15th February 2021
Most companies appreciate the importance of a gender diverse
workforce – after all, there’s now a substantial amount of research showing the
positive impact that gender diversity has on a company’s performance and
ultimately its bottom line.
But while you might appreciate the logic of achieving such a
balance in your workforce, it’s less easy to know how to go about it –
especially if your business is in a sector like engineering that tends to be
regarded as very male-dominated.
You might already be involved in activities aimed at helping address
that challenge: initiatives like education links and supporting apprenticeship
schemes can give useful insights into what it’s like working in an engineering
environment. But what if you have a position
that needs to be filled now? Irrespective of the actual type of role, engineer
or non-engineer, how do you attract more females to apply? It starts with
making sure you’re getting the right message out through your job advert.
Don’t underestimate the impact your job advert could have. It’s
your first chance to promote the opportunity your company’s offering, while also
attracting the high quality candidates your business needs. It is, however,
very easy to write an advert in such a way that you’re unintentionally putting females
off from applying. So what steps can you take to make sure you’re writing your
adverts in such a way that they are going to appeal to women as well as to men?
Did you know it’s been proven that there is such a thing as
gender-biased language? And job adverts can be one place
where it can cause real problems.
What types of words are we talking about? Research suggests that
certain words like ‘competitive’, ‘leader’, ‘assertive’ and ‘dominate’ have
masculine characteristics, subtly suggesting gender preferences. That means
they’re more likely to put female applicants off. Other words are more likely
to appeal to females, such as ‘interpersonal’, ‘support’ and ‘dedicated’. If
you’re aiming to achieve a more inclusive approach to attracting females, take
care over the choice and overall balance of words within your advert.
Research from LinkedIn found that
while women and men browse online for jobs in a similar way, men are typically
prepared to apply for a role if they meet around 60% of the outlined criteria.
Females, however, were more likely to feel they must fulfil every criterion
before submitting an application. This desire to tick every box means they’re
more likely to screen themselves out at this stage.
To address this, be very selective about what goes into the
wording. You might feel it’s helpful to provide a lot of detail. But a long
list of requirements, or nice-to-haves, could backfire. That doesn’t mean
missing key information out. It does mean that every point made in terms of
requirements must genuinely need to be there. Describing the context and
purpose is fine too - keep it relevant and informative, striking a balance
between copy and bullet points to make your advert as inclusive as possible.
Use the advert to build a picture of what your company is like. Refer
to the values, culture and overall dynamic and take the opportunity to emphasise
any family-friendly benefits and flexible working arrangements you offer. Of
course, these are likely to be attractive to all potential candidates
irrespective of gender. But caring responsibilities are still issues that
disproportionately affect females, so make sure you’re appealing to a broader
range of candidates by highlighting that you are an employer who understands
and respects the need to balance career and family.
Being a company that takes diversity seriously is something to
shout about. That includes in your job adverts. Mention your diversity goals,
but avoid simply cutting and pasting in your diversity statement – it needs to come
across as genuine and authentic. Refer to the fact that you are consciously
working towards recruiting more women into your business. Female applicants
will value you highlighting that a gender diverse workplace is something that
matters to you and is an issue you’re taking active steps towards achieving.
If you place your advert on a limited number of job boards, you’re
reducing the pool of people likely to see it. So think more broadly. Consider the platforms you usually use to
advertise roles. What scope is there to widen your advert’s reach by posting it
in other places to get it in front of as many relevant people as you can? Are
there any job boards you can specifically target that might help you find more
diverse candidates? Coverage across many different job boards and via several
social media platforms will increase the chances of a broader range of suitable
candidates finding it.
There’s one final point to keep in mind. Having spent time crafting
the words to reflect who you are and to avoid gender biases, be mindful of the
images that accompany the advert.
In fact, take a look at all the images that could form part of
your recruitment process - pictures on your website and social media for
example. What messages are they sending out? If many of the images show a heavily
male-dominated workplace, potential female applicants might immediately feel
it’s a place where they wouldn’t fit in. By giving some thought to the images
you’re using, you can avoid giving out mixed messages and undermining all the
effort that went into the wording of your advert.
To discover how JVP Group’s employer branded
job advert writing service, job board
advertising and social media
recruitment marketing solutions will help you to quickly attract diverse talent, whilst
also removing the hassle and high costs from the recruitment process, call the
JVP Group team on 01745 774 955, or you can click here to schedule a 20-minute
free consultation call.