55% of Jobseekers Think Employers Should be Doing More to Recruit the LGBTQ Community

Diverse talent comes in many shapes and forms, but one community is standing out because there isn’t enough being done to recruit and retain this talent pool. Job board, Monster.com, recently released new poll findings that highlight how employers are focusing on recruiting members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ) community.

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Attitudes Are Positively Shifting

Respondents were asked, “Do you think companies, in general, should be doing more to recruit and hire applicants from the LGBTQ community?” And sadly, 55% of jobseekers agree that employers aren’t doing enough. However, once this talent pool is in the door, attitudes change for the better.
Roughly 43% of jobseekers say their employers have an “extremely” or “slightly” positive attitude towards hiring LGBTQ workers. While roughly 21% of jobseekers say their employers have an “extremely” or “slightly” negative attitude. For 38% of jobseekers, they say their employer has a neutral stance when it comes to hiring workers from the LGBTQ community.
“People are feeling positive about their company’s efforts to support the LGBTQ community,” says Vicki Salemi, Monster Career Expert—in an e-mail to Recruiting Daily Advisor. “This fosters inclusion and diversity which is important for both employers and employees, not only making a positive impact from a productivity and workplace perspective, but simply because it’s the right thing to do.
“Also, companies are continuing to work towards growing and expanding these efforts to improve their workplace. Plus, now it’s being talked about openly which is another sign we’re headed in the right direction,” she adds.
“Ultimately, both employers and employees are looking for the right fit. Employers are looking for diligent, engaged employees who are committed to their role, and the company, and part of finding that right fit is cognizance towards selecting and retaining professionals who embody the company’s inclusivity practices,” says Salemi.
Jobseekers are also looking for the right fit, which is why Salemi suggests that priorities may be shifting from salary, title, and company, to camaraderie and company culture. “[These] are also important factors – which includes fostering a sense of inclusion towards all individuals,” she says.
“For workers who responded in the survey indicating they felt their workplace’s attitudes toward LGBTQ individuals were less than favorable, they should keep in mind the following two things: number one, awareness,” says Salemi. “Employees should be aware of their company’s stance on treatment and attitude toward individuals and then secondly, if they find it doesn’t align with what’s right for them, they should feel empowered to do something about it! This can equate to looking for a job that’s a better fit and displays a healthier and more open environment toward all individuals.”

9 Tips for Recruiting Members of the LGBTQ Community

If you want to make a concentrated effort to recruit top talent from the LGBTQ community, consider these nine tips:

1. Move beyond compliance requirements. While it’s imperative to follow routine and mandated laws and regulations, try to move beyond the minimum legal requirements surrounding diversity. Actively make it a point to recruit and welcome applicants with varied backgrounds by seeking them out online and in person.
2. Find new talent pools. Instead of simply visiting the same universities each year and monitoring the same online job boards, reach out to different groups.
3. Address diversity in every stage of talent management and employee development. If diversity isn’t a priority at every stage of your talent management strategy, it won’t yield many results for your organization in the long term, as there is no point in hiring a diverse workforce if you don’t consider how you’ll train, upskill, or promote individuals.
4. Endorse a diverse company culture and brand. To attract diverse candidates, promote a company brand that embodies and endorses a diverse culture. Don’t simply use banners and ads with diverse models. Use photos and testimonies written by your own diverse workforce instead.
5. Focus on soft skills training. Investing in soft skills training programs will help you grow a more diverse and collaborative workforce and workplace.
6. Sanction organizationwide servant leadership. Servant leaders are highly self-aware, can easily empathize and motivate their employees, are able to consider each employee’s individual needs and perspective, and help disseminate inclusion and diversity across an organization.
7. Include more ways for employees to connect. Encourage employees to form different affinity groups that meet regularly, so they can gain support inside your organization. Also, implement technology that allows employees from across your organization to easily share information with one another.
8. Offer diversity and unconscious bias training. Don’t forget to offer diversity training that touches on each employee’s own unconscious biases, as well.
9. Provide diverse benefits and offers. Finally, when developing a more diverse workforce, you’ll want to consider the diverse needs of each employee you hire. And the LGBTQ community is no different, so you must consider providing LGBTQ-inclusive benefits as well as your standard benefits offerings.

As more and more employers are beginning to understand the importance of fostering a company culture that is focused on inclusion, keep these nine tips in mind if you want to attract and retain LGBTQ workers.