Inclusive hiring practices are crucial to the success of any organisation. They have a significant influence on whether an organisation is able to attract and retain top talent, foster a positive work environment, and create a rich company culture.
When inclusive hiring practices are not in place, organisations risk missing out on a key source of innovation and creativity.
However, by prioritising diversity and inclusion, they can ensure that they are able to tap into the full potential of the workforce and create a more inclusive environment for all.
Remote has surveyed 1,250 hiring managers and business owners across the UK, US, Canada, Germany, and France to investigate the state of diversity and inclusion in the hiring process in 2022.
The hiring process
Remote’s survey asked workers across the world whether they had ever experienced or witnessed discrimination in the hiring process. Nearly five in 10 (49%) said they had experienced it themselves and more than half (52%) of applicants said they had witnessed it.
Out of the countries surveyed, the United States has the highest percentage of job hunters who have experienced discrimination in the hiring process at 56 percent.
Across all countries surveyed, discrimination occurs more against male applicants than female applicants, with 44 percent of female applicants reporting discriminatory experiences compared with 52 percent of male applicants. Young people appear to be the most vulnerable to (or most observant of) workplace discrimination, with two-thirds (69.23%) of applicants between 18-24 have experienced discrimination in the hiring process.
Over half go on to experience discrimination in the workplace after the hiring process
Remote’s investigation discovered that discrimination becomes more prevalent after the hiring process ends, with 55 percent of employees reporting that they have experienced workplace discrimination and 59 percent saying they have witnessed it.
See below the discriminatory experiences of employees split across the UK, Germany, France, the US, and Canada.
At 59 percent, the United Kingdom and Germany are the countries with the highest percentage of employees who have faced discrimination in the workplace.
Offering workplace flexibility is the most common practice to promote diversity and inclusion in the hiring process
Remote asked employers which practices they use to promote diversity and inclusion in their hiring processes to explore the most commonly used methods. The table below shows their top five responses.
When it comes to attracting diverse employee candidates from different backgrounds, workplace flexibility is the most popular offering for employers. Just under a quarter (23%) of hiring managers and employers internationally stated that offering workplace flexibility was their company’s most common approach.
The most common business benefit of hiring diverse talent are widening the talent pool and improving employee productivity
Remote asked employers and hiring managers to outline the ways that hiring diverse talent had a strong positive impact on their workforce.
The majority of employers and hiring managers have benefitted from access to a widened talent pool and noticed a positive impact on employee engagement and performance. Other benefits included increased creativity and innovation amongst employees.
What are the top challenges employers face?
Managing inequitable inclusion is the biggest challenge that UK employers and hiring managers face, with 36 percent listing this as the difficulty they face the most. Inequitable inclusion refers to the concept that diversity means different things to different people.
This is closely followed by communication issues relating to language barriers, slang, colloquialisms and cultural misunderstandings (35%). The third most common challenge is finding the time to train employees about different ways of thinking and approaching a scenario (34%).
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
