Developing Policy and Procedures
Reviewing Recruitment and Selection Opportunities
Reviewing Job Descriptions
External Advertising
Working with Recruitment Providers/Agencies
Increasing the Pool of Applicants
Recruiting Internally
Interviewing
Communicating your Policies and Procedures

Developing Policy and Procedures

• Put in place a policy requiring recruitment and selection processes to select the best person for the job.
• Develop a quality, consistent process for recruitment that delivers diverse recruits.
• Have a recruitment strategy that links to your business plan, and to a strategy to retain employees.

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Reviewing Recruitment and Selection Opportunities

• Monitor each stage of your recruitment process to identify any practice that may disadvantage some candidates.
• Investigate whether women have equal opportunity in the recruitment and selection process by collecting information on the numbers of men and women:
  • applying for positions
  • being short-listed
  • being interviewed
  • being appointed, and
  • survey staff about their perception of equity in recruitment procedures.
• Consider collecting diversity information as part of the process.

There could be a pool of diverse candidates you’re not reaching or unnecessarily excluding.

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Reviewing Job Descriptions

• Ensure all job profiles/descriptions reflect the real requirements of the job, rather than describing the person who filled that job previously.
• Write job profiles in language that encourages both men and women to apply – including women of differing backgrounds. For example, avoid use of jargon and acronyms that tend to be exclusive.

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External Advertising

• Review advertisements to ensure that language, style, images, etc are inclusive, and appeal to candidates of different backgrounds.
• Identify yourself as an EEO employer/family-friendly workplace.
• State that both men and women are encouraged to apply for the position.
• Place the advertisement in a variety of media, rather than in 'men's' or 'women's' media or trade outlets.
• Expand your reach across a range of different communities by advertising with special interest organisations, ethnic media, specialist disability recruitment agencies, etc.

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Working with Recruitment Providers/Agencies

• Ensure your provider complies with lawful advertising guidelines.
• When selecting a provider, make a key selection criterion 'Evidence of sourcing quality, diverse applicants'.
• Hold your provider accountable for delivering female as well as male applicants.

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Increasing the Pool of Applicants

• Communicate vacancies throughout the organisation to attract a diverse applicant pool.
• Consider partnerships with key providers (for example, schools, universities, TAFEs, and training companies) to find quality female and male candidates.
• Establish contacts and partnerships with organisations and networks that serve ethnic or other communities.
• Build Intern programs into these partnerships.
• Offer both female and male employees training, shadowing or cross-skilling opportunities to develop their skills further.
• Encourage existing staff, including women, to apply for vacancies – this can be a useful way of encouraging women into non-traditional areas.
• Consider filling the vacancy with high-potential female and male staff eager to broaden their experience.
• Review the job requirements for essential qualifications. Be prepared to give value to different kinds of employment and overseas experience in lieu of formal training and local credentials.
• Be prepared to provide a workplace that accommodates differences in terms of employee needs and values (eg, childcare, same-sex benefits, job-sharing, flexible work hours, etc).

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Recruiting Internally

• Advertise the position widely to attract a diverse applicant pool, for example, would employees on maternity/parental leave have an opportunity to see the advertisement?
• Design internal job advertisements as you would an external job advertisement – to attract a diverse applicant pool and get the best person for the job. For example, use inclusive language and images that speak to all candidates.
• Ensure both female and male quality candidates are given equal opportunity to be short-listed.
• Consider offering both female and male employees the position as a development assignment.
• Prepare employees to apply for internal positions by:
  • implementing and monitoring succession planning for both female and male employees.
  • providing opportunities for both female and male employees to work in different organisational areas and gain a broad range of work experience.
  • providing female and male unsuccessful candidates with feedback on the recruitment selection process, and offering development opportunities to position them well for the next internal recruitment opportunity.

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Interviewing

• Ensure that all interviewers are provided with sensitivity/awareness training related to diversity and gender issues.
• Ensure interview panels consist of people from a range of backgrounds and a good understanding of the requirements of the job.
• Encourage panel Chairs to challenge and address discriminatory assumptions made by panel members when deciding on the successful candidate.
• Consider both female and male internal candidates – you may find that their knowledge and understanding of the business assists them to outperform the external candidates.

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Communicating your Policies and Procedures

• Publicise your recruitment and selection policy widely in the organisation.
• Ensure both female and male employees, and employees on long-term leave have access to the recruitment and selection policy and procedures information.
• Train managers on your recruitment and selection policy and procedures.
• Hold managers accountable for providing equal opportunity in recruitment and selection by including this requirement in managers' workplace and performance agreements.
• Encourage managers to lead by example by sourcing and selecting top female candidates.

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