Today, talented and qualified women make up close to half of the job seeking population, yet the team members in many companies still don’t reflect that reality. The OFCCP has regulations in place to ensure workplace diversity, but it’s your job as an employer to source and recruit your applicants in the right way to make your company an inclusive environment that values what qualified women bring to the table.
To get you started, here are 6 tips to recruiting and retaining women to your team:
1. Post your jobs where women will find them
It goes without saying that if women don’t see your job posting, they won’t apply to work with you. So, the first step to recruiting women onto you team is to advertise where women look. Figuring out where women look for jobs will require a little bit of research on your end, but it’s the best way to make your jobs accessible to everyone. Try looking for women’s job boards in your field, reach out to local women’s organizations, or attend careers fairs at women’s colleges.
2. Make sure your job advertisements are recruiting to women
In addition to the OFCCP job ad tagline that is required by law to let job seekers know that they won’t be discriminated against, including women, it’s important to make sure the content of your job post is recruiting to both men and women. This can be difficult to look out for, so a great way to ensure that your job posts are appealing to job seeking women is to have current female employees take a look at it and make suggestions. The added bonus here is that it will send the message to those employees that women are highly valued on your team.
3. Offer benefits that are attractive to women
If your company offers a benefits package that supports women, pregnancy, and a work-life balance for those with families, finding qualified female applicants will be a breeze. Benefits that women look for might include a supportive maternity leave policy, onsite childcare, a flexible schedule, or the option to work from home. Benefits like these will help you recruit, hire, and retain women on your team for the long term.
4. Make a diversity a company priority
Making sure that your employees understand the importance of workplace diversity and the value that women bring to your company is key to ensuring that women feel welcomed and valued on your team. The value of having more women on your team is especially important to communicate to and instill in your recruiters, interviewers, and HR employees. One way to make sure this is communicated is to let your current employees know about job openings and asking them to recommend female friends or family that might be qualified.
5. Promote women into leadership positions
Having women in roles on every level of your company is essential to recruiting and retaining more women on your team. Women are talented and natural leaders, and promoting more women into positions of power will send the message that you expect other female employees to take on leadership as well. Not to mention that it creates the opportunity for mentoring relationships among women on your team.
6. Implement a zero-tolerance sexual harassment policy
Last, but certainly not least, sexual harassment should never be tolerated in the workplace, and as a boss it is your job to communicate that your team has a zero-tolerance policy regarding sexual harassment and other forms of gender discrimination. Communicating a zero-tolerance policy during the interview process, in job manuals, and during team meetings that discuss community expectations is essential to taking sexual harassment seriously. Doing so will make the women with your company feel safe and valued.
