9 Steps to Designing a Diverse Workplace

9 Steps to Designing a Diverse Workplace Encouraging those from diverse backgrounds, be they social, ethnic, sexual orientation, disability and so on, to pursue a career in your company can help give your business a competitive advantage. The diversification of a business’ employees fosters innovation, creativity, and excellent performance. The benefits are incalculable: for individuals, families, communities, companies, and the economy and nation as a whole. Whichever industry you are in, you have the opportunity to contribute and to reap the fruits! It is less about quotas, and more about a business reflecting its audience and society as a whole. It’s also about finding talent, and by ignoring a whole section of society, it leaves an enormously valuable pool of talent under utilised. If I were to start to design a diverse workplace, these are the areas I would look at, as part of a Diversity and Inclusion Strategy it would be a great place to start for any business looking to hire diverse candidates. 1. The attraction strategy: Often companies don’t realise this, and it sounds obvious, but businesses often underestimate the value of their job adverts. For example, the imagery. These things say more about them than they might think. If a business is hiring talent and uses a stock image that only includes one type of person then audiences may assume that the advert is for those people in the image. It’s important to understand the concept that the norm is for managers to hire in their own likeness. Simply put, job seekers won’t be attracted to jobs that don’t seem aimed at them. Looking at how a job ad will appear and who it is likely to attract is an important place to start. 2. Being proactive It’s important to not just use obvious platforms to find talent. LinkedIn is very useful but it isn’t the only place to look for talent. There are professional networks, professional organisations, diversity initiatives, awards alumni, charities, social media, social enterprises, not-for-profit, professional platforms, careers events and sector leaders in inclusion. It’s important to form real relationships with key stake holders within these organisations so you are front of mind when they are confronted with talent that would add value to your business, so there is value in sharing employment opportunities with them where you can. 3. Accessibility I would look at how accessible the job ad is. Being accessible goes much further than having a wheelchair ramp and accessible toilets. I would think about a job board and whether everyone can read it, even those who are visually impaired. Even the way talent are addressed could be considered. For example, individuals that identify as transgender may have preferences on how they would like to be addressed including the use of he, she, they, them, so thinking about using gender neutral pronouns is good, when appropriate. It is about thinking further than who you know and who you typically hire. If a business is truly inclusive it should become evident in the way they approach talent. Saying a business is accessible, and taking a holistic approach to different ways a business can actually be accessible to diverse candidates can be two different things. 4. Retention Looking at how a business is keeping hold of its existing talent and how it promotes its talent. What processes are in place to ensure that talent is promoted on merit, and not who they know? Visible role models go a long way and there is no better way to encourage diverse talent to see a real opportunity with you than to point out other talent that have been successful, promoted and become real influencers within the organisation. It sounds clichéd but if you can see something you can believe it. Many businesses say they are inclusive, but when you look at their diversity reports or walk into their office you might not really believe it. It’s important to evidence and show off what brand you really are. 5. Education requirements Do I REALLY need all of those qualifications? Does the job role really require a specific educational achievement or can could good old solid experience suffice? If a business is asking about a person’s university, it’s usually because they want to know whether a candidate has the necessary qualifications. So making a long list of educational requirements might be a good way of filtering out unsuitable candidates, but for some businesses it is also about ascertaining what kind of background and social class an individual might come from, and this is of course not acceptable. If an individual’s experience is really the main relevant requirement, then businesses should identify transferable skills that will allow the candidate to add value and drive innovation, even if they come from a different sector and have different work experiences. For example, businesses should consider the valid transferable skills and experience that would put a candidate higher up than other candidates, and not necessarily focus primarily on their education information. 6. Ask the staff, do the research In creating a diverse workplace, it’s important to first create the right environment and culture for diverse talent to work in? Do all of the staff use inclusive language? How do the existing diverse employees feel in the current working environment? Doing a staff survey that allows staff to feedback anonymously is essential. Ask the staff and they’ll be honest and you’ll get a lead on knowing how to improve inclusion and diversity from the inside out. By asking the staff, you can also find which individuals within the company could be recruited to help create, champion and support an inclusive diversity strategy. That is what inclusivity is about, involving people in your plans and making them feel they have a voice. It’s OK to start small, but important to research into the company culture and what processes, networks are in place and what can be changed to optimise a new culture in which diverse workforces can thrive. 7. Show off What internal programmes does the business have that demonstrates its inclusive working environment? What other partners could be utilised? I would share this news; employees won’t know you care unless you share this across the business. It doesn’t need to be explicit ‘look at us’ branding it can be subtle messaging that demonstrates that all talent are welcome. 8. If you don’t know, just ask! Hiring Managers can’t be expected to know everything there is to know about every possible difference. If we look beyond ‘protected characteristics’ and really analyse what diverse means â€" which in plain terms is ‘different’ â€" we need to be realistic to the fact that hiring managers won’t be experts at managing everyone. It’s time we explained that its ok. You don’t have to know everything â€" but you do have to ask. If you don’t know something about someone you deem ‘different’ ask the question and don’t be afraid to. Ask charities, diversity experts or HR if you need to, for example ‘What toilets might a person transitioning feel most comfortable using?’ ‘What support or reasonable adjustments might I need to apply to someone with Cerebral Palsy?’ Managers should be encouraged to ask, it’s obvious that if they don’t ask they won’t become educated. The more information that is available to support managers, the better chance you have of maki ng everyone feel they can be themselves at work. 9. Educate the hiring decision makers I would look at what the leadership teams look like. In my experience businesses are bought into the business case for diversity and inclusion and spend a great deal of time making sure the senior leadership, C-suite and board understand the business imperative for this. But those individuals who are actually hiring really need to be supported and also held accountable. The CEO of a company could have the best intentions for diversity and work to make a real impact in that space, but if the very people who are in a position to hire haven’t been supported and educated accordingly on how to view talent unfamiliar to them, then these efforts will go in vain. About the author: Joanna Abeyie is an award-winning, agenda-setting Diversity champion and recruiter, social campaigner, TV executive, broadcaster and journalist. She founded Shine Media in 2009, which recently morphed into  Hyden as part of leading global recruiter S Three PLC.

