Managers have a crucial role in supporting inclusive recruitment. Recruitment is about getting the most suitable candidate into a role, and it is critical for employers to deliver their goals, as well as for employees to find jobs that suit them. However, it is not always clear what makes a candidate ‘suitable’, and there is potential for bias to creep in when making these decisions.

Nobody is immune to bias. Even those of us who strive to make fair and objective decisions are affected by implicit biases, and increasing awareness of the biases that affect recruitment is unfortunately not enough to reduce their impact. Instead, recruitment processes should be redesigned to reduce the influence of bias.

This guide provides actionable steps to attract diverse candidates and ensure an unbiased and inclusive recruitment process. We provide recommendations for the four main stages of recruitment, including: role design and the job advert, attracting diverse candidates, the application process and how candidates are selected.

In larger organisations, some of the actions described may be the responsibility of HR, while in smaller organisations they may fall to the line manager. This guide covers all of the relevant actions so that managers are aware of the rationale behind these and can contribute to inclusive recruitment as relevant.

What is equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)?

How can you make the role design and the job advert inclusive?

In designing the role and advertising it, managers should seek to provide knowledge, clarity and guidance by setting clear expectations, providing guidance where appropriate, and by understanding their own and employees’ roles.

How can you attract diverse candidates?

Building and sustaining relationships with employees begins with showing concern and consideration for candidates, particularly those from marginalised groups.

Selection Process

When it comes to selecting candidates, people managers have a critical role to play in ensuring they are being open, fair and consistent to the candidates in order to support getting the right person into the right role.

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