Hospitality as an industry relies on a stream of talented, diverse individuals.
With this in mind, it’s unsurprising why the industry also has a continually returning focus on diversity and inclusion for its recruitment process.
Broadening the available talent pool is a primary goal for most hospitality businesses during one of the most tumultuous hiring periods in memory, with talent and skills shortages and high competitiveness also contributing to the necessity to focus on diversity and inclusion.
But is the focus on D&I enough? Or is there another area of equal importance in the process?
Let’s take a look at what ethical recruitment is, and how it can boost your diversity and inclusion efforts.
What is ethical recruitment?
The hiring process can be fraught with unconscious bias.
79% of HR professionals agree that an unconscious bias exists in recruitment, meaning that the attitudes or stereotypes about different groups of people can impact the hiring process.
Research has indicated that:
- Applicants with male names have a 40% higher chance to be called in for an interview than their female counterparts.
- Names that appear to be Caucasian or ‘European-sounding’ had a 75% higher likelihood to secure an interview than those with ‘Asian’ sounding names.
- 68% of baby boomers were not comfortable applying for tech jobs, based on the presumption that their skills and knowledge would not be as advanced as their younger counterparts.
This is just a small fraction of the issues that can arise as a result of hiring practices that aren’t ethical or inclusive.
In other words, ethical recruitment is an integral part of your D&I efforts because it makes the hiring process open to a wider talent pool by removing discriminatory elements.
Job advertisements
Whether you’re working with a recruitment partner or relying on your internal team, there will be certain terms and expectations that crop up in job advertisements that can be unintentionally biased.
Part of ethical recruitment is ensuring that the unconscious barriers that can often appear during the hiring process are removed.
This could include:
- Avoiding the use of words relating to age, such as ‘mature’, ‘young’, or ‘recent graduate’, as they may deter candidates of a different age.
- Not setting unrealistic expectations for the years of experience a candidate should have (e.g. have you asked for 5+ years when 3 would be sufficient?)
- Signing up to a scheme such as the Disability Confident scheme in the UK, which aims to improve the recruitment and retention of disabled people, and displaying the badge in your job advertisements.
- Clearly defining the flexibility of the role, such as the availability of remote working opportunities or flexi-hours.
- Using more than one platform/channel for your recruitment efforts to avoid accessing a similar talent pool of applicants.
- Focusing on skills, qualifications, and responsibilities of the role in your phrasing, rather than potentially discriminatory language.
Reviewing candidates
Each hospitality business will have a different process for reviewing candidate applications.
Some will review applications in groups, whereas others will have a single hiring manager that is responsible for sifting through CVs and cover letters.
Our recommendation would be for at least two individuals to review applications, ideally from different backgrounds, to minimise the potential for unconscious bias.
Another area where the recruitment process can fall short is the focus on personal details in an application/CV above the job-related information (e.g. information relating to gender/age/race or personal factors).
There has also been a rise in the number of employers and hiring managers who will look at a candidate’s social media. Research has found that 67% of employers use social media to research potential job candidates.
More worryingly, another survey indicated that 54% of employers ruled out a candidate due to finding something on their social media profile that they didn’t agree with.
This can immediately create barriers for candidates and also impede your ability to hire candidates from diverse backgrounds, and also goes against inclusivity efforts.
Focus on the job-related elements of a candidate’s CV rather than delving into personal factors that will inevitably impact the level of bias present in the hiring process.
State your commitment to diversity
If you’re making an effort to utilise more ethical recruitment practices, why not state your commitment to diversity during the hiring process and across your business?
Many businesses will add a diversity statement to job advertisements to specify their efforts and commitment, but we’d also recommend adding this to your website or social media as well, where possible.
For example, you could specify specific elements, such as the use of personal pronouns and gender inclusion efforts, or a broader and more in-depth commitment, including why it matters to your business.
For hospitality businesses, the diversity of hospitality teams is what keeps the industry moving and thriving because there are so many different approaches to problem-solving, communication, and customer service.
Make sure that potential hospitality candidates know your stance on diversity and inclusion, as this is also an integral part of your company culture.
Work with a hospitality recruitment partner
It can be hard to cover all of your bases alone when it comes to implementing ethical recruitment practices.
A hospitality recruitment partner can help you to adjust areas such as expectations (e.g. adjusting the experience required for a role to broaden the talent pool) and approach the hiring process proactively.
The best hospitality recruitment partners will have prior experience in hospitality themselves so will understand your business and the best candidates to align with it, all whilst maintaining an ethical approach.
Working on the above elements will boost your diversity and inclusion efforts by removing the additional barriers that diverse candidates can face in the recruitment process, so for businesses looking to get it right, working with a hospitality recruitment partner is the best course of action.
Get in touch
If you’re looking for an experienced hospitality recruitment partner, get in touch with Talent Hive to find the best candidates for your business.