Resume Writing - How to Write A Resume That Says I Am Independent

Resume Writing - How to Write A Resume That Says I Am IndependentThere are other words in English for an entrepreneur that are used to express the idea of being an independent person. One of them is, 'independent.' Other than that there are also other words for being independent such as independent contractor, independent consultant, independent consumer, independent thinker, and so on. The point of these other words is to indicate independence.Of course it is not possible to fit all of those words into a single word. It is therefore important to have a separate word for the idea of being independent. It is not enough to say, 'I am independent.'The question therefore becomes how one can write a resume that will be convincing to the best of one's definition of independent? By understanding the person, and by reflecting that person's spirit, the writer will be able to say that he or she is independent.Personality. The personality of the person that the writer speaks of is essential to the job. It is important to reflect one's personality in the resume to show how well the personality fits the description.This is perhaps the most important thing in the resume. By simply adding in one or two positive things about the person, such as, 'Experience speaks for itself,' one is getting ready to become independent. However, the more positive that one feels about oneself, the better it will reflect. With a resume containing negative comments about one's self, the writer is expressing the idea of being independent, but one may very well become cynical about self.A resume needs to express the idea of what a person has accomplished, and it must show the skills that one has or will need to do the type work that is needed. When the resume is filled with the statements, 'I work with my hands,' or 'I have an outstanding list of projects,' the reader may well lose interest. This should be avoided at all costs, but many people do not understand the need to be independent, and they simply fill out the resume with as many positive statements as possible.The best way to get the balance right is to keep the resume filling with as few positive statements as possible. By keeping in mind the person that is being interviewed, and taking care to reflect that person's sense of independence, one is writing a resume that will be convincing to the best of one's independent spirit. The writer should then have a separate word for being independent and to show that spirit through one's resume.When the resume is completed, it should be noted in the file that the writer feels this way about himself or herself. The writer should be encouraged to continue this development and to continue to show the spirit in one's resume. If the writer keeps one or two positive statements about himself or herself in the resume, the writer's sense of independence will be continued. By incorporating that sense of independence into the resume, the writer will be showing the independent spirit thro ughout the resume.

