* Findings from the report below are based on research by PARN for the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills Professional Recruitment Guide, which was launched by David Lammy MP in February 2009.
Sir Alan Langlands, in his The Gateway to the Professions Report (2005), identified the need for a guide which considered how professions could sustain and improve recruitment opportunities for graduates before the Government’s (2006) introduction of variable fees in university courses. The report concluded that the introduction of fees should have no effect on university entrance, although it might impact on diversity in recruitment to the professions.
In 2008, the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills commissioned the Professional Associations Research Network (PARN) to research and identify interesting and innovative employer recruitment practices that widened access to new graduates entering the professional labour market. The research output was to provide guidance to employers, for implementing diversity into their recruitment processes.
PARN interviewed recruitment staff from nine small, medium and large employers. These were: ACube Architects; Doughty Chambers; Filton Avenue Junior School; GlaxoSmithKline; an inner-city medical practice; Penna Recruitment Agency; Pinsent Masons; PriceWaterhouseCoopers and New Siblands Special School. It emerged from these interviews that the recruitment processes extended beyond the traditional notion of vacancy to job offer. People recognised that there was no point in focusing solely on the recruitment process, considering this would miss candidates who did not apply, or employees who voted with their feet because they felt unwelcome or that their needs would go unmet.
Many of these employers were actively engaging with negative stereotypes of their professions and the employees who worked within them. Some of this, they believed, could be addressed through community outreach programmes and initiatives that provided students of all ages with concise information and positive role models. The results have been encouraging although all agreed more work was needed.
With applications and recruitment rates for the six diversity strands – gender, black and multiethnic, religion, sexual orientation, disabilities and age – apparently on the increase, the case study employers demonstrated a desire to make the workplace more inclusive. PriceWaterhouseCoopers used bias training as a tool for making employees aware of the effect of their individual practices and actions on others. It considered that failing to tackle an inharmonious working environment resulted in reduced productivity levels and low retention rates.
Increased re-recruitment costs and reduced productivity levels were a concern for employers, and this transmitted into their specific recruitment activities. Yet these employers also believed they would gain a competitive advantage from the multitude of differing perspectives emanating from more a diverse workforce. Where clients are likely to be diverse, employers thought their organisations should reflect this, and should have profited from such moves.
The research identified many other interesting and innovative practices, which are included in the Professional Recruitment guide. These are contained in case studies, features, hints, signposts and a section on how to get started. The guide is designed to allow employers to dip in and out or to read extensively.
Matthew Hall is a researcher at PARN.
For more information about the Guide, visit the DIUS website.
For more information on PARN go to www.parnglobal.com