'Great minds think alike' is something we've all heard, but how true is it? When building your team one should challenge the status quo of who the ideal candidate might be and the value they'd be bringing to your team. A few questions you should be asking yourself through the hiring process -
Are the job and your requirements too limiting? Often hiring managers limit potential candidates by upfront limitations, for example, they look for candidates who attended reputable schools, have very direct experience to the role, or have a specific personality type. Sometimes these are direct requirements, or those that we've created in our minds, or even that reflect ourselves. When we do this, we make the mistake of building a team that thinks, acts, and even looks the same. Instead, hiring managers should intentionally seek diverse backgrounds and experience, as often these candidates bring fresh perspective and knowledge to your team.
How diverse is your interview panel? When deciding who is on the panel, seek team members who are offer diversity in race, age, gender, role, job function, seniority, etc.. This is essential to ensure each candidate is considered with a diverse perspective and has an equal opportunity of landing the role. Additionally, this allows the candidate to make a more informed decision by taking in unique inputs from a variety of interviewers, which should reflect the diversity in which the company has to offer.
These tips are a few of the ways you can work towards building diversity in the workplace, which often leads to a happier and healthier team culture. Remember 'great minds think differently'.
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