Page 17 - Anti-Racism Pocketbook for Schools and Academies

Good practice for inclusive recruitment

As a recruiter, it should be a main priority to ensure that bias is

not prevalent in the recruitment process. Building inclusive and
diverse teams is important for every organisation due to the fact

that they provide different opinions and perspectives within an

organisation.

Unfortunately, bias can prevent the development of diversity

within the workplace. It is commonly known that ethnically

diverse candidates for jobs are less likely to be chosen when
considering small aspects like names and ethnic background.

A job applicant with a name that sounds like it might belong to an

ethnically diverse individual – Lakisha Washington or Mustafa
Mahmoud or Bukunmi Bankole – can find it harder to get a job.

Despite laws against discrimination and the desire for some

businesses to enhance profits by hiring those most qualified

regardless of race, 66% of ethnically diverse people were in

employment in comparison to 78% of white people in 2019.

However, there are many practices that can be put in place to

ensure that ethnically diverse candidates are receiving the same
opportunities as their white counterparts in the recruitment

process.

Here is a list of things to consider when discussing good practice
in recruitment:

• Write inclusive job descriptions

• Avoid making generalisations such as using the term BAME,

as it encompasses too many backgrounds and cultures

• Widen your search to include diverse groups and pools of
talent

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