What is your organization doing about recruiting new talent to ease the looming labour woes? The same things it has been doing for the past 10 years? Developing a pro-active recruiting strategy? No matter where you are in this process, there are other avenues your organization could consider to find great candidates.

Your first step is to make diverse applicants aware of your organization and interested in working for you. If you are looking to attract candidates from outside your traditional recruitment channels, consider adopting some of the tips and strategies outlined below:

1 - Ensure your job requirements are attainable by candidates from various backgrounds. This can be done by emphasizing competencies for the job rather than past experience in the same position. Also double check the requirements for unnecessary items, such as being able to speak advanced-level English or French for an individual who does not need to communicate with such proficiency in their position. (e.g. some software developers, kitchen staff, or manufacturing positions.) Click to Read Full Article

2 – When you draft your job posting, sell the job! Include a statement about your organization’s commitment to diversity, highlight any policies that are friendly to families and work-life balance, and explain opportunities for professional development. Also ensure that the posting is written in plain language, with a minimum of industry jargon (jargon tends to change, and is often different across eras and nations.) Consider having the advertisement translated into other languages.

3 – Traditional recruitment channels will produce traditional applicant pools. Branch out! Advertise with professional associations for diverse talent pools/professionals, such as the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada, Canadian Association for the 50 Plus, the Gay and Lesbian Business Association of BC, or the National Association of Asian American Professionals Vancouver. You will also find many associations in your community that support new immigrants, the GLBT community, women in business, etc. Have your company sponsor these associations’ events, attend their meetings, advertise in their publications. In sum: network, network, network outside your comfort zone. This will raise the profile of your organization among these talent pools, and will help them keep you in mind when seeking new employment opportunities.

4 – Once you peak the interest of these diverse potential candidates, maximize their likelihood of applying by making sure you offer more than one way for applicants to respond. Older workers may not be used to applying online; new Canadians may not have convenient access to computers or may prefer to speak with a contact person rather than using an anonymous e-mail address. Consider allowing applicants to include information that falls outside your standard application form categories, and do not limit the inclusion of education or experience to that attained in Canada.

Taking into account these four steps, you should be on your way to widening your applicant pool. Here are a few more concrete best practices from companies who are winning the war for talent that you may decide to implement in your organization:

• Offer co-operative education, and internships/summer employment programs for diverse students from your community
• Sponsor community fundraising events and ensure you have at least one company representative attend
• Provide company space after hours for meetings and events to community organizations that include diverse people
• Become active in cultural community events and celebrations (e.g. Other country’s national day celebrations, South Asian Film Festival)
• Develop relationships with local faith leaders (i.e. Imams, Aboriginal Elders, Priests, Pastors, Buddhist Monks, Rabbis, etc.)

March 22 Holi - Hinduism, Sikhism
The Hindu Spring Festival; celebrated with fun and games; on the eve of Holi Festival a bonfire ceremony called Holika Dahan is observed to mark the triumph of good over evil, the main day of Holi Festival is celebrated by throwing brightly coloured powder and water on friends and loved ones, as seen above; people invite each other to their houses for feasts and celebrations later in the evening.

April 14 Baisakhi/Vaisakhi – Sikhism, Hinduism, Bangladesh, Canada¹
The Sikh New Year Festival; greetings to wish good life are exchanged; the day commemorates the founding of the Sikh Brotherhood. Major activities for the festival are centered on gurdwaras - the Sikh place of worship; as a harvest festival Baisakhi is celebrated in open fields with energetic bhangra and gidda dance by gaily dressed men and women; processions are also held and attended by men, women and children alike. Drummers, bands playing religious times, devotees singing religious songs and men playing mock duels accompany the procession.

¹ In Canada Kirtans may take place through until the end of April.