations need clearly defined and measurable diversity targets. As I have said before, if you are serious about recruiting a diverse workforce and ensuring that your employees all get equal opportunities to progress, you need to understand where you are now, where you aspire to, by when, and crucially who is responsible.
2. Smart Recruitment requires business leaders who want to attract and secure diverse candidates to be brave enough to try new sourcing strategies and processes. This might involve giving all candidates a choice of digital and non-digital communication channels, making use of video technology for interviews and trialling outreach events for schools and communities.
3. As part of a Smart Recruitment approach it is important for organisations to ensure they have a strong positive and inclusive image in the talent market. Clients must promote their brand as a diverse and inclusive employer where candidates who might not fit the traditional industry stereotype due to their gender, disability, ethnicity, social group etc will feel welcome and valued.
4. Smart Recruitment isn’t just about the sourcing and interview stages; it is an ongoing process and obligation. Organisations need new agile and inclusive career progression processes to ensure their diverse workforce thrives, continues to add value to the business and wants to stay for the long-term.

In closing, diversity is not ‘just’ about business; for myself it is a highly personal commitment. Having a close family member on the autistic spectrum I’m acutely aware of the issues many candidates with differences are facing. As this person is moving into adulthood and considering college and careers options, I’m frustrated by the limited progress and support.

Business leaders who have the courage and vision to invest in building diverse, multi-skilled teams empowered to think differently have so much to gain, and my message to hiring managers is simple:

Don’t miss out on all the untapped technology talent. Be brave and join the Smart Recruitment journey.