Tools for Attracting a Diverse and Culturally Competent Applicant Pool (Part 2)

By: Dionardo Pizaña

There are several other additional intentional strategies, tools and processes an organization can implement when looking to diversify its workforce.  Some of these strategies, tolls and processes may already be reflected in your recruitment and hiring processes, however, they may not have the intentional focus on equity and inclusion needed to yield a more diverse candidate pool.  In addition to intentionally implementing these strategies, tools and processes, organizations also need to have strong and accountable leadership helping to guide the decision making and organizational culture change processes necessary to not only hire a diverse and culturally competent workforce but to also retain these individuals.

Below are a few examples of strategies, tools and processes that can be implemented to support your organizational commitment to diversifying your workforce and supporting an inclusive and equitable organizational culture:

Assemble a diverse search committee – Be intentional and strategic in assembling a search committee that is as diverse as possible across race, gender, position within the organization and other differences especially those pertinent to the position.  If your organization lacks diversity within staff, this may provide you with an opportunity to engage community partners in your search process.  Inviting a diverse individual from a community organization not only helps to diversify your committee, it may also strengthen the relationship you have with this organization and bring a perspective and insight not found within your organization.  This may also provide an opportunity from a diverse partner to learn more about your organization and hiring process so this individual can provide insight to colleagues or community members for future employment opportunities.

Develop and nurture a diverse network – It is no surprise that many vacancies are filled by individuals who know someone within the organization.  It may not only be that an individual is familiar with someone within the organization, it may matter just as much that a current employee can provide support and advocacy for a prospective candidate.  This is why it is imperative that leaders within an organization develop and nurture a diverse network of community, state and national contacts and partners, at all times, not just when a vacancy occurs or is anticipated.   This diverse network can be developed and nurtured by being engaged with local and national organizations like the NAACP, local chapters of historically black fraternities and sororities, local diverse agencies, and diverse faith based organizations, among others.  At a national level, organizational leadership should be engaged with and attend professional conferences and organizations such as the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education, the Society for the Advancement of Hispanic/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), National Association for Multicultural Education, the White Privilege Conference, and Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRSS) among others.  Attending these conferences and professional organization gatherings will expose leadership to emerging issues with these diverse constituents, learn about and meet emerging diverse leaders or potential employees and show a visible top level, organizational commitment to diversity and inclusion.  Additionally, many of these professional conferences and organizations have job posting options available through their websites and journals for searches conducted at a national level. 

Develop a diversity informed, intentional hiring process – It is essential that your organization develop a process that intentionally prioritizes inclusion and diversity when recruiting and hiring new staff.  Some ways in which this can achieved might be developing a “candidate evaluation grid” for committee members to evaluate written documentation from candidates related to the job responsibilities.   This option suggests that the job posting has skill/desired qualities or responsibilities that explicitly highlight issues of inclusion, equity and diversity like, 1). Spanish/English language proficiency desired 2). Experience working with culturally and linguistically diverse U.S. communities, 3).  Proven record of building and sustaining culturally and linguistically networks and partnerships, 4). Evidence of ongoing personal and professional development related to issues of inclusion, equity and cultural competence, as a few examples.  Including these explicit desired or preferred candidate qualifications, among other qualifications for the position, will allow committee members to assess a candidate’s written materials through a lens of diversity, inclusion and equity. 

Providing more than one opportunity to interview a prospective pool of candidates by phone or other teleconference medium, can help to build a relationship with candidates while digging deeper into the candidate’s knowledge of the job, interest in the job and knowledge of the organization they have applied to.  Adding this extra step may feel time consuming and unnecessary; however, it may be helpful to slow down the hiring process even in the midst of the urgency to hire someone and may help committee members in their discernment of individuals to keep in the candidate pool.  It may also provide an opportunity to ask additional questions related to issues of diversity, inclusion and equity.

Throughout the interview process it is also recommended that behavioral based, reflective and open ended questions be central to the engagement of the candidate as you assess their skills and competencies for the position.  Part 3 of this blog series will provide examples of these types of questions.  Additionally, if your job description has a desired or preferred language proficiency qualification, you may choose to set up a separate conversation between a prospective candidate and a staff or community member who is proficient in the language you are looking for in a candidate so that they can have a conversation and the results of that conversation, to assess their proficiency, can be shared with committee members as a part of the candidate’s search portfolio. 

Nurture and develop an internal pipeline of diverse employees – One of an organization’s most valuable assets is its current employees.  Prioritizing a vibrant professional development and mentoring program which allows employees to develop new skills and competencies and gain valuable insights into future employment tracks or positions is a must.  This process should be available to everyone across the organization and intentional recruitment of employees who are diverse is needed in order to use these opportunities to prepare the next generation of leaders within your organization.  Nurturing the future potential of diverse employees can also be an important tool to help retain this important pool of employees while supporting a message of inclusion and equity.

• What other intentional processes or policies are you implementing to recruit and retain a diverse employee workforce?
• How have you supported staff in developing diverse networks that can help in recruiting future diverse employees?
• How have you used staff professional development and mentoring to support you desire to employ and retain a diverse workforce?

Part 3 of this blog post in March will explore developing and using behavioral based, open ended questions centered on cultural competence during the candidate interview process to support outcomes centered in equity and inclusion.