Do you need to fix your female talent pipeline?
The business case for gender balanced companies is incontrovertible. Yet many organisations are slow to come close to even nominal targets. There are many reasons for this, but one of the contributing factors lies in the recruitment strategies and the way they struggles to successfully feed women candidates into the talent pipeline. A high number of companies carry on doing what they have always done with very minimal adjustments. And you know what happens then. The female talent pipeline is rusty and not just leaking but blocked and then flooding. If you need to fix your female talent pipeline you need to come to terms with the fact that your recruitment strategies will need disrupting. Hiring top class female candidates will continue to be hit and miss. Organisations need to leave behind some of the old school recruitment methodologies that are no longer fit for purpose.
Fix your female talent pipeline
With its international team of skilled researchers and consultants, 3Plus offers deep experience in identifying and attracting women candidates to meet our clients’ needs. We have an extensive network of women at all levels, in all sectors, geographies and functions, to successfully identify the best female candidates for you. These could be women who are known to our network, but we also have the skills to identify and reach women with low market profiles. And there are many in this category.
Read: Why aren’t gender inclusion policies working?
Re-examine your recruitment strategies now
3Plus offers professional support in all areas of the recruitment process to fix the female talent pipeline:
Unconsiocus bias training
Most recruiters, hiring managers and even diversity managers have had no training in managing unconsicous bias. To be clear these biases can only be managed, but it is critical to know how to avoid gender stereotyping which creates pink skill silos.
Read: Unconscious bias workshops
Female friendly Job description and adverts
3Plus offers know-how to clients in the drafting and de-coding of male orientated recruitment documentation, to make them gender neutral and female friendly. This will be both for job adverts and profiles which are usually be peppered with unneccesary male-coded language and terminology which puts women off.
Disruptive Candidate Identification
If you are fishing “where there are fish,” then based on current practises, your candidate short lists are going to be filled with men. If researchers are not trained in different and sophisticated types of candidate identification, your short list will be composed of low-hanging, male fruit, easily and usually found by lazy LinkedIn searches. 3Plus researchers understand that women can be less visible than men and more “backward in coming forward.” We know how to reach them. We also know that low profile, does not mean low competence.
Understanding Candidate attraction and self deselection
3Plus understands the differences between male and female approaches to career advancement. We are prepared to build and nurture relationships with female candidates who need time to make a decision regarding a career change. We understand why women self deselect and have the answers you need to handle that. We represent your employer brand in the best possible light and act as your brand ambassador for gender balance.
Creating Gender balanced short lists
Research shows that the token woman on a short list is being set up for rejection. You need a minimum of three women on the short list. Recruitment processes are riddled with unconscious bias at every stage and most recruiters and hiring managers , even women, are not coached in managing those biases. We are committed to flagging up any situations where we see unconscious bias come into play and sharing how they can be managed effectively.
Candidate selection and interviews
3Plus offers support to help you manage your interview process so that each candidate can showcase their skills to the best of their ability and your hiring managers can make the best choice for your organisation. Unconscious bias nudges can help approach candidate selection with new clearer thinking. Illegal interview questions are still being reported even in organisations with official diversity policies and even from female interviewers. Unqualified assumptions are made about travel, childcare and ambition.
Onboarding
Without effective onboarding a new hire will have a troubled start and is more likely to leave your organisation at a cost estimated at 3 times the annual salary. 3Plus can support the successful candidate in her first 90 days and beyond, so that your organisation sees a successful return on its investment.
Retention
Any organisation wants to retain its top talent. High churn is a massive cost for all employers. 3Plus offers coaching, training and mentoring programmes to support all corporate initiatives for gender balance. Support is available for promotion grooming and competence coaching. If your organisation lacks female role models we have a team of international women who act as external mentors. Check out our mentor gallery here. This also includes programmes for male managers who also need support in navigating a new reality.
Read: Why women leave it’s not complicated
