With remote working becoming more acceptable, it is also becoming a valid method for increasing diversity in the workforce. No longer do geographical homogeneous populations constrain a company to recruit solely from a local talent pool. By expanding the geographic scope of your recruiting, you will reach more potential candidates.

Diversity means having a workforce made up of many different types of people with different perspectives. Different gender is just one type of diversity. Different races, different nationalities, religious backgrounds, and differing physical abilities are all great options to increase workforce diversity. Researchers such as McKinsey & Co have shown that diversity makes an organization more successful and more profitable.

 
Recruiting and hiring from a variety of people is important but it needs to be underpinned by company culture. Take a hard look at your culture to see if it promotes inclusiveness. In smaller organizations, two or three people’s non-accepting attitudes and actions can end up dividing the workforce, making some groups feel unwelcome. These types of behavior will need to be addressed to maintain diversity in the workforce. By utilizing employee surveys, you can gauge how employees feel and discover issues before they cause employees to leave.

Finally, set a goal and make the effort to measure the organization’s diversity; it helps to improve the overall diversity levels by putting more focus on the actions required to improve them.

ICON has powerful recruiting tools to help build out your workforce, even in geographically challenging areas. Click on the link to learn more about how we can help you reach your diversity targets.