The Importance of Combatting a Negative Employer Brand

The Importance of Combatting a Negative Employer Brand If pressed, most of us would probably say that we have a pretty good idea of what kind of thing goes  into making a company an attractive or unattractive place to work. It doesn’t take a genius to work out  that cultivating a good  employer brand â€" creating positive impressions among your current employees  and potential hires â€" has substantial benefits. Or, on the flipside, that being perceived as an unpleasant  place to work isn’t conducive to attracting top talent. It’s pretty basic common sense. What isn’t so easy is knowing exactly what you should be prioritising in your employer branding efforts.  Harder still is quantifying the impact of a good or bad employer brand in any meaningful way. At LinkedIn, we recently conducted some research into the preferences of UK professionals, with the  aim of coming up with some answers to those teasers. The results were pretty illuminating. Top factors  that attract employees to a company: When it came to the most likely things to attract someone to a company or to deter them from taking a  job there, there was an interesting split. The top five factors contributing to a positive employer brand  that encourage people to accept a job with a particular company or organisation tended to be factors  that are developed closer to home. These internal elements of the employer brand are more easily  influenced by employers themselves: Increased job security Increased professional development opportunities The opportunity to work with a better team A company sharing their own personal values Positive impressions of the company from past and present employees Top factors that put employees off a company: In contrast, the five factors most likely to put professionals off taking a job with a company tended to be  more external and further out of the sphere of direct influence. These factors more often relate to  perceptions about the company amongst other people: Concerns about job security Dysfunctional teams Poor leadership Negative impressions of the company from past and present employees A company having a poor reputation among its industry peers. Should employers focus on combatting  a negative employer brand? This underlines that organisations need to go beyond their own doorstep to reap all the benefits of an  attractive employer brand, and influence groups of people further from home. This is likely to be a  harder and more expensive process. Is this extra investment worth it? It was when we came to quantifying the impact of a positive or negative  employer brand, though, that things got really interesting. It turns out that more than half of UK  professionals would entirely rule out taking a job with a company that exhibited the top three negative  employer brand factors, no matter what pay rise they were offered. Even a pay rise of 10 per cent would  only tempt a quarter of us to sign on the dotted line. That got us thinking. What if we could attribute an actual cost to the impact on UK companies of a poor  employer brand? Using a combination of our research results, some publicly available data about  salaries, and anecdotal evidence from friendly HR professionals about businesses’ employee turnover  rates, we crunched the numbers. And the answer was pretty eye-watering. Based on the average UK salary being £27,200 (according to ONS), assumed annual employee  turnover of 15 per cent, and the requirement of a minimum 10 per cent pay rise, the cost of a bad  reputation for a company with 10,000 employees could be as much as £4,080,000 per year. And bear in mind that this is just the impact on the wage bill â€" it doesn’t account for costs in other areas,  such as employee attrition, morale, or having a smaller talent pool to choose from. What can companies do to avoid being hit with this extra expenditure? A positive employer brand  has been made more attainable than ever thanks to the rise of social media. Here are my three top tips  for boosting your company reputation online: Involve everyone: Your current employees are your best ambassadors and advocates. They  are in the best position to give those on the outside an authentic idea of what it is like to work  for your company. Involve them in developing your ‘story’, and encourage them to share it â€"  and their activity and achievements â€" through their personal and professionals social media  channels. This is why we recently launched a product called Elevate, to help companies  empower their employees to share relevant content from within the business. Seize the social opportunity: It is important not to be just a passive observer on social media.  By playing an active part in discussion groups and threads about issues relevant to your  business you can build not only brand awareness but also the kind of two-way conversations  with potential employees that creates goodwill and trust. Show, don’t tell: It is all very saying that you have a great company culture, or that you are  concerned with reducing your environmental impact, but in a competitive talent market you  need to back up what you say. Blogs, photos, graphics, and videos can provide a valuable  insight into your company, and spark conversations. They don’t necessarily have to be slick,  but they do have to be real â€" authenticity is key and can act as a big differentiator in instances  where many prospective employers claim to have a great culture. How does your company approach its talent brand? Have you seen any particularly smart examples in  your industry? We would love to hear about them in the comments below.

