Recruiting for diversity

Purdue University is committed to achieving a diverse workforce. Diversity is understood broadly across many dimensions, including life experiences, work experiences, education, talents, viewpoints, cultures, and demographic characteristics. Diversity among the workforce has been shown to promote improved problem solving, to increase creativity, and to result in a ?better product.?

This is the vision underlying our commitment. But how do we go about diversifying our workforce, and what do we need to do to make our efforts successful? Below is a step-by-step approach to recruiting for diversity.

	Find out what your workforce looks like now. You probably already have a good idea, and your Human Resource Services (HRS) compensation analyst can provide you with more specific data about the demographics of your workforce.
	Project your staffing needs for the next year. You will want to determine your current turnover rate, identify needs for new positions, and estimate how many positions may become available through retirement or other reasons.
	Review your job descriptions with Employment and Compensation to make sure the requirements for education, experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities are realistic.
	Consider where you will find applicants for your position. Do you need to look locally? The local labor market is the most likely source for filling clerical and service positions. On the other hand, if you anticipate having a high-profile position, you may want to do a regional or national search. Your recruiter can help determine the appropriate area to focus on.
	What professional or trade organizations do people in your workforce belong to? Your recruiter can contact these organizations to find out about posting your openings on their Web sites.
	For specific, hard-to-fill positions, your recruiter can provide sourcing services. Recruiters using this technique seek out qualified people not actively looking for work and then contact them about your position.
	Work with Purdue Marketing Communications and/or a vendor to make sure your Web site and your promotional literature reflect your commitment to diversity. Often, job applicants want to see evidence that there is a culture that supports diversity before they will be willing to take a position.
	HRS keeps an extensive list of annual job fairs. If you need relatively inexperienced, entry-level applicants, it may be useful for your recruiter to attend specific job fairs at colleges and universities. This approach takes time and is not as useful for positions requiring experienced professionals.
	HRS can provide supervisors and business professionals with techniques and tools they can use at professional meetings and conferences to network and seek out potential job applicants.

Evaluating recruiting efforts

Ongoing evaluation of recruiting efforts is needed to determine the usefulness of various techniques and strategies, provide some level of costing information, identify potential barriers, and demonstrate progress. The report may include a summary diversity recruiting activities and an assessment of movement toward a more diverse staff.

In addition to looking at hires, it will be important to monitor our retention rates. For a diversity initiative to be successful, the organization needs to take steps to develop a cultural climate that encourages diversity. Steps in this direction include specific sensitivity and diversity training designed to help people adjust to changing workforce dynamics. In addition, it is important to build in support structures, such as mentoring programs, to help the new hires have a successful work experience. HRS and the Office of the Vice President for Ethics and Compliance offer resources to help you develop these kinds of programs.

If you have questions, please contact Employment and Compensation at 49-40097.

- Deb Turner
Employment and Compensation

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LeadingEdition is an electronic newsletter for Purdue University supervisors. It is produced and distributed by Purdue University Human Resources four times annually. If you have questions, comments, or suggestions relating to the newsletter, please call 49-41679 or email us. Thank you.