When writing this blog, I first thought to myself “hang on but marketing and comms folk are a pretty diverse bunch surely?”
On further reflection, while I think that while it is not an area that has had trouble attracting gender diversity, are we really doing all we can?
What I mean by that is:
– are we attracting the right mix and depth of people from different ethnic backgrounds?
– are we enabling Australians with disabilities to enter the industry and remain supported by it?
– while we attracting gender diversity, are we supporting women as effectively as we could to move into the top echelons of our industry?
See, I’m not sure that we can put our hands on our heart and answer a resounding positive yes to the above questions. But we need to.
And so do we at Hope & Glory. We support the executive level space in Marketing & Communications and have a belief and passion to work with our clients to support diversity.
We are looking at two areas:
1. Our own recruitment practices to ensure they are best practice in terms of diversity in talent acquisition
– when we engage with candidates (whether it is through our own networks or advertising or a combination of both) we review our language/terminology/imagery to ensure inclusivity and it is not alienating any group
– we source and attract the “right mix” of candidates from the full range of biographies, experiences, styles, and perspectives in the available labour force
– we ensure an inclusive message to be used across all mediums including social media channels and talent pooling initiatives
– we will also incorporate channels that are destinations for diverse candidates where required, including specialist job boards and referrals
2. How can we continue to advice and influence our clients to support diversity best practice
– we will continually research and share any factors that motivate targeted diversity groups to join an organisation
– we will review our client’s employer brand and share how well it positions to diverse groups and make recommendations to change if required
– Competitor analysis and collation of benchmarking data from other organizations
– Hiring Manager support
– Develop metrics and goals in partnership with our clients to enable us to measure, report and deliver on diversity goals.
These are some of things we are doing at Hope & Glory to support diversity. I would love to hear what your experience is and what you are doing in this area.
Matt Harrison
Hope & Glory