Sure, there are plenty of situations where having strict qualifications makes sense. But for the vast majority of roles, a laundry list of qualifications does more harm than good. It narrows the candidate pool prematurely and slows down the organization by leaving job vacancies unfilled for longer than necessary. Organizations should eliminate some of the “must-have” skills that can be trained on the job to encourage more candidates to apply for complex positions. Reduce the requirements to only those that are necessary to perform the role. All too often, instead of actually checking for relevant job skills, a college degree is used as a proxy for competence. While many organizations have dropped their degree/graduation requirement for entry-level and mid-level corporate roles, some major global corporations have altogether stopped demanding a degree/ graduation. Several organizations have also reduced their work experience requirements and instead focus on the candidate’s potential when hiring.

Studies indicate that words with subtle masculine connotations such as aggressive, ambitious, determined, and dominant turn off female candidates. There’s psychology in how some people associate certain words with specific genders. Inclusive language is a staple of diversity recruiting strategies. It’s important to use gender-neutral and inclusive terminology in job postings. Firms should also avoid using corporate jargon such as KPI and SLAs in their advertisements. Doing this is a turn-off for talented candidates from applying for entry-level positions. Such language makes them feel like outsiders and like they are under-qualified. Another trend foresee in job descriptions is more transparency about work location arrangements, benefits offered, and salary information within job ads themselves. Putting salary and benefit information in job ads ensures that hiring teams and applicants are in agreement at the beginning of the hiring process

Leadership teams everywhere are beginning to recognize the importance of accountability in diversity recruiting. A growing diversity and inclusion trend is for companies to set transparent targets, goals, and D&I initiatives. Doing so will increase the accountability of people in leadership positions, encourage honest conversations between employees and their bosses, and inspire them to share ideas and solutions. We are all aware, that more diversity in a company does not necessarily equal more equity and inclusion. While efforts at diversity may increase, the same is not always the case for efforts at inclusivity. Diversity and inclusion is the cornerstone of every organization that desires to win and retain top talent, improve customer experience, and boost financial performance. Hiring managers cannot only be accountable for implementing inclusive practices across the hiring process. This should be driven as a company culture.

Talent acquisition and recruiting are central to any HR team. AI-driven processes and tools can add immense value to enterprise recruiting. It’s not just transforming HR function’s performance but also removing unconscious bias and improving diversity and inclusion. Diversity recruiting in particular stands to benefit from the potential technology to eliminate bias from the recruitment and hiring process. If biased patterns emerge, adjustments can be made to eliminate them. Recruiters can also use software to detect unconscious bias before it can cause damage. Other tools can analyze job descriptions and propose improvements that to make the post more appealing to diverse applicants. As the AI learns from these placements and sourcing trends, it will recommend more diverse candidates in the future.

In March 2020, the world went virtual and businesses adapted quickly to a remote workplace. While some businesses have transitioned to work-from-home, others are looking at creating hybrid workplaces. Remote work is especially a boon for employees with disabilities who may not be able to commute or for neurodivergent workers, who often work better in a quiet and familiar environment, such as a home office. The option to work from home opens the door to a variety of new candidates who may not otherwise have the opportunity. The majority of talent recruiters expect virtual recruiting to become the norm. A virtual workforce, combined with virtual recruitment pipelines, widens the field of qualified applicants significantly — especially for organizations that know how to leverage that advantage. Virtual recruitment is here to stay and so is a virtual/hybrid workforce. It’s difficult to overstate the opportunities that can bring.