E,D&I is the ethos that differences in colour, ethnicity, abilities, age, gender, beliefs, socioeconomics, sexual orientation, disability, marital status and other characteristics should not affect the chances of being hired. It is no secret that the PR industry has historically faced a diversity challenge. In an industry with a higher than average proportion being privately educated and with *9/10 UK public relations professionals being white, how do employers in this sector go about recruiting with influencing change and increasing diversity in mind?
Employers and recruiters have a responsibility to ensure they are taking positive action in order to affect change. For both, it is imperative to promote the idea of culture add and reject the idea of cultural fit. Rather, focussing on skills enables organisations to put the practice of including people in a way that is fair for all at the forefront of the selection process. This will enable a company to bring new perspectives and ways of thinking, which ultimately creates a diverse culture and allows individuals to make a cultural contribution. Equally important, this is also proven to retain a competitive commercial advantage.
Rather than positively discriminating, we need to ensure recruiters are opening up the talent pool to allow all under-represented groups access to roles. Simply, this means placing job ads on a diverse range of job boards to increase the opportunities to all and widening the net as far as possible. Furthermore, to affect true change, the employment environment must be expansive enough to retain a diverse talent pool and allow hires to thrive and once candidates are on board within an organisation, employers must ensure they are championing the E,D&I agenda in the on-boarding process and within the workplace.
Prospect recommends organisations who can support your E,D&I agenda and we are always keen to hear about others. Some organisations include:
People Like Us
The Unmistakables
93percent club
The Brixton Finishing School
The Taylor Bennett Foundation
*Source https://www.cipr.co.uk/CIPR/About_Us/equity-diversity-inclusion.aspx
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