Nurture the company’s corporate image
Above all, it is important to define what applicants will see when researching the company. Whether on a Welcome to the Jungle page or a careers website, the images, photos and text selected should represent the diversity of the company as much as possible. Taglines should not be too gender-biased and open vocabulary should be used. This means avoiding “tech ninja” and “coding superhero” type labels. Similarly, photos that only show men can stop women from applying, as they might feel they would not be welcomed.
Adapt job offers
Following the same tack, it’s important to adapt offers to your target. Studies agree that women will not apply unless they fulfill 80% of the requirements listed in a job spec., whereas men are happy with 50%. It therefore seems preferable to avoid long lists of skills and focus instead on the soft skills required.
Focus the talent search
If you are proactively hunting talent, give recruiters a target number of men and women to contact that is representative of the market. By specifying a minimum number of women to approach, you are encouraging head-hunters to broaden their search and step outside their cognitive biases.
Furthermore, if you identify an opportunity internally, make sure applications are received across the board. For example, if only men apply, do not hesitate to ask the women what’s stopping them from applying, without pressuring them, of course.
Meet women at interviews
A good equality strategy extends to the interviews attended by the applicants. To continue this work to represent diversity, started in the previous steps, you need to make sure people of each gender are met with. These examples of women within the company will make it easier for each applicant to see their future role more clearly.
In addition, an equality policy can be deployed at any stage of the recruitment process. The most important thing is to ensure it is applied rigorously and that all stakeholders are committed to it. And the final piece of advice from our experts? Put these measures in place as early as possible in the company’s development to maximize the benefits!