Personal Branding Interview #2 Larry Weber - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview #2 Larry Weber - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke to Larry Weber, who is the chairman of W2 Group and the author of Everywhere: Comprehensive Digital Business Strategy for the Social Media Era. In 2009, I interviewed Larry about his last book, but now hes had many more experiences in the social media world captured in his new book. In this interview, Larry talks about corporate social media and digital strategy. What issues arise when companies skip social media strategy and start blogging and engaging online? Many issues occur. First, internal communication suffers, as people started nomading about the social sphere. Next innovation suffers, as there is no organized approach to crowd sourcing about everything from branding issues, to new products..also upper management becomes insulated and the concept of building a social enterprise that is thoughtful, fast, transparent evaporates. What are some ways to put digital strategy at the center of your business? Start an eForum that meets regularly. It can initialing be run by marketing, but must have reps from service, sales, innovation, human resources, etc. The goal is to put the customer in the center of a digital universe that is increasingly social. Then a plan to integrate the first line of powerful social platforms/tools, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and others. How have you personally used social media tools to connect with employees and the outside world? Integrate the use of all platforms/tools. Then have a content strategy that is consistent and drum beat like in execution. Build micro-segmented digital destinations around very specific connect and promote to important influencers in the category. Do you select talent for your company based on social media influence? Do you care about their Klout score? Digital eminence is so important. Analyze the landscape per content, build list of top teir influencers start a building conversation. What does it mean to be Everywhere? Everywhere is the complete integration of our digital and real lives. We can no longer separate our conversations along those lines. It will always to be important to meet people, but how do you keep these conversations moving digitally toward an outcome: purchase, vote, idea, etc. Living everywhere but with a thoughtful strategy of building a social enterprise is critical. My new book lays this out in detail! Larry Weber is the author of Marketing to the Social Web (Wiley) and chairman of W2 Group, a digital ecosystem of marketing services companies that includes Digital Influence Group, a full-service digital marketing agency that is social media at its core, and Racepoint Group, a global public relations agency. His latest book is called Everywhere: Comprehensive Digital Business Strategy for the Social Media Era. Weber previously founded Weber Shandwick, the worlds largest PR firm. He is the cofounder and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Innovation Technology Exchange, the largest interactive advocacy organization in the world.

Writing Objectives For Resume Computer Information Systems

Writing Objectives For Resume Computer Information SystemsWriting objectives for resume computer information systems helps you prepare your resume and provide your best efforts to land the job. We all know that today people are going for resume computer information systems for recruiting purposes. You have to highlight all the points on your resume to make it a winner in the competitive job market.Why do people apply for jobs? They want to make their resumes stand out from others in the resume computer information systems. You can improve your chances of landing a job by applying for the right one. What are the things that you should put on your resume?First, you have to highlight your key qualifications and talents that you can provide to the employer's requirements. This should be on the resume computer information systems to show the employer what you are offering. There is no point in wasting your precious time doing such things if the employer will not see it.Another important p art is to add all the important details of your working experience. You should explain why you want to get the job. Also put down your most important strengths. These things will help the employer to recognize your skills and abilities. You should also check with the employer about the salary and benefits that he is offering, and answer all his questions.When writing your objective, you should always put down your major goal in writing it. This is a very important thing. The main goal is to motivate yourself to achieve it, to motivate the employer to provide the job, and to motivate the recruiters.You can also use other words like 'Opportunity'Compensation' to attract the employer to give you the job. Use only the most significant words to create interest. Don't be shy to speak, because that will be a signal to the employer that you are in need of more effort to get the job. He will have to work hard in order to get this job.Your objective is a single sentence that summarizes all th e requirements that you must meet to get the job. Always write it in positive terms, saying things in a very positive way to get attention. Never sound sarcastic or bitter towards the employer or the company.Make sure that you also know what to do after the job is done. At this point your objectives will be reviewed by the employer, and you will be asked to give them another objective. Again put down another objective for review.

