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This is my first blog post in my new series called STEM Workplace Transformation. Brought to you by Her Engineering Career.
Let’s start with how to draw in good STEM talent.
If you’re an HR professional or a STEM hiring manager or a leader of a company who hires STEM talent, you know that this is essential.
You also know that diversity is key to innovation.
But it seems you can’t find good STEM candidates from underrepresented groups. And when you do, they don’t stay long.
Finding the right STEM talent and keeping it is not easy. But it’s a primary enabler for your business.
And it’s important to get it right.
So I’m going to share with you my list of 10 things to do to draw excellent STEM talent.
Which also happens to be 10 things for a more diverse STEM team.
Because if you do the things you need to do to increase diversity, you also increase engagement.
If you have a diverse STEM team that is engaged, you increase retention.
And if you have all of these things you enhance your innovation. Customer satisfaction increases. And business outcomes improve.
10 Things to Draw STEM Talent to Your Organization
Here are 10 ways to draw excellent STEM talent to your organization:
- Be welcoming.
In other words, create an environment in which every possible candidate feels welcome.
This is more than just inviting people in.
It’s making your organization attractive so that candidates from all backgrounds and situations prefer to work here. - Be open and inclusive.
This means creating an environment in which every possible candidate feels listened to and included.
It’s a proactive approach involving purposeful communication and sincerity. - Be bias-aware.
Not bias-free. There’s no such thing.
Everyone has biases – based on their experiences, where they came from, how they were raised, what they believe, etc.
But you can train your team on how to be aware of their biases so they don’t become barriers for others.
Create an environment in which every possible candidate feels comfortable being themselves. - Seek and attract a diverse hiring pool.
This might mean broadening your search, changing your hiring practices, or updating your recruitment materials.
You want every possible candidate to be aware of and attracted to your job posting. - Provide support for various employee affinities.
This support can be in the form of employee resource groups. Or other approaches that bring people from underrepresented groups together to share ideas and best practices.
Create an environment in which potential candidates can see your support programs in action. - Have flexible (e.g., family-friendly) policies.
These include policies for working hours, vacation and personal leave, and remote work.
Make it possible for full time workers to also raise families, take care of elders, and/or be active in the community.
Each potential candidate should feel confident that your policies will enable their life balance. - Ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate and contribute.
It’s often assumed that everyone has the opportunity to participate and contribute.
But with a diverse team you also have different communication styles and personalities.
Leaders need to take notice and actively ensure each person’s ideas are heard and their efforts recognized.
And every potential candidate should know that this will be true for them. - Provide and encourage mentorship.
All STEM employees should have access to mentorship.
It works even better if there’s an effort to match people. And if having – or being – a mentor is highly encouraged.
The benefits to employees here are many.
You want potential candidates to know this is a place where they’ll feel they’re valued and assumed to have potential. - Provide career guidance and professional development.
Put programs in place to give employees the professional development they need.
Incentivize managers to provide career guidance to their employees.
Make training and coaching available.
Use an intentional approach that meets development goals. But also takes into account the individual.
Employees should feel respected and esteemed as future members of the team. And potential candidates should see that too. - Create and communicate opportunities for all to grow and achieve.
Finally, ensure everyone has options for a path forward. And that they know about them.
This is what enables each employee to believe they can get the opportunities they deserve.
Potential candidates will want to believe this too. It’s one of the most important aspects affecting recruitment and retention.
Transform Your STEM Workplace So You Don’t Miss Out
You need to do all 10 of these things. It’s not cafeteria style.
If you’re missing some of these things, you’re not going to have it easy.
If you’re missing some of these things, your employees are going to struggle with engagement and motivation.
If you’re missing some of these things, your business outcomes will slack.
And if you’re missing some of these things, you’re missing out on some awesome STEM talent.
We’ll dive a little deeper in upcoming blog posts.
In the meantime, contact me to get some help with your STEM Workplace Transformation.
We’ll start working on the list so you can start drawing excellent STEM talent to your organization today!