Inclusive Recruitment: Why It Matters and How To Do It

Our topic of the day is inclusive recruitment.

Inclusivity, diversity, and equality should be present in all areas of our businesses and companies. Before any employee even sets foot in our office, they should be treated fairly and without any predetermined bias. 

The recruitment process has historically been fraught with bias. Whether related to race, gender, religion, or disability, many companies have missed out on skilled employees due to both conscious and unconscious bias and discrimination.

Disabled people, particularly, have long been misrepresented and mistreated in recruitment processes. This has had a significant effect on the community as a whole. To give a quick introductory example, as many as 17% of disabled people looking for work have had a job offer withdrawn due to their disability. 

Discrimination in recruitment exists, let there be no doubt about that. Therefore, it’s hugely important to talk about it, acknowledge it, and come up with a plan on how to actively target it. 

Why Inclusive Recruitment Matters 

There is, and always has been, a gap in the employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people. While there has been progress over the last 10 years in closing that gap, it still very much exists.

Currently, the employment rate in the UK for non-disabled people stands at 81%. The employment rate for disabled people in the UK stands at a significantly lower 52.7%. This dropped from 54% in 2020, with the pandemic having an overwhelming impact on the disabled community. 

While, of course, we must acknowledge that some disabled people are not physically or mentally able to work and never will be, this number constitutes fewer people than the general public might think it would. 

Inclusive Recruitment for Disabled Job Seekers

There is no lack of want when it comes to disabled people looking for work. Rather, it is a lack of support and an abundance of discrimination that holds disabled people back from working. 

Studies found that only 50% of job applications sent by disabled people result in job interviews, as opposed to 69% of non-disabled applicants. Disabled people are applying for jobs but are hired much less often than non-disabled people.

Inclusive recruitment could put an end to this gap and allow a fair playing field to be established for all applications. Inclusive recruitment benefits 

• disabled people who can find more work that they want to do and gain value from, 
• companies can benefit from gaining skilled and valuable members of staff, 
• the economy can benefit from more people being employed and contributing back to the economy. 

How To Carry Out Inclusive Recruitment

There will be multiple aspects to consider when it comes to planning and carrying out inclusive recruitment. 

To make things easier, we have split these aspects into three main categories. 

Let’s discuss each of these in more detail. 

1. Accessibility For Applications

The first step of recruitment is usually the application process. How you set out and present your application process to potential applications will significantly impact whether the entire job is accessible or not.

Job postings 

The first thing to consider will be your job posting. Job postings can be either intentionally or accidentally discriminatory and exclusionary in lots of different ways. Many job postings are ableist and use ableist language without the employer even realising. If this is the case, many disabled applications will be deterred from applying even though there’s no reason they can’t do the job. 

At Carers with Disabilities, we offer a specialised service for employers that will screen your job adverts for inclusivity or lack thereof. This can help you make sure you aren’t accidentally excluding anyone through the use of language. It might seem like a small thing, but it can make a huge difference. 

Application forms

The second thing to consider with accessibility for applicants will be your application form. Application forms can be inaccessible in many different ways. One of the best things you can do is include an option entitled “help with completing application form”, in which you offer different formats and additional support. Even simple things like larger fonts and audio descriptions can make a huge difference to the accessibility of your application form. 

Considering these aspects in advance and taking action to ensure accessibility is a sure way to find a large, diverse pool of talent. Forgetting to take these things into account is an easy way to exclude great potential employees, simply because they have a disability. 

2. Training For Recruiters

The second aspect of carrying out inclusive recruitment is having inclusive recruiters. Making sure that our recruitment team/HR team is inclusive requires appropriate and consistent training. 

In a report commissioned by the NHS, entitled, “Inclusive Recruitment: Leading Positive Change”, the South Warwickshire Trust took part in a challenge to, “recruit a diverse workforce that is representative of its local communities”. 

One of their main points of action was to offer their staff equality impact assessment training and cultural awareness training. They did this to ensure that the culture of the recruitment teams was appropriate. And to “determine and address any unconscious biases that may exist”. As a result, the trust achieved its goals and fewer applicants felt discriminated against in the recruitment process. 

Unconscious biases are very important issues to tackle within the recruitment system. If your recruiters are making decisions based on internal opinions and stereotypes they have, there can never be a fair system of recruitment in place. 

Training is essential. 

3. Inclusivity on the Inside 

One of the best ways to make sure that you are engaging with practices of inclusive recruitment is to have a company or business that is already inclusive on the inside. 

A highly efficient tool to have in your inclusive recruitment toolkit is a diverse staff force. Of course, this might take time to build up if you are starting from a non-diverse starting point. But having disabled members of staff to help give their own perspective on issues is a fantastic resource.

No one knows more about accessibility and the lack of it than disabled people themselves. 

Consult people who have lived this life and take guidance from them, especially on how to improve things for others. Continuous learning is a valuable resource for inclusivity and accessibility. We can all learn together to make the workplace a better, more equal space for everyone. 

Inclusive Recruitment Practices To Take Home

We hope that this blog has given you an insight into inclusive recruitment, including its importance and how to implement it in your company.

Being an inclusive employer benefits both you and your employees.

To start your own journey with inclusive recruitment, why not get involved with our specialised packages for employers at Careers with Disabilities?

You’ll gain access to a pool of +10,000 diverse applicants by creating a free company profile on our site. Our team of experts will help you create and advertise inclusive job postings that will allow people of all abilities to apply for your posts on our disability-friendly jobs board.

You can also learn more about being a Disability-Friendly employer. 

Get in touch if you have any questions, we’d be more than happy to help.