How to Stay Engaged in your Job When Youve Lost Interest - Margaret Buj - Interview Coach

How to Stay Engaged in your Job When You’ve Lost Interest There may come a time when you will wake up to realize you’re done.   You’ve lost interest.   It could be that on the surface the job looks like it should be ok.   Maybe you’ve had some great accomplishments, are paid well and you like the people you work with.   It could be just the opposite set of conditions like a toxic environment, bad boss and mind-numbing work.   Regardless of how you arrived at your state of boredom, you are now faced with the challenging task of staying engaged. When your brain has pulled the emotional plug on any attachment for a job, staying engaged is hard.   You see this problem all the time with people who have given notice.   It’s called “short-timers attitude” for a reason.   Short-timers are no longer invested in the outcome of actions being taken.   They don’t care about rules or policies, people or even their own behavior at times.   For those who work around a short-timer, on one hand they kind of envy the reckless abandon, but on the other they are often frustrated at how very little the short-timer seems to care. You now need to keep yourself from showing how very little interest or regard you may have for your job and place of business.  Even if you are now deciding to change jobs or find a new career, you need to ensure the rest of your time in this job remains consistent with your past.   If you don’t, you risk alienating the boss, co-workers or even getting fired.   While some of the things short timers do can seem kind of funny, no one really likes to work with someone who simply doesn’t care. Here are some tips for staying engaged: Keep your comments to yourself.  Don’t start talking to anyone at work about your newly discovered boredom.   It will get around; and once it does, people will start looking for signs of disengagement. Do something new.  Even if you plan to leave, find something new to help perk up your waning attitude.   Doing something you don’t typically do does get the juices flowing, if for no other reason than it forces you to step out of the routine. Learn something.  Take a class that helps support your job.   You could take a software class or even one on effective communication.   Learning is a stimulating activity and makes you perk up your energy level because it is unfamiliar territory for your brain. Pay attention to your performance.  Make sure you keep your eye on your performance everyday.   It may require a bit more of your time and energy, but this will ensure you don’t slip. “Act” your way through the day.  How does an engaged person behave?   You need to do things like ask questions about the status of a project, follow up on details, and echo positive sentiments about the outcome of things. Watch your office hours.  If the idea of staying one minute longer now sounds intolerable, don’t suddenly go from a 60-hour workweek down to a 39.5-hour workweek.   People will notice and start asking. Watch what you say to yourself.  We are so good at convincing ourselves of almost anything. You need to be very careful what you are repeating to yourself.   While you may truly be bored or lack interest, don’t dwell on it.   You will only make things worse. You never know how long the period of time will be from discovering your own lack of interest to the time you walk out the door.   It could take a few years, which means you need to stay engaged and delivering well each day.   When or if you do leave, you want to leave with everyone else wanting you to stay. For more career tips and advice â€" FREE newsletter and eworkbook: http://CareerMakeoverToolKitShouldIstayorShouldIGo.com/   From Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" Your Career Change Agent from www.nextchapternewlife.com and www.mbahighway.com

Book review Difficult conversations - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Book review Difficult conversations - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog 90% of all problems and conflicts in organizations stem from what has NOT been said. NOT been talked through. From issues that should have been raised, but werent. This makes the skills that allow us to adress difficult issues in constructive ways crucial job skills. And Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone Bruce Patton and Sheila Sheen is the best book Ive seen on this subject. It is, quite simply, excellent! The books main idea is this: In every conversation there are three simultaneous conversations going on: * The What Happened? conversation about the factual matters at hand * The feelings conversation concerning how we feel about this * The identity conversation where we assert and redefine our identity Ignoring any of these means that youre not adressing whats really going on in the conversation, because all of these WILL be going on. And if youre one of those people who believe that feelings have no place in business and that professional conversations should stick purely to factual matters, let this book be your wake-up call. Humans have feelings and there is no way for us to leave them at home when we go to work. One chapter is called Have your feelings or they will have you. Reading this book is a joy. It is well planned, well written and contains many good anecdotes that underscore the books messages. The questions it examines are critical in any organizations: * How to raise difficult matters * When to raise them and when not to * How to deal with past conversations that went wrong * How to better express your point of view * How to better understand others The advice given is specific and simple to follow and has already helped me on more than one occasion. Read it! Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related