Five things businesses can do to attract female talent
According to one observation made in a LinkedIn article, 90% of companies have cited diversity as the biggest priority on their corporate agenda, with gender diversity a major part of this.
However, if you run a business yourself, there is the unfortunate possibility that you are inadvertently deterring women from applying for jobs you offer.
Detailed below are just some moves you could make to help yourself avoid unknowingly missing out on recruiting gifted female workers.
1) Use inclusive language in your job ads
When you look back at what you have written in your job vacancy listings, you could actually cringe at some of the words used.
Certain phrases — like ‘rock star’ and ‘aggressive’ — might describe qualities that women don’t exactly have in abundance. Therefore, you should endeavour to include terms that feel more neutral in tone; think the likes of ‘flexibility’, ‘progressive culture’ and ‘part-time’.
It would also be wise for you to refer to benefits especially relevant to women. As for what benefits in this category you could offer…
2) Rent a female-friendly office
In an article published by LinkedIn, the successful Tanzania-based CEO Dr Naike Moshi advises companies that they could advertise benefits along the lines of lactation rooms, daycare facilities and perhaps even a spa treatment.
If all of these sound like daunting benefits to offer, keep in mind that you could largely overcome the challenge just by moving into a new office. An office broker like Office Freedom would be able to assist you in your search for a workplace that meets an array of criteria.
3) Appoint women to leadership roles
How can you convince women that, if they do join your business, they will be able to ascend the career ladder within it? Well, one simple thing you could do is make sure women are already represented among your organisation’s leadership.
Just imagine if your corporate website had an ‘Our team’ section where most of the pictured faces were those of men. Women who see this page could be left believing that their chances of career progression at your company would be slim.
4) Offer interviews that can be held at flexible times
Of course, many job applications you receive might not ultimately result in an interview. However, in the original listing, you could at least specify that, if you do offer the applicant an interview, you can be flexible with the time for which it is scheduled.
This is important because many female candidates could already have other responsibilities, like picking up and feeding their kids, and so need more time than men to get ready for interviews.
5) Offer mentoring and leadership schemes
These don’t necessarily have to be led just by women, or be open exclusively to women. However, it would bode well for you to have a diverse pool of mentors.
That’s because this diversity can help to give female applicants the impression that their gender would not have to hold them back in their drive for professional development if they indeed became an employee of your company.
