International Women’s Day celebrates women’s achievements, raises awareness against bias and encourages everyone to act for equality. At Hudson RPO it presents an opportunity to demonstrate our support and reflect on how we can affect change for women, not only in our organization but across our clients’ organizations.
This year, the theme of International Women’s Day is #breakthebias. Bias affects women every day, both in and out of the professional workplace. As recruitment specialists we play a key role in challenging bias and ensuring equity across the recruitment process. As recruiters, we are at the forefront of challenging bias and implementing diverse hiring practices. So not only did we ask our people to submit their pictures to show their support for International Women’s Day, but we also asked them how they are breaking the bias in their day-to-day. Hear from our Hudson RPO recruitment experts:
Louise Millar is our Recruitment Lead for EMEA, focusing on top-recruitment talent to join the Hudson RPO team. Louise shares her learnings on breaking the bias in recruitment, and how Hudson RPO contributes to equity for women as an organization:
“One of my initial learnings about bias was focused on job adverts, and how language and content can contribute to inclusion and equity for applicants. I quickly realized this was just the tip of the iceberg, if you want to truly break the bias you have to think bigger. Culture should be about ‘adding to’ rather than ‘fitting in’, virtual workspaces have to be just as inclusive as office spaces, and flexibility should be tailored to the individual rather than a one size fits all.”
“Awareness of bias is just the tip of the iceberg. If you truly want to break the bias, you have to think bigger”.
The most important ways Hudson RPO contributes to breaking the bias according to Louise are:
Erica Carmack is the Solution Design & Internal Careers Manager for our Americas and EMEA region. In her career she has worked with talented leaders who were not only aware of gender biases but partnered with her to drive change. As a recruiter she challenged hiring managers to invite talented individuals into the organization that would bring new ideas and perspectives. As a leader, she continues to challenge herself and her team to do the same:
“As a recruiter, I challenged my hiring managers to invite talented individuals into the organization that would bring new ideas and perspectives. As a leader, I continue to challenge myself and our team to do the same. No step forward is too small.”
At Hudson RPO, she contributes to #breakingthebias by carrying this forward. She makes every effort to educate leaders and herself, sharing from personal experiences and understanding what being a change champion means.
“I am proud to be part of a global organization that not only solicits my input and values my opinions but also pushes for collaboration across our organization regardless of level and celebrates our strong female leaders.”
Skye Lovell is the Internal Careers Manager for Hudson RPO in Asia Pacific. Her team is highly trained and experienced in progressive recruitment practices engaging directly with talent and makes sure that this process allows all candidates to succeed.
She shares that instead of relying on diverse talent to apply to your roles, it’s key to be proactive in your approach by researching alternative and offline sourcing channels. With a diverse group of candidates, it is important that the recruitment process allows everyone an equal opportunity. Eliminate bias right at the start of the recruitment process, and at its early stages like candidate screening and assessment.
“Eliminate bias right at the start of the recruitment process, and at its early stages like candidate screening and assessment.”
Creating a diverse and inclusive interview process is never finished, improvements can always be made so regular review is necessary. The results are worth it, a diverse team in an inclusive culture allows everyone to excel and achieve their goals.
#Breakthebias at Hudson RPO goes beyond our internal environments; we also support our clients in breaking the bias. We have worked with our clients globally to improve the gender diversity, equity and inclusion of their graduate and apprentice programs, as well as other key areas such as disability and indigenous and minority groups. For our client in APAC this meant a 51% female intake, opposed to a 6% intake before our partnership started.
We will continue to embrace an inclusive culture of diversity and belonging and are committed to equal opportunities for all. If you would like to speak to a talent expert about how we can help you improve the diversity, equity and inclusion of your recruitment process, click here to start the conversation.
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