Welcome back to our blog series about workplace diversity! Our introductory post reviewed 3 big benefits of workplace diversity, with subsequent posts diving deeper into each. Past posts discussed how workplace diversity prevents groupthink and poor decisions, increases employee engagement and success, and for today (the last post in the series), the discussion is about how it helps your hotel recruit top candidates with superstar talent.
The concept of diversity and hiring the best of the best is very simple. A diverse workforce is borne out of hiring and promoting employees based on merit alone. This practice not only ensures that gender, age, race, socioeconomic status, religion, sexual orientation (and a long list of other personal details) stay out of the decision-making process–naturally, it also ensures that the most qualified candidates are put in the right positions.
Our sentiments echo those of Vicki Salemi, a career expert at Monster who says, “Executives’ approach to recruiting and ramping up their numbers–whether it’s women in tech roles, veterans, disabled or multiracial employees and more–isn’t much different than recruiting as a whole: Hire the most qualified candidate. Diversity recruiting strategies, in turn, boil down to finding the best, most qualified candidates.”
How to Be Successful in Your Hotel Recruitment
Although beautifully simple, there are challenges to overcome. Let’s take a look at how hiring and promoting based on merit brings more success and how you can make sure this happens in your own hotel.
Two Ways Diversity Brings Top Candidates to Your Team
Wider net, more qualified candidates. As the Center for American Progress reports, “When companies recruit from a diverse set of potential employees, they are more likely to hire the best and the brightest in the labor market.” In the same way that a diverse range of perspectives leads to better overall decision making, a more diverse variety of candidates brings more qualified individuals to your team.
Diversity attracts top talent. A November 2014 survey by Glassdoor shows that 67 percent of candidates feel that diversity is an important factor when choosing where to work. The top talent in today’s workforce can afford to be choosey when it comes to where they invest their valuable time, and they’d like to see diversity among teammates and leadership.
We all carry implicit biases around with us. Although unfortunate, it doesn’t make us bad–it makes us human. The key is to become conscious–own up to them and make an effort to break down preconceived ideas we have about other “types” of people.
In a great Fast Company article by unconscious-bias expert Howard Ross, he explains that, while eliminating bias completely is unlikely, there are things you can do change it. First, the people in your organization must educate themselves about bias and become aware of their own. Next is creating methods for conscious decision making. This includes processes and systems you can put in place. Last is creating a method of accountability. Read the article for more details on the steps of this process.
Creating a diverse workforce is as simple as focusing on finding and promoting the most qualified candidates. Embrace diversity as a team by becoming conscious of your biases and creating systems within your organization that keep them in check. When hiring and promoting employees, focus on merit. Simple!
To learn more about workplace diversity for your hotel, contact us today.
Subscribe to our mailing list below and receive our latest news and